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These Italian breadsticks, grissini, are deliciously snappy on the outside and a little soft on the inside. They are gentle on your teeth and not at all rock hard like some bread sticks can be.
Displayed attractively on a dining table, the long and slender grissini adds panache to a dressed table. Try making these for your upcoming festive spread.
Serve them alongside cheeseboards, antipasto or wrap some parma ham around it. Use them as a dipping stick to dip into almost anything! Nutella is great!!
I prefer the plain ones but my guests prefer the ones with a cheese coating. Those disappear faster than I can bake them!
GRISSINI, BREADSTICKS
Serve them alongside cheeseboards, antipasto or wrap some parma ham around it. Use them as a dipping stick to dip into almost anything! Nutella is great!!
I prefer the plain ones but my guests prefer the ones with a cheese coating. Those disappear faster than I can bake them!
GRISSINI, BREADSTICKS
Prep:
|
10 minutes
|
Cook: | 20 to 25 minutes |
Inactive: | Approximately 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours rising time |
Level: | Easy |
Makes: | About 20 grissini |
Oven Temperature: | 400 F (200 C) |
Can recipe be doubled? | Yes |
Make ahead? | Cheese coated grissini will not keep well. Plain breadsticks or those sprinkled with dried toppings like sesame or poppy seeds keeps well up to 5 days. Store in an airtight container. |
Ingredients
For the dough
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose/plain flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
I use SAF Instant.
1 Tablespoons full cream milk powder
This gives the breadsticks flavour and prevents them from being rock hard. To substitute, replace 1/3 cup of the 1 cup of water called for below with fresh milk.
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water
For the cheese coating
(enough to coat half the recipe of dough, ~ 10 breadsticks)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese or cheese of your choice
To make cheese coating easier to adhere, pulverised it in a food processor to a fine powder.
1 Tablespoon rosemary snipped tiny or replace with dried herb of your choice
Pepper and a little salt to taste (depends on how salty your cheese is)
3 Tablespoons olive oil for coating
Method
Using a mixer
Combine all dough ingredients into mixer bowl and attach dough hook to beater shaft. Start mixer at low speed to prevent the flour from flying out of bowl and all over the kitchen counter. Work up to medium high speed gradually.
If the mixture does not seem to be coming together to form a dough, with the machine running, add 1 Tablespoon of water and let the machine go at it for 1 minute. Work in more water the same way if required. Err on the side of a more moist dough. If there is dough stuck to the sides of the bowl. Scrape down.
If the dough is too wet, add 1 Tablespoon of flour and let the machine work it in for 1 minute. Add more flour the same way if required. Again, err on the side of a more moist dough.
It usually takes 7 to 10 minutes of machine kneading before I am happy to shape the dough into a ball. At this point, the sides of my bowl would be relatively, though not entirely cleaned of dough and the dough would have gathered up on the hook. It would look pliable, smooth and a little tacky.
You are working towards being able to gather up the dough to form a relatively smooth looking ball. So oil/butter your hands. The dough should feel slightly sticky to touch. Do not be tempted to over flour the dough. It might take you more or less kneading time before your dough reaches this stage.
Pick the dough up and form into a round ball. Tuck loose ends under the dough. Before returning dough to mixer bowl, oil/butter the bowl. Return dough to mixer bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or tea towel and let it rise in a warm place until almost double in size. It might take anywhere between 1 and 1 and 1/2 hours, depending on how warm it is.
Working dough by hand
Place dry ingredients on a flat working surface or in a very large bowl. Create a well in the centre of dry ingredients. Pour water into the well and work it in slowly into the dry ingredients. To start kneading, you have to work with pushing the dough out with the palm of your hand and pulling it back with your fingers.
At any point, if the dough is too dry or wet to work, you can add 1 Tablespoon of water or flour and work it in completely before adding more water or flour. Err on the side of a moist and not a dry dough. Your kneading surface should be clean with no dough stuck on it.
You will know you are doing well when you find yourself working with a smooth elastic ball. Knead another 5 minutes. Pick the dough up, oil/butter your hands if the dough is a little sticky (it should be a little sticky) and shape into a round ball, tuck loose ends under the dough. Do not be tempted to add more flour.
Oil/butter your bowl which should be large enough to allow the dough to almost double in size. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or tea towel and let it rise in a warm place until almost double in size. It might take anywhere between one to 1 and 1/2 hours, depending on how warm it is.
After rising - time to shape
Turn on your oven to 400 F (200 C). One oven rack should be positioned at middle and the other oven rack positioned at lower middle.
When the dough has risen to almost double its size, stick your finger in flour and poke the dough slightly. It should leave the indentation you made. Punch dough down and without much kneading, transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a rough 3/4" (2 cm) thick rectangle.
My oven has a longer length compared to most oven. So I divide the dough into 20 strips by marking it with a bench scraper or knife. Do not cut through dough as yet.
If you have an oven with a shorter length, then you have to divide the dough accordingly, my guess is 24 strips.
Start off first by rolling out plain bread sticks. Only use half of the dough as you want to keep the remaining half to coat with cheese.
Cut off one strip of dough at a time. Roll each strip to fit the length of your tray. Set the bread sticks about 3/4" (2cm) apart on a baking tray lined with silpat or parchment paper. Cover with a tea towel and let these plain breadsticks rise about 10 minutes before putting them in the oven.
Baking
As soon as you finish rolling and coating the cheese breadsticks would be a good time to put the plain ones in the oven. Set the timer for 10 minutes.
When the timer rings, rotate the baking tray with the plain breadsticks. Place the cheese breadsticks into the oven onto the lower oven rack. Set the timer for 10 minutes.
When it rings, check the plain breadsticks. Press on it. It should feel crisp with just a slight give. If it is not quite there, let it bake for another 3 to 5 minutes and retest.
When the plain breadsticks are done baking, transfer them to a cooling rack. In the meantime, transfer the cheese coated breadsticks to the middle oven rack and set the timer for 10 minutes. Watch that the cheese does not burn. As soon as they feel crisp when you poke it, remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack.
Serve the cheese coated breadsticks immediately. Plain ones can be stored in airtight containers.
Tips
White or black sesame seeds. Poppy seeds. A little black mustard seeds. A mixture of fennel and white sesame seeds. These are just a few of the many ways you can top bread sticks.
I like mine plain as I tend to serve them with a pate, alongside antipasto or with a cheeseboard. I don't like too many flavours clashing.
You top and serve them as you wish. Either way they will be good.
A cheeseboard. Great for those upcoming parties.
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