CHEESY GARLIC BREADSTICKS – TASTE & CREATE

Hubby was asking for pizza and I needed to do a recipe for Taste and Create.  So this recipe from NIVEDHANAM, my partner this month solved my problem.  We compromised on her bread sticks and my BBQ chicken salad.

The breadsticks were great and really easy!
Taste and Create was started as a food event by Nicole from For the Love of Food.  The whole purpose of Taste and Create was, and has been, and continues to be to create a community of bloggers who test each others’ recipes and share links. The participants of the event are paired together and try a new recipe from one another’s blog. 

CHEESY GARLIC BREADSTICKS

All Purpose Flour – 2 cups
Warm Water – 1/2 cup (About 110 degrees F)
Warm Milk – 1/2 cup (About 110 degrees F)
Salt – 3/4 teaspoon
Sugar – 1 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning – 1 tablespoon + 1 tablespoon
Olive Oil – 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons + 1 table spoon
Cheese – 3 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons (grated)
Rapid Rise / Instant Yeast – 2 1/4 tea spoons
Garlic – 3 tablespoons (minced fine / use garlic paste)
  • In a mixer bowl, add warm water, warm milk, yeast and sugar and mix well and leave it to froth. 
  • Once the mixture is frothy, add 2 table spoons olive oil, salt, flour and run the mixer on low until most of the flour is absorbed. 
  • Add 3 table spoons cheese, garlic, 1 table spoon Italian seasoning and run the mixer until it forms a ball – around 5 minutes. Add a table spoon more flour if the dough is very sticky. If doing by hand, it will take around 7 minutes of kneading. 
  • Transfer to a greased bowl and allow it to rise for about 30 minutes 
  • Take a 10X13 sheet pan and grease it well with 2 table spoons of olive oil 
  • Spread the dough on the sheet pan and cover it with a greased plastic sheet. DO NOT USE KITCHEN TOWEL as it can stick to the dough and will be difficult to remove. 
  • Preheat the oven to 210 degrees C 
  • After 1 hour or after risen to double the volume, cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch thick strips and spread a table spoon of oil on the dough, sprinkle 2 table spoons cheese and Italian seasoning 
  • Bake in the oven for 14 – 20 minutes until it becomes golden and corners become crisp. It is a good idea to remove the breadsticks around 10 minutes and run the pizza cutter through the cut area to make it easier. Also rotate the pan half way through 
  • Remove from the oven and cool it in the pan for 2 minutes and transfer to a cutting board. Cut with the pizza cutter or a knife and serve hot with marinara sauce.
Points to note Yeast– (from https://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/yeast-bread-primer.html)  Somewhere between 95°F and 115°F is fine. With such a wide temperature range, you know that yeast is really quite accommodating. Try a few drops of water on your wrist. If it feels warm and comfortable to you, it will feel the same way to the yeast. The temperature has to be 120°F, which feels hot, before it begins to kill the yeast. It has to get all the way to 140°F before all the yeast is completely done in. 140°F feels really hot. If you don’t want to trust yourself the first time around, use a candy thermometer to see if you and the thermometer agree on what is “hot” and what’s just right.