Keto garlic knots are a delicious way to serve up fathead dough! Twisted little keto dinner rolls that pair perfectly with your favorite soup or keto stew.
This is the original keto garlic knots recipe! Accept no substitutes.
These tender little twists of keto garlic taste just like the ones you used to get from your favorite pizza place. But they have less than 3g net carbs per serving.
Too good to be true?
One bit of these buttery, garlicky koto bread twists and you might just think you’re dreaming. But they’re real, I promise.
Serve them alongside keto tuscan chicken soup or keto seafood chowder for a satisfying lunch or dinner.
Fun with fathead dough
Fathead dough really is remarkable stuff. It’s amazing that melted cheese and a little almond flour can become a stretchy keto pizza dough.
I use it many quite a number of recipes, both savory and sweet. And I have developed my own versions of the original that make it sturdier and more versatile. I call this version, which contains both almond and coconut flour, Magic Mozzarella Dough.
It really is magic! I’ve used it in sweet recipes too, like keto cinnamon twists.
My keto bagel recipe, on the other hand, takes only coconut flour so it’s a completely nut-free option.
Ingredients
For the dough, you will need:
- Shredded mozzarella
- Almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Butter
- Baking powder
- Garlic powder
- Egg
- Salt
For the garlic butter, you will need:
- Butter
- Parmesan cheese
- Garlic
- Salt
- Parsley
How to make keto garlic knots
Once you’ve mastered keto fathead dough, these keto garlic bread rolls are fun to make. Here are my best tips for getting it right.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. You want to have them ready to add to the melted cheese immediately so make sure they are all set before proceeding.
- Melt the cheese and butter. Keep them over low heat, stirring frequently, until the cheese is fully melted and you can stir them together. Then remove from heat.
- Add the dry ingredients and the egg. Start mixing these ingredients in immediately with a good flexible spatula. As long as you move quickly enough, the egg won’t curdle.
- Knead the dough. Just like bread, fathead dough becomes more cohesive with a little kneading. I recommend dusting the work surface lightly with almond flour to prevent sticking.
- Divide and roll into logs. You want to do this relatively quickly, as fathead dough gets loses elasticity the longer it sits.
- Shape into knots. Gently fold one end of the log over the other and push through.
- Brush with garlic butter. Use about half of the garlic butter mixture before baking, and keep the rest for brushing on after.
- Bake until golden and enjoy warm!
Frequently Asked Questions
The conventional wisdom for fathead dough states that pre-shredded mozzarella works best. It contains a bit of starch or cellulose that helps the consistency. However, I’ve actually had some luck with grating blocks of cheese myself. Just make sure that it is part-skim, as full-fat mozzarella will make the dough very greasy.
I don’t recommend it. Fathead dough made with just almond flour is very fatty and moist, and tends to spread a lot when baking.
You are better off using another drier flour like lupin or oat fiber, but you will need more of it. I recommend starting with ⅓ cup and adding a bit more if the dough is very sticky.
Fathead dough is tricky at the best of times and I can’t quite determine why this happens for some people. It’s dependent on so many different factors.
If it happens to you, don’t panic. Simply roll the dough into 8 balls, brush with some of the garlic butter, and bake them as dinner rolls. They will still be delicious!
Keto Garlic Knots Recipe
Ingredients
Garlic Knot Dough
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese 6 ounces
- 5 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 large egg
Garlic Parmesan Butter
- 3 tablespoon butter melted
- 2 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
Instructions
Dough
- Preheat the oven to 350F and sprinkle a clean counter or a large silicone baking mat with almond flour.
- In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt. In a large saucepan, melt the cheese and butter together over low heat until they are melted and can be stirred together.
- Remove from heat and add the almond flour mixture, then add the egg and stir everything together until a cohesive forms. Use a rubber spatula to really knead the dough together in the pan. It may still contain some streaks of cheese.
- Turn the dough out onto the prepared work surface and knead until uniform. This will only take a little kneading. If your dough is still very sticky, add a tablespoon or two more almond flour and work it in.
- Divide the dough into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 7-inch log and tie gently into a knot. Place on prepared baking sheet a few inches apart (they will spread a bit).
Garlic Parmesan Butter
- In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, parmesan, garlic, salt, and parsley. Brush about half of the butter over knots before baking. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until firm to the touch and golden brown.
- Remove and brush with remaining garlic butter. Serve warm.
Jennifer Lee says
I love your recipe. Thank you for sharing it! I have been making your rolls and have found that when I double or triple the recipe I have a harder time melting the mozzarella and butter. Have you had any success melting the cheese and butter on a stove top? Have you made this recipe in bulk? Any tips?
