One bite of these buttery, garlicky, soft, gluten-free garlic knots, and you will taste the flavor! They are absolutely delicious and are made for dipping in pasta sauce. This is an easy recipe to make, and I have lots of photos to walk you through every step of making them.
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❤️ Sandi’s Recipe Summary
The Quick Bite: These gluten-free garlic knots use my tried-and-true pizza dough base recipe because it rises reliably and produces a soft, fluffy texture. The garlic butter goes on twice: once before baking, once right out of the oven. Eight ingredients, and they are ready in under two hours, including rise time
I took a bite and had to have a moment of silence. I have never had any baked bread product this good since my Celiac diagnosis. The TEXTURE of these beautifully buttery, garlicky knots is absolutely outstanding. Thank you for sharing your incredible recipes. I always know it will be a winner if I found it on Fearless Dining.”
diana, blog comment
If you are looking for a fun new gluten free bread recipe, I have you covered with these delicious gluten free garlic knots. They are easy to make and require only a few simple ingredients. Making garlic knots from scratch is easy!
When I first tested this recipe, I used Cup4Cup with dried milk powder. It wasn’t until recently that I was also able to test using their new dairy-free blend. I found that both worked well, though the older version with dried milk powder had a nicer golden color when baked.
I also tested this recipe a couple of times using my Gluten-Free Flour Blend. If you use my blend, you will need to add 1-2 TBSP of additional water. My blend has more grain vs starch than Cup4Cup and needs a bit of extra liquid to make the dough workable.
👀 Sandi Says: Always verify the blend you use works in yeast recipes. King Arthur Measure for Measure, and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 do not work with yeast recipes. I wish they put this information on the back of the bags, but you can find it on their websites. This is a good list of what gluten-free flour blends work with yeast recipes.
For this homemade garlic knots recipe, I use my popular base Gluten Free Pizza Crust Dough. It rises well and is my tried and true miracle dough. You can make garlic knots with my pizza dough, or you can use a premade gluten free pizza dough. Try this Gluten Free Garlic Pull Apart Bread as well.
Ingredients Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – My pizza dough recipe (and everything I make with it) turns out best with Cup4Cup flour blend. My DIY Gluten-Free Flour Blend also worked well, but it needed 2 tablespoons of additional water. That doesn’t mean other blends won’t work; it just means I haven’t tested any others. Every gluten-free flour blend has a different starch-to-grain ratio. The brand of gluten-free flour you use will affect the batter’s moisture. Read Why Gluten-Free Flour Blends Vary to learn more.
- Binder – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon. Read Why Binders are a Must in Gluten Free Baking to learn more.
- Yeast – I used active yeast, but rapid yeast will also work. Double-check the brand you use is gluten-free. Red Star Platinum is NOT gluten free!
- Eggs – Use large eggs.
How to Make Gluten Free Garlic Knots (Step-By-Step)
Step 1: Add the yeast and sugar to warm, purified water to proof the yeast. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it is bubbly.
Why Water Quality Is Important:
I always use purified water when making sourdough or baking with yeast. Chlorine and chemicals in our tap water can kill your yeast and inhibit the rise. If you want the best rise, you must use purified water that doesn’t contain these chemicals.
👀 Sandi Says: You can use rapid yeast in this recipe. If you use this, just mix it into the dry ingredients and skip proofing it in warm water.
Step 2: Add the dry ingredients (hold 1/2 cup of the gluten free flour after the rise) to a separate bowl and whisk to blend.
Step 3: Add the rest of the wet ingredients to the yeast mixture and whisk to blend them all. Pour it into the dry ingredients.
Mix into a soft dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm spot for 1 hour. You may notice this recipe gets two rises. In almost all of my yeast recipes, I only do one rise. You can certainly do one rise by shaping the rolls first, but in this recipe, having the two rises worked out really well with the Cup4Cup flour blend. I can’t say every blend will perform the same way.
HINT: If it is cold in your house, you can preheat your oven to 175º F. Turn the oven off, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place the bowl in the oven. Keep the door cracked open during the rise.
Step 4: After rising, add the final 1/2 cup of gluten-free flour blend. This helps to firm up the dough enough to roll and tie a knot with it, without it losing its shape. Note that this dough will be firmer than usual. This is because you need to be able to work the dough.
Adding the final ½ cup of flour after the rise firms up the dough just enough to roll and knot without it sticking to your hands or losing its shape. If you add all the flour before the rise, the dough will be too stiff to rise properly
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Step 5: Place your dough onto a piece of wax paper. Break off pieces and roll the dough into log-shaped snakes. If the dough feels slightly dry when you roll it, that is okay because it needs enough structure to hold the knot shape without springing back.
Step 6: Tie the dough into a knot. It doesn’t have to be pretty, and the dough may appear a tiny bit dry (as you can see in my photo above). Do not tie the knots too tightly, or they can break while rising.
Cover the knots with plastic wrap and let the dough knots sit for about 20 minutes.
Step 7: Melt the butter, minced garlic, salt, and dried parsley in the microwave.
Step 8: Brush the melted butter over the garlic knots. This adds moisture and helps bake in that delicious garlic butter flavor!
Step 9: Bake at 400º F for 15 to 18 minutes. Actual baking time will vary depending on the size of your knots.
Step 10: Brush the remaining garlic butter over the freshly baked garlic knots. In the refrigerator, these homemade garlic knots will keep fresh for up to 3 days. Store them in an airtight container. You can also freeze these garlic knots for up to 4 months. To thaw, microwave them for 35 to 45 seconds.
