I made these for saturday night too. I have wanted to make them for a while and saturday presented the perfect opportunity. The recipe is from Daniel Steven’s Bread book (River Cottage Handbook No. 3), which is a great book and deserves space on any keen cook’s shelf.
I sprinkled some with sea salt, some with freshly ground pepper, some with crushed chilli and the rest with sesame seeds.
Next time I make them I will be more careful not to stretch them when I lift them onto the tray. Stretching leads to thinner parts which cook quicker then the rest. I think they were worth the effort, sometimes it is good to make something that you can buy so easily.
Makes about 30
250g strong white bread flour
250g plain flour
2 tsp fine salt
7g sachet easy bake yeast
glug of olive oil
325ml warm water
Olive oil to brush on breadsticks and then the toppings of your choice or you could leave them plain.
Method
Place the flours, salt and yeast in a bowl and add the olive oil and the water and mix to a sticky dough. Turn onto a work surface and knead until the dough feels smooth and elastic. Form into a ball place back into the bowl and cover with a large bin liner. Leave until the dough has doubled in size.
Press the air out of the dough gently with your fingertips and then roll the dough out on a floured surface until it is about 1 cm thick. I split the dough in half before I rolled it out so that it didn’t become unmanageable.
Then cut into strips as wide and as long as you want. Lift carefully onto a lightly greased baking tray (I used four baking trays for all of the dough), brush lightly with olive oil and then sprinkle your topping on. Cover again with the bin liner and leave to rise for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°c, gas mark 6 or use the roasting oven of the Aga and then cook the breadsticks for about 20 minutes until they are golden. Cool on a wire rack.
You’re teasing now; what did you have for dinner once you’d got past the nibbles?
Nice photo; very arty. They look crunchy, which is a good look for breadsticks.
Well, we had brisket but the sorry tale is that I have now cooked it the same way three times and each time I have forgotten to take a picture of it. One day soon I will remember to take a photo and post it here. Thanks for the kind comments.
Homemade is best. Gorgeous photo!
Thanks Tracy, and to get a compliment from the queen of photography makes my heart sing.
They look fantastic. I too have been meaning to have a try at breadsticks so will note your comments for when I (finally!) get around to it ;0)
Thanks Chele – add it to that growing list 🙂
My hubby and I could make a meal out of these – they look lovely and crunchy! Homemade is always nicer than store bought.
🙂 Mandy
Thanks and you are right Mandy, homemade is always best even if not perfect.
As you can see I am just catching up with everyone again!
I should buy this book because it has had rave reviews. The breadsticks look superb much better than buying them.
Hi Margaret, it is a really good book, I use it a lot and it has helped my bread making skills no end.
A tempting and teasing photograph. I’d love these for tonight – Friday night nibbles and I would see my hand going straight for the chilli flaked one.
Thanks Mangocheeks, the chilli flaked ones were good.
These breadsticks are gorgeous!
Ah thanks Michele.
Kath, your breadsticks look fantastic and nice to have a choice. Uniformity makes me think products must be be factory made, yours look infinitely preferable. Since we made breadsticks on the cookery course I went to in Bath last year, I’ve been meaning to try again and somehow I’ve not managed it. I have the RC preserves book but not the bread one. So many good books to get.
Thanks Choc, how were the breadsticks you made on the course? The RC books are really good, we have the preserves one, the veg patch one and the hedgerow one too, all worth a read.
We were making Middle Eastern flatbreads which were really good and just made some breadsticks with some of the dough. It was a while ago now and my poor memory can’t keep up, but I was pleased with them.
I am very jealous of you doing that bread course – maybe one day….
Mmmm! They look so rustic and homey. I could just scoop up a dollop of humous on one right now!
Thanks Cathy, yes humous would be a very good dip to go with these.
The stretches and twists of these breadsticks are beautiful–and I imagine the flavor is grand—superior to the store-bought.
Thank you Nancy for your kind words.
Daniel Stevens’ Bread handbook is one of my favourite books, I was a bit wary of making anything yeast-based till I read it but he explains everything in such simple terms that it demystifies it all. Such a fantastic book. Anyway your breadsticks look gorgeous 🙂
You are absolutely right Aveen, it is a really great introductory book to yeast cookery. His words of advice have made a massive difference to my daily loaf. Thanks for your lovely comment.
These look fantastic – I have such a weakness for bread.
Thank you Caroline.
Cor, thank you for these – they look delicious and I’ve been looking for something to make for summer picnics!
I might try doing 3 kinds – plain, with poppy seeds and sesame seeds!
Thank you Maggie, I hope you love them.