Carolyn says
Actually I’ve found the same thing, I think when you have more cheese, it’s just harder to work with. Better to make one batch right after the other.
Chef Heather says
I’m reading the comments and there are such wide variety of experiences with this recipe! I am a professional chef, and consider myself a pretty avid baker too. I’ve had great results with the fathead doughs in the past. Decided to try something new.
I was surprised by the butter in the recipe instead of cream cheese, but went ahead with it anyways. The dough was very very soft and much more pliable than the fathead doughs I’ve made in the past. I saw you recommended subbing 1/4 cup more almond flour instead of coconut flour which I went ahead and did because my client is allergic to coconut.
There was NO WAY I could get 16 portions from this. I made 6 portions, and the rolls came out very small and baked up flat like a pancake. I would imagine the coconut flour soaked up the extra “liquid” created by the butter in the recipe, and I wished I could’ve used that.
While they didn’t turn out good enough for a client, the flavor of this dough is awesome, and next time I’ll try using the coconut flour.
Carolyn says
I am sorry that they didn’t turn out for you, Chef Heather, but I have NEVER recommended 1/4 cup almond flour and I just went through EVERY SINGLE comment here. In no place did i ever say you double sub with 1/4 cup almond flour. In one I said 1/2 cup, but in most I said I didn’t think it would work.
These two flours are vastly different and any time you want to replace coconut flour, you must do so with at least 2x, if not 3x, the amount of almond flour. So…that would likely be the issue here.
I have made this dough over and over (and over and over and over and over). Turns out for me every single time, no matter what cheese I use. I’ve used organic from Whole foods and junky cheese from regular grocery stores. AS long as it’s pre-shredded with a little bit of added starch, it works. I cannot account exactly for why it doesn’t work for some folks but I think the brands of almond and coconut flour are the likely culprits.
Beth R. says
These are delicious! I made a broccoli and cheddar soup and wanted to serve something with it and found this recipe. This was my first keto “bread” recipe and first time melting cheese to make a dough. I couldn’t quite get my head around these as I was eating them, but hey what a great alternative to carby bread!
What didn’t work for me, there was no way I was going to get 16 knots out of these. I was struggling rolling out the eat that I did make and knotting them was no easy task, the dough does want to break. Mine did not end up as fluffy as the picture, but like I said they are delicious. I will cut back or eliminate the salt to the garlic bread topping, for my taste it was simply too salty. I will be making these again and again, and again!
K Smith says
I tried these but replaced the almond / coconut flours with sesame seed flour. The texture turned out beautifully but the flavor was a bit strong. Will try doing an almond / sesame flour blend next time. Any suggestions?
Carolyn says
Sorry but I cannot guarantee results unless you follow my recipe exactly.
Sherry Banco says
OMG!!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! these were so AMAZING!
Marcelle says
Ok, there is a slight problem with this recipe, and then a major problem. The slight problem is probably due to the brand of almond flour I used. I could not get knots due to dough breaking but got twists with no problem.
The major problem is I CANNOT STOP EATING THEM!!! I made these today during the fourth nor’easter of this month in NJ and I started to drool at the first bite.
Is it keto I eat NOTHING but these all day??? 🙂
I have been keto for a little over 4 months but I have had an account on Yummly for over a year. Recently I had to add a category JUST for your blog! Your blog is the FIRST place I go whenever I am looking for a specific keto recipe! (PS: just bought your book….)
Carolyn, you are my HERO!!!!!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Marcelle!
Terri says
Any chance of having the ingredients weighed and / or posted in metric units? I’m sure I‘m using too much almond and/coconut flour. I used just over 6 oz (200 gr) of store bought mozzarella with some starch in it. I added a tad more butter. They still turned out crmbly and dense. I’m using the only locally available almond flour. I can’t afford to import flour from the US and the success or failure can’t rest completely on how exactly fine the flour has been milled. Something has got to give. I’d like to try again with exact measurements. This has to work somehow.
Carolyn says
Sorry but yes, the texture of the almond flour has a huge amount to do with this. It’s going to be more crumbly if they are large bits rather than small fine ones. That’s how any flour or flour alternative works. That said, 100g is about 1 cup of loosely scooped FINE almond flour.
I am seriously doubtful that this recipe will work for you no matter how you measure it, if you only have coarsely ground almond flour.
