The Best Breadsticks You Will Ever Eat.

So I've found my new favorite blog site, ourbestbites.com. They have sooo many good recipes and this is one of them. This is actually a recipe for Pizza Dough but you can make breadsticks too and let me tell you. They are amazing. They do take some planning and time but are so worth it. Even Mike, who is not a bread eater, could not get enough of them. According to him they, "are the best breadsticks I've ever eaten in my life." Since I don't have the forethought to take pictures of anything, you can go to ourbestbites and see the pictures which may be helpful. Look under recipes, bread, then Breadsticks (Pizza Dough). Otherwise, here's the description below:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups very warm water (115-130 degrees)
1 Tbsp. yeast (I use the kind specifically made for pizza dough, i seem to have greater success with it)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 Cups flour

What To Do:
In a large bowl, combine yeast, water and sugar. I have a hard time knowing how hot the water needs to be. If you make it too hot, it will kill the yeast, too cool, it won't activate the yeast. Ugh. I don't have a thermometer so I just dip my finger in it and if it's hot enough to wear I wouldn't want to leave my finger in it, that's good. wow, that probably isn't helpful at all. Anyway, let it sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble.

Add the salt and mix well. Next, add 1 1/2 cups of flour. This is where it gets messy. Once that's mixed in real well, add more flour 1/4-1/2 cups at a time until the dough stops sticking to the bowl and your hands. I tried using my dough hook on my kitchenaid, don't bother, just mix it by hand. Messy but easier.

Transfer the dough to a plastic or glass bowl sprayed with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size. My trick here is to heat your oven to 300 degrees or so and just set the bowl on top of it. It helps it rise faster :)

Once risen, take the dough out and roll it out on a floured surfact into a rectangle. I'm bad at this so mine turns into a blob. It's okay. Then cut the dough into 12 strips the short way. yes, I'm dumb and have cut it the long way, it just makes super LONG and skinny breadsticks. Then take two of the strips at a time and twist them together. I mash one end of the strips together and twist.

Lay the twists on a greased cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 more minutes. While they rise, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. This won't take long if you are using my trick because your oven will already be 300 degrees.

Here's my own twist that's different from the other recipe:
make a breadstick topping with the powdery parmesan, garlic salt (I use Lowery's. If you don't own Lowery's garlic salt with parsley go buy some because you will use it on everything. Just do it.) and italian herb seasoning. I don't have a recipe for this because I made it up. Just mix it together with equal parts or whatever you think would taste good. Once the breadsticks have risen, (I feel like this should be an Easter recipe with all the times I've used the word "risen" in this post). Brush with melted butter and your garlic topping. Ourbestbites tells you do it after but I like it baked in.

Then bake for 10-12 minutes until golden on top. Oh my gosh. So good. My new favorite food.