As often as we can, the Leader features recipes submitted by members of the student body. Whether you’ve just been itching to express yourself through the culinary arts, or just need a break from Curtis Hall. We’ve got you covered.
Whole Wheat Breadsticks
Time Needeed: Roughly 60 Minutes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp dry active yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-4 cups whole wheat flour
- olive oil
- 1-2 eggs (optional for added fluffiness)
Seasonings/Toppings
- Garlic powder
- Italian seasoning
- salt
- pepper
- shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- shredded parmesan cheese
- 3Tbs melted butter
Directions
Mix the warm water and yeast in a separate bowl. Let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes to proof the yeast (become foamy). Once proofed, add the egg(s) (optional), and gradually add the flour while mixing the dough thoroughly as you go. Depending on your mixture you may need more or less than 3 cups of flour so tailor the amount of flour as needed. *Tip: Read “Troubleshooting” for additional help working with dry active yeast.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes with a wet paper towel over the top of the mixing bowl, it should increase in size up to about double at most. *Tip: Clean out mixing bowl prior to resting dough, and lightly coat the dough in olive oil to help keep from sticking. Prepare the sheet pan for the dough by lining with aluminum foil or parchment paper then set aside for later use.
After the dough has risen, knead/ roll dough into a rectangular flattened shape. Use a pizza cutter to easily cut the dough into even strips (roughly an inch in width). Twist the breadsticks to fit them to the shape of your sheet pan and lay them with as much space in between as you can fit. Add seasonings, toppings, cheese, etc. (Seasoning can be mixed into the dough and or sprinkled on top.) *Tip: If using aluminum foil, put olive oil on it to help the breadsticks from sticking to the sheet pan.
Let breadsticks rise for 10-15 minutes to increase fluffiness. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F.
Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown. After removing the breadsticks from the oven, add melted butter and any additional desired seasonings/toppings.
Enjoy!
Troubleshooting
When proofing dry active yeast, adding a teaspoon of sugar can be useful. Yeast is a living organism and will feed off the sugar. If yeast doesn’t get foamy at all, try again with new yeast- don’t add it to the dough.
Yeast may not get foamy if the water is too hot or too cold, given it is a living organism, it is possible to kill it. Generally, if the water is a bit warmer than room temperature it works best. I’ll often use 1 cup slightly cold water and a half cup of hot water to get a good temperature. Breadsticks may be too salty if you add salt as a seasoning on top of salted butter. Unsalted butter can be great in the kitchen, but not always necessary
If you’re hesitant about all whole wheat flour or new to it, you can use 3 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour to lighten the mixture.
If you want to get very fancy, you can add crushed cloves of garlic to the butter mixture with seasonings and lightly heat it on the stove. You can also braid the breadsticks just because it looks cool. (:
Happy baking!
