Garlic Bread Sticks

Poor planning on my part created this recipe. I schedule the family meals a week in advance and go shopping all at once. Wednesday nights are typically meals that can be cooked pretty quickly and easily, especially on school nights, so that we can get to church on time. H and J get home from school around 4:30 and we are out the door shortly after 6:30 pm so if I want to get to talk to them about their day and not have to eat while standing up it's got to be quick.

 Anyway, I had spaghetti on the menu. Nothing fancy. Jar sauce that we spice up and dry noodles and garlic bread or bread sticks. Usually we pick up an italian or french loaf on the discount bakery rack and season it up for semi-homemade garlic bread or some discount bread sticks. None this week, which didn't concern me since I was SURE I had something in the freezer. Only I didn't. So I fell back on a recipe for Pretzel Bites I found on the web and played with it. This is what I came up with, and let me tell you - no more store bought bread sticks for us! 

  You will need:
1 1/2 cups warm water 
 1 Tbsp honey 
1 package yeast 4 cups flour (possibly more) 
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
1 Tbsp kosher salt 

 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
1 Tbsp garlic powder 
pinch of salt

  Directions: In a large bowl or stand mixer put the first 3 ingredients. (be sure your water isn't too hot, between 110° and 115° is best)  Let this sit for 5 minutes.  You are wanting the yeast to bloom.  Then add the next 3 ingredients.  This should give you a pretty thick dough so you may need to add extra flour.  Knead for 5 minutes either by hand or use the dough hook on your stand mixer.

Lightly grease a large bowl and place your dough into it.  Turn so that the greased side of the dough is up.  Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm place to rise for about an hour.  Dough should double in size.  

Divide dough in half and on a lightly floured surface pat and stretch each half into a rectangle that approximately measures 7 inches by 12 inches.  Using a knife or pizza cutter cut into strips.  I usually cut the dough in half along the 12 inch side (2 six inch pieces), then each 1/2 in half and then cut those halves in half.   Place strips onto a baking sheet.  You can get a little creative here.  We sometimes twist the dough first or roll it a little.  If you like light and fluffy bread sticks allow them to rise a second time for about an hour or until doubled.  If you are impatient like me you can skip this for some chewier breadsticks.

Mix the last 3 ingredients together and brush each breadstick with the mixture.  Bake in a 400° oven for about 15 minutes.  Brush with remaining butter mixture and enjoy.  

Makes 16 bread sticks.

Until next time,