Garlic & Parmesan Breadsticks

Original Recipe HERE

These have gotten rave reviews every time I've made them.  I dare say they're addicting.
 

The first time I made this, I followed the original recipe's instructions about melting butter in the pan and rolling the dough in it before cooking.  I was pressed for time the second time I made them, so I just painted the baking sheets with melted butter, put the strips of dough on them, and generously painted with more butter before sprinkling Parmesan with a heavy hand.  They were just as good - maybe even a little better.  The flavor wasn't as prevalent, but they cooked a little faster, and the crispty-outside-to-soft-center ratio was more balanced.

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 & 1/2 cups water

3 & 1/2 to 4 cups flour [I used almost 4 cups]

1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder, or to taste
2 teaspoons oregano, or to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter, melted
Parmesan cheese

Directions
(1) In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, yeast, and sugar.
(2) Once yeast is bubbly, add 2 cups of flour.  Mix with dough hook until all flour is combined.
(3) Sprinkle in remaining flour, salt, garlic powder, and oregano.  Mix until dough is no longer sticky.
(4) Cover bowl with a towel.  Let dough rise at least 20 minutes (I've gone over an hour).
(5) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease baking sheet(s) with about 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
(6) On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle approximately 1/2" thick.
(7) Use a pizza cutter to cut strips into sizes that will fit onto your baking sheets.
(8) Melt remaining butter in microwave.
(9) Either dip strips in butter and coat with Parmesan or lay them on baking sheets and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with Parmesan.
(10) Bake 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown on top.

Kid Participation:
* Roll out dough
* Dip or paint strips
* Twist strips if doing so (careful that they don't stretch them too much when doing so)

 

Breadsticks

Original Recipe HERE

As long as you plan ahead and allow for enough time for rising, these are easy, filling, and worth the effort.  I don't have a cool stand mixer (yet), so I did everything by hand and it was manageable.  The final product made me think of Olive Garden - which is a positive, since I love that place.  I'm under no illusions that it's "fine, authentic Italian dining" (despite their attempts to convince us every single employee gets months of training in the mother country), but I don't care.  I like to fill up on the breadsticks and salad (free unlimited refills!) and then eat a portion of my entree...and bring the rest home for tomorrow's lunch.  I'm cheap frugal and practical like that.

Next time I'll add more seasoning to the dough itself (garlic salt, oregano, basil, etc.).  The portion sizes of the sticks is generous, and sometimes I didn't get enough of the garlic butter in each bite.  Also, these could be made smaller or in other shapes to maximize the flavor-to-bite ratio.  I like the suggestion of cinnamon and sugar and will attempt to remember to try them that way.

Update: I didn't have time to make the fancy twists next time, so I rolled out the dough in as even a rectangle as possible and then sliced it into 12 approximately symmetrical pieces (so I had flat-ish, skinny rectangles).  I baked them for 12 minutes, then brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled with Parmesan and put them back in for an additional 2 minutes.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm (105-115 degrees F) water

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 to 4 1/2 cups flour

melted butter

Parmesan cheese or garlic salt

Directions

(1) In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

(2) Add salt and stir. Add 1 & 1/2 cups flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (between 3-4 cups) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

(3) Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

(4) Remove from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.

(5) Grease or spray a baking sheet.

(6) Roll each piece of dough into a "snake" and then drape over your forefinger at the halfway point.  Twist the dough several times; pinch the ends together.

(7) Place "dough rope" on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces.
(8) Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes. With there's about 15 minutes left, preheat oven to 425.

(9) When done rising, bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

(10) Rub or brush melted butter on top of the breadsticks.  Sprinkle with garlic, Parmesan, or seasoning of choice.

Kid Participation:

* Measure ingredients

* Knead dough (and then follow up by doing it yourself)

* Roll out dough

* Cut dough with pizza cutter

* Make "snakes"

* Twist dough (do not expect uniformity)