You may have noticed that I brush on garlic butter before and after baking. The pre-baked garlic butter soaks into the surface of the dough as it bakes, flavoring the crust from the outside in. The post-bake application coats the freshly baked crust while it is still porous and absorbs maximum flavor
Dip it into my homemade gluten free pasta sauce or my gluten free marinara sauce if you don’t want meat. It is so worth it!
Look how fluffy these gluten free garlic knot rolls are! If you love this gluten free pizza dough recipe, you will love making these Gluten Free Pizza Rolls too!
Flavor Variations
- Add more garlic flavor by mixing some minced garlic into the dough!
- Try other dried herbs like sage, rosemary, or basil!
- If you struggle with tying them in knots, you can roll them into balls and bake them like you would dinner rolls.
Tried the recipe, very easy to make! I left out the Parmesan, cause I’m also dairy free. I will say, I should have sprung for the more expensive flour but was trying to fit a budget. The Krusteaz GF flour is more affordable, but doesn’t come out as soft & fluffy as Cup4Cup or King Arthur measure for measure would’ve.
Gerri T., Facebook User
More Gluten-Free Roll Recipes:
If you enjoy baking bread, here are a few more of my family’s favorite recipes to try:
- Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls (oven-baked or air-fried!)
- Easy Gluten-Free Breadsticks
- Gluten-Free Crescent Rolls
- Incredible Flaky Gluten-Free Biscuits
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Gluten Free Garlic Knots (Fluffy and Buttery!)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast * see note
- 1 teaspoon cane sugar or honey
- 1 ¼ cups purified warm water
- 3 cups gluten free flour blend * see note
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 large eggs size larg
- ½ cup gluten free flour blend For dusting on the flour for shaping
- ¼ cup unsalted butter unsalted
- 1 garlic clove 1 large or 2 small, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Equipment
Method
- Add 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast and 1 teaspoon cane sugar to 1 1/4 cups purified warm water to proof your yeast. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it is bubbly.
- Add 3 cups gluten free flour blend, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and 1 teaspoon salt to a separate bowl, and whisk to blend. This includes the parmesan.
- Add 2 large eggs and 1/4 cup olive oil to the yeast mixture and whisk to blend it all together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Mix into a soft dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm spot for 1 hour.
- HINT: If it is cold in your house, you can preheat your oven to 200º F. Turn the oven off and place the bowl in the oven. Keep the door cracked open during the rise.
- After rising, add the final 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend. Note that this dough will be more firm than usual. This is because you need to be able to work the dough.
- Place your dough onto a piece of wax paper. Break off pieces and gently roll the dough into log-shaped snakes. Don't press down too hard as you want it softly rolled to keep some rise.
- Tie the dough into a knot. It doesn't have to be pretty, and the dough may appear a tiny bit dry.
- Preheat the oven to 400º F.
- Cover the knots with plastic wrap and let the dough knots sit on the counter for about 20 minutes.
- Melt the 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 1 garlic clove, salt, and 1 teaspoon dried parsley in the microwave.
- Brush the melted butter over the garlic knots. This adds back some moisture AND helps bake in that delicious garlic butter flavor!
- Bake at 400º F for 15-18 minutes. Actual baking time will vary depending on the size of your knots.
- Brush the remaining garlic butter over the freshly baked garlic knots.
Nutrition
Notes
- I tested Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend for this recipe. It worked really well in this recipe. I also tested my All Purpose Gluten Free Blend; you will need to add about 2 TBSP of additional water.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- Yeast – double-check the brand you use is gluten free. Red Star Platinum is NOT gluten free! You can use rapid yeast if you prefer. If you use rapid yeast, mix it into the dry ingredients and skip proofing it.
- These garlic knots will keep fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
I am excited to try this recipe, it looks amazing, I have to gather the ingredients tomorrow.
I can’t wait to hear how it turns out, Judith. Be sure to use a flour blend that works with yeast, as I discuss in the post.
I have noticed that a lot of your recipes call for cane sugar. Can I substitute brown sugar for cane sugar?
Hi Nancy, the two sugar types have different properties and flavors. I am hesitant to suggest swapping all cane sugar for brown sugar in my recipes. If you have a specific recipe you are thinking about, please let me know and I can look more closely. In a recipe like these rolls that only have a tiny bit to help activate the yeast, the theory is that it should work, but brown sugar has a molasses flavor and I am not sure how that will impact the recipe.
Do you have recipes for a flour blend that does not contain potato starch?
Hi, Right now I haven’t tested any of mine, but you may like Namaste gf flour blend. I like this blend and it is potato free.
Awesome recipe! The texture was fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth just like regular wheat rolls! I used instant yeast, whole psyllium and I used a custom blend of cornstarch, potato starch, brown rice flour & sorghum. The dough was not sticky at all and very easy to work with. Thanks for sharing! Will definitely be making again 🙂
I am so glad your custom blend worked well in this recipe. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know you loved it!
Hi have you ever tried along proof in the refrigerator, like over night? For example make the rough let it rise over night and then shape the dough the next day? I have student who is gluten free and looking for recipe similar to the regular garlic knots the class will make. We do our labs over two days
Hi Wendy, I haven’t tried that with this dough. I would say it is worth trying as other recipes of mine proof well overnight. Please be sure to use a gluten free flour blend that works with yeast recipes. Some 1:1 blends do not. I have a great article on which flour blends work well with yeast: https://www.fearlessdining.com/the-best-gluten-free-flour/
Turned out great. I didn’t have to worry about leftovers!
I am so glad you loved the recipe, it is one of our favorites.
Why dont you add all the flour at once
If you are using a stand mixer, the flour will fly out of the mixer. Mine is a smaller Kitchen Aid, so maybe that is why but I always add flour gradually.