Jaimie Dee says
KUDOS! This was amazing! We just tried making it for the first time this afternoon. We were so impressed! I could still tasted the coconut, but my fiance couldn’t. Definitely quite tasty though! The texture reminded me a bit of a crescent roll as well. I bet this would be awesome for a pigs in a blanket dough too! <3 Thank you for putting this out there!
Diana says
Can you give nutritional information such as carbs,calcium,fat,cholesterol,vitamin c and a, I made these to have with supper tonight. Just getting ready to eat now 5:30. They look and smell really good
Carolyn says
I give all the nutritional info I plan to give right in the recipe! 🙂 Carbs, calories, protein, fat, and fiber.
Christa says
Though I carefully weighed and measured all of the ingredients, the dough turned out grainy and oily and delicate to handle. It still tastes amazing once baked, but do you have any thoughts on where I may have gone wrong? On another note – I purchased your cookbook last week, and am in love! The kitchen is my happy place, and making this lifestyle change to a ketogenic diet had me wondering how I was still going to bake. Your recipes are amazing, and I can’t wait for your new cookbook! Thanks ?
Carolyn says
Well there are several possible factors…your cheese and your almond or coconut flour. If you use full fat mozzarella, it can cause this. If your almond flour is too coarse or your coconut flour isn’t absorbent enough, it can also cause this.
Christa says
It was the full fat mozzarella. Thanks for the quick response!
Carolyn says
Then I think that’s the issue here. Part skim works because it doesn’t get so oily.
Anna says
These taste great! But were really pieciecly? Is that a good way to describe them? They wouldn’t hold together. I used almond flour and coconut flour. Could I be doing something wrong?
Carolyn says
It’s possibly the brand of almond flour you used. If it’s not fine enough, it can definitely affect the outcome.
Carly Pederson says
I made these and they were so good! But when I added my egg to the melted cheese saucepan the egg cooked really quickly before it combined… is that normal? Or was my heat up too high? Going to try making this again tonight to go with our salads!
Carolyn says
Your heat was definitely too high. Different stoves, especially electric ones, can affect this. Be sure to remove your pan from heat before adding those eggs and then return to heat only if you need to.
Carly Pederson says
Wonderful thank you!!
Gail Shendelman says
CRAZY GOOD – a real find! Thank you!
Karen Johansen says
Carolyn why is the sound muted now on video above.
I had to go to your original video off FB and that one worked fine.
Had to refresh my brain again as I am making bagels today 🙂
Carolyn says
That’s a good question I don’t know!
renata galvao says
OMG!!! this bread is perfect. i~ve made just half of the recipe to try, but I will have to do again tomorrow. My stepdaughter coudn´t stop eating…
Jovina Coughlin says
Carolyn – Question the written recipe on your site says to heat the cheese in the saucepan and add melted butter later with the egg and flours. Here you melt the butter with the cheese. Does it matter?
Jovina Coughlin says
in the video – sorry left that out
Carolyn says
It doesn’t matter but I found it easier to melt them together. Less dishes!
Jovina Coughlin says
Makes sense. Thanks
Peter Piper says
Made mine with zero net carb oat FIBER(not bran) instead of nut flowers and they turned out great!! Thanks so much for the recipe. Will be making it again and again!!
Peter Piper says
Sorry… meant FLOUR
Rebecca says
These are great. Going to try this as a pizza crust. Thanks for the great recipes! You are my top two go-to sites for keto recipes.
Ally says
I love these, so good! I’ve made them a few times but for some reason this round they flattened out like cookies. Any ideas as to why?
Carolyn says
Did you use any different brands this time? For the flours or the cheese?
Ally says
Thanks for the quick reply, I used the same ingredients as last time. I suspect I might have mismeasured the baking powder since they expanded so much…
Jayne says
Hi, can I use this dough to make sausage rolls with, I’ve seen it where you put cream cheese in ‘fathead dough’ but would like to use this recipe x
Carolyn says
Yup, it should work for sausage rolls.
Katie says
I made these and they turnwd out delicious but they spread out like cookies. I used trader joes shredded mozzarella, almond meal from natural grocers/vitamin cottage, and trader joes coconut flour. I suspect maybe I needed to use the superfine almond flour that was mentioned. Also, could high altitude have affected how they turned out? I live in Denver.
Carolyn says
All of those could be a possibility! I’ve never used TJs coconut flour and I have no idea about the almond meal you used. The TJs mozzarella is not the issue as I’ve used it before. Could be the altitude too!
Denise says
Thanks for this! I finally got around to making these but used just the dough recipe to make buns. Today for lunch I had a mushroom burger using one and oh my, it lived up to my dreams! The bun is substantial and delicious and held up very well. I’ll make these on a regular basis now.