Garlic Parmigiana Butter Breadsticks

I love bread. I don't care who knows. There are few things I love more than warm, soft bread. Bread is sexy. Bread is delicious. The ancient Egyptians used the same word for bread as they used for life-"aish." Yeah, I get that. Dang, those Egyptians were smart. You never know when a career as a history teacher will have some practical application! Normally, I am a whole-grain bread girl. I love the nutty complexities of whole wheat, barley, spelt, rye. But every so often, you just want a tender, white bread. Not Wonder Bread, but homemade, tender, melt-in-your-mouth, make your husband hug you from behind while you are kneading, kind of bread. So today, to go with my Fire Roasted Tomato Kale and Spicy Italian Sausage soup, I made these beautiful, seductive Garlic Parmigiana Butter Breadsticks. I adapted this recipe from Brooke over at Cheeky Kitchen. You can check out her original post, but I have my tweaks incorporated in this post.

This is NOT a healthy post. Turn around if you are looking for one. But I do encourage you to adopt the following philosophy-if you are going to eat something like this, make it yourself. You will know exactly what you are eating, and you won't be consuming nasty preservatives (I have always wondered how something as simple as bread ends up with 15 ingredients in it on the packaging!). Ok, 'nuff said. I love these breadsticks.




Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Start by dissolving 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast in 2 cups of very warm water. I recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the yeast. Let this stand and proof for about 10 minutes. It should be puffy and foamy.

Measure out six cups of flour. I like the "spoon into the measuring cup and level off" method of flour measurement. You never want to pack your flour into the cup. Loose and fluffy. I also like to aerate my flour once it has been measured by whisking it a little bit to break up any clumps. Someday I will steal my mother's awesome flour sifter and use that instead.

Turn your mixer on low, and begin adding the flour, a 1/2 cup at a time. You don't want a big, tough mess on your hands. You really need to do this slowly. I have needed, at different times, between 5 and 6 cups of flour. Add it until you have a soft dough that pulls away from the side of the bowl. Flour measurements are not set in stone in bread recipes. They are really dependent upon humidity and other factors, so learning the feel of a good dough is important. Mel over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe has a great yeast dough tutorial. Check it out.

 So add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until you have a soft dough that doesn't stick to your fingers. Here is what mine looked like (it was even a little on the sticky side for me). Knead on medium-high for about 5 minutes.

Flour your counter, and tear off a small piece of dough, about the size of an apple. 

Roll the dough into a long rope with your hands.

Fold the rope in half, and twist the dough together until you have a little twisty breadstick.

Continue with the rest of the dough. Place your breadsticks about a 1/2 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Don't worry about perfection. When my stuff is messy, I just call it "rustic." People love that.

Pop the breadsticks in the 300 degree oven. Bake for 5 minutes. Pump up the heat to 400 degrees. Bake for another 8-11 minutes, until the tops are just barely golden brown. Remove from the oven.

Measure out a 1/2 cup of grated parmigiana cheese. Melt a stick of butter in the microwave, and combine the melted butter with three cloves of minced garlic. Use fresh garlic. It makes a difference. 

With a pastry brush, coat the breadsticks with the melted butter and garlic. Sprinkle with the parmigiana. Top this with a sprinkle of sea salt. 

Eat them. Now. More than one. Pair them with this delicious soup. Or with your favorite pasta. Or just eat them because you want to. These are soft and blissful and as good as refined white flour, sugar, butter and cheese can get.

Garlic Parmigiana Butter Breadsticks

Ingredients

-2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast

-2 cups of very warm water

-1/4 cup of sugar

-6 cups of flour

-1 stick of melted butter

-1/2 cup of grated parmigiana cheese

-One teaspoon of sea salt

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Dissolve 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast in 2 cups of very warm water. Add 1/4 cup of sugar, and allow to stand for 10 minutes until puffy.

2. Turn a stand mixer on low, and begin adding the flour 1/2 cup at a time (do not add all at once. Read the recipe notes for more explanation). When the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl and is no longer sticky, your dough is ready. You may not need the full six cups of flour.

3. Flour your counter, and pull off apple-sized pieces of dough. Roll into a long rope with your hands, fold in half, and twist into a breadstick. Place breadsticks on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

4. Bake breadsticks for 5 minutes at 300 degrees. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees. Bake for 8-11 more minutes, until the breadsticks are barely golden in color.

5. Melt 1 stick of butter and mix with 3 cloves of minced, fresh garlic. Brush breadsticks liberally with the butter and garlic micture using a pastry brush.

6. Sprinkle breadsticks generously with 1/2 cup of grated parmigiana cheese. 

7. Sprinkly breadsticks with a teaspoon of sea salt.

8. Serve warm and revel in the deliciousness.