Orange Bowknots

O.M.G. orange bowknots.

Have you ever had ’em? They are delicious. Surprisingly delicious. They taste like a delicious sweet roll, with a hint of orange, topped with an amazing slightly orange-y glaze. Okay, that’s a terrible description which isn’t going to sell these awesome pastries. I swear though, with their sweet taste and dense yet fluffy texture- they sell themselves.

I know they don’t look like the prettiest pastry – but that’s all on me. I’ve got a lot to learn when it comes to making my treats look fancy. :) They taste delicious though, I promise!

I followed the recipe straight out of my BHG cookbook (with the plaid cover) – I absolutely adore that cookbook. It rarely leads me astray. Here’s the link to the recipe for orange bowknots.

And since that link doesn’t show any pictures for the process of making these, I’ll share mine:)

1. Stir 2 cups of flour & a package of yeast together in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, heat & stir 1 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until just warm and butter is almost melted. (Preheat the oven to 400 degrees at this point.)

2. Finely shred 2 tablespoons of orange peel (I believe we ended up using 2 oranges for the peel & the fresh orange juice).

3. Squeeze 1/4 cup of orange juice from the oranges you used for the orange peel.

4. Add milk mixture to flour mixture & add 2 eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on medium-low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Stir in orange peel, orange juice, and as much of the remaining 3 cups of flour as you can. (You don’t have to use it all.)

5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface & knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth & elastic. (3-5 minutes) Shape into a ball, place in a greased bowl & turn once. Cover & let rise in a warm place until doubled. (About 1 hour) We have the oven preheated at this time & place the bowl on the warm stove.

6. Punch down dough. Turn onto a slightly floured surface & divide in half. Cover & let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each dough portion into a 12×7 inch rectangle. (My lovely niece had so much fun helping with this part:) ) Cut each rectangle into twelve 7 inch long strips. (A pizza cutter worked really well for this!) Tie each strip loosely into a knot.

7. Grease 2 baking sheets & arrange knots 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Cover & let rise in warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

8. Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from baking sheets & let cool on wire racks.

9. Drizzle with orange glaze.  (The glaze is simply 1 cup powdered sugar stirred together with 1 teaspoon of orange peel, mixed with enough orange juice to make a drizzling consistency. I decided that next time I am doubling the glaze!!)

I absolutely cannot wait to make these again!

Have you ever tried them?

xoxo,
Kayla