Tried & True Recipe: Garlic Butter Breadsticks

I've talked about my love of soup and I've shared a few of our favorite soup recipes already.  You know what goes great with soup?  Bread.  Bread goes great with everything (or all by itself!), but I really love it alongside soup so I can dunk it in the broth.  I've already shared a recipe for bread bowls, which are SO delicious, but you have to start those well ahead of time.  If you're looking for something a little quicker (and I often am!) then I love this Garlic Butter Breadstick recipe.  These breadsticks only require a single rise, which cuts the prep time in half.  Because of that, you really don't have to plan too far ahead in order to have some fresh, warm, super delicious breadsticks to enjoy with dinner.  These are supposed to be a copy-cat recipe for Olive Garden breadsticks (and who doesn't love those?!  SO good!), but I've adapted them to be made with half whole-wheat flour making them a little more healthful, but they are still very, very tasty and are certainly reminiscent of the Olive Garden variety. 


Garlic Butter Breadsticks
Adapted from One Particular Kitchen, Originally from Food Network Magazine


For the dough:

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt


For the topping:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
garlic powder
salt


Combine yeast with water and a pinch of sugar.  Set aside a few minutes to allow yeast to bloom.

Add remaining ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook.  Add yeast/water mixture.  Allow dough to knead on a low speed ~8 minutes.

Turn dough out onto counter and roll into 2 foot long log.  Cut into 16 equal pieces (I cut the log in half, then in half again, etc.).  Roll the pieces into an appropriate breadstick shape and size (keep in mind these will rise some) and place 2-inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.  Cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm spot (I always use my oven with the light turned on) to rise until doubled (~1 hour).

While dough is rising, pre-heat oven to 400-degrees.

Once dough has properly risen, brush breadsticks with melted butter and sprinkle with salt.  Cook in pre-heated oven until very lightly golden, ~12-15 minutes.  Remove breadsticks from the oven and brush with additional melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Note:  I've had success with freezing the dough before allowing it to rise for later use.  To bake I just place the dough (still frozen) on a baking sheet and allow it to come to room temperature and rise (this takes a couple hours, just keep an eye on it) and then continue on with the recipe as written.  You could also bake off all the breadsticks and freeze some, then just pop them in the oven to re-heat from frozen.  


Enjoy!