Garlic Butter Breadsticks

Dear Sourdoughmaniacs, 

Raise your hand if, like me, you are a die-hard garlic fan. I firmly believe that the amount of garlic one uses in a recipe shouldn’t be measured with a kitchen scale but rather the heart. The same goes for vanilla and cheese, but that’s a different story and at least two separate recipes. ?

If you are ready to raise your picnic or snack game to new heights, grab your starter, and let’s get to it. 

This recipe was created in collaboration with @spar.si for my series The ABC’s of Sourdough.

Here’s what we’ll need:

THE DOUGH

(for approximately 12-16 breadsticks)

  • 300g of white all-purpose flour or T500 flour
  • 120g of water
  • 30g of milk
  • 60g of bubbly, active levain/well-fed sourdough starter
  • 6g of salt
  • 15g of sugar
  • 15g of room temperature butter (or oil for a plant-based option)

GARLIC BUTTER

  • 100g room temperature butter (for a vegan option, use any form of plant-based butter instead)
  • 10g finely chopped garlic cloves (or more if your heart calls for it)
  • 1/4 tablespoon of salt

To make the garlic butter, mix all the ingredients together until everything is equally combined. 

You can also use a food processor for this step. 

(EGG) WASH: Prior to baking the breadsticks, brush them with water or a beaten and lightly salted egg.

MAKING THE BREADSTICKS: 

Put water, milk, salt, sugar, and levain into a bowl and mix to dissolve the ingredients. Pour this mixture to the flour and stir with a spoon to start forming the dough. Once the mass starts clumping together you can begin kneading. Do so until all the ingredients are well incorporated and there are no dry patches. It shouldn’t take too long and you don’t need to over-knead at this point. Let the dough rest for approximately 15 minutes. 

After 15min it’s time to add the butter. Do so by first smearing the softened butter across the entire surface of the dough, then start massaging it using your fingers. If the dough is stubborn and refuses to absorb the butter, move it onto your kitchen counter or table and put your arm muscles to work. Keep kneading and massaging the dough until the butter has fully absorbed. 

Cover the dough and let it bulk rise at room temperature until it doubles in size (typically around 3-5 hours). Afterwards, you can store the dough in the fridge to ferment overnight or make the breadsticks right away.

TIP: If you don’t feel like getting an arm workout and have a stand kitchen mixer handy, use it! It will make this process quicker and easier. 

HINT: If despite your best manual efforts, the dough still doesn’t want to absorb the butter, cover it and let it rest for approximately 10 minutes, then try again. 

FILLING & SHAPING THE BREADSTICKS: 

Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape (approximately 35x45cm or approximately 14×18 inches) about 3 mm or about 1/10 of an inch  thick. 

Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut the dough in half along the longer edge. Smear each of the halves with garlic butter, but make sure you don’t spread it all the way to the edge. Leave a bit of the dough bare so that it will stick together better. 

Roll each of the two butter-smeared dough “sheets” into a roll along their longer edge. Then roll them against the counter so that you get two long dough “ropes”. Pinch the edges of each rope together then cut them into a desired length to get your breadsticks. Make sure you close off the ends of each breadstick to prevent the garlic butter filling from dripping out as the breadsticks bake. If you want to further elongate and shape the breadsticks, roll them against the counter a little bit more, then place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. 

Cover the breadsticks with cling film or a second tray and let them proof until they have doubled in size. Make sure to leave enough room in between them so they don’t stick together. 

BAKING:

Before baking, give the breadsticks an egg-wash (you can also use water) then bake them in a preheated oven at 210° C or 410° F, until they look nice and golden/light brown – approximately 20 minutes without steam.

HINT: Baking time can vary from oven to oven, so keep an eye on them just in case! 

HINT: Once the breadsticks finish baking, smear them with any garlic butter you might have left over.

HINT: If, like me, you like it extra garlicky, make 2 batches of the garlic butter so that you can dip the breadsticks into it while they are still warm – so yummy! 

Share this recipe with a fellow garlic fan and let me know how many cloves you would actually use! ???

Enjoy your day and let’s bake the world a better place.

Yours truly fermented,

Anita

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