Five Little Chefs – Divine Breadsticks

  It was spaghetti and meatballs night. The Little Chefs wanted something else so they decided breadsticks would be a great new recipe to try. We found Divine Breadsticks from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Luckily we had the ingredients on hand. That is what I love about bread, the ingredients are staples right in your pantry. While we were making these, Little Chef A made a GREAT observation. She said, “Mom, we just COPY recipes. I want my own book with my own recipes.” I explained, yes that is what cooking is all about, copying recipes. Some people make up their own, but most people copy.

The sugar, salt, and yeast and flour was measured.

 

The flour and water was added.

Next the Little Chefs added the yeast, sugar, and salt. Then the mixer was turned on to do it’s job.

 

  The only problem was, the mixer doesn’t do so well with a small amount of dough. So, Little Chef A took the dough out and learned how to knead bread. She said what do I do? I first told her to pretend it is play doh. That is when she dug her finger tips into the dough and pulled them out shocked they were covered in “sticky,” “gooey” dough.

I was a little smarter and put the camera down and actually showed her what to do, and instructed her to use the palm of her hand and not her fingers!  After a few minutes of folding over and pressing she said, “My hands are gooey and dirty. Can I please go wash my hands?”

Little Chefs C and D wanted to help roll the dough out. They each took a turn holding the cutting board and rolling the rolling pin.

Now it was time for the next fun part! Cutting the dough into strips using a pizza cutter. I instructed them to cut straight and even lines. They obviously did a great job following my instructions!

Little Chef C started, then Little Chef D wanted a turn.  I started putting my finger on the other side of the dough to help get even straighter lines…or at least that was the hope.

 

  After showing them how to twist two different breadsticks it was their turn. They had so much fun twisting the breadsticks and were so amazed that they grew longer while twisting! They doubled them over on the pan to get them to fit.

 

  They each put on different herbs and cheese. Some were heavy handed, others were even more heavy handed! They cut them, twisted them, and seasoned them just as beautifully as they could.

  They came out of the oven looking so delicious they could hardly wait to taste them. Little Chef A said they didn’t have too much flavor, they tasted mostly like bread. I told her a lot of people like breadsticks with spaghetti because they like to dip the breadstick into the sauce before taking a bite. She tried it and said ohhh I like this a lot better! I further explained we can COPY the bread dough, but next time she could choose which herbs and cheese to put on top and that way it would be her own recipe. Little Chef A was so excited to hear that! She does not forget a thing. I’m not sure what the next recipe will bring. I’m sure she will want to change something!

Divine Breadsticks

Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Divine Breadsticks

*Note: as with all yeast doughs, I never use the flour amount called for in the recipe as a hard fast rule (unless a weight measure is given and then I pull out my kitchen scale). Because humidity, temperature, altitude and a multitude of other factors can impact how much flour you need in your yeast doughs, I always judge when to quit adding flour by the texture and look and feel of the dough rather than how much flour I’ve added compared to the recipe. This tutorial on yeast may help identify how a perfectly floured dough should be.
*Makes about 20-25 breadsticks, depending on how thick or thin you cut them
INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 ½ cups flour (I usually use a combination of unbleached all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour but use whatever you have on hand!)
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted (for the baking sheet)
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto an 11X17-inch baking sheet. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice (I vary this depending on my mood but it usually consists of rosemary, basil, or thyme in some form and crushed finely) and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.
Recipe Source: adapted from Erin