Bread and life....

Today was baking day here at the ~S~ house and we made bread. YUM!! I still have a loaf of pretty french bread rising, but while I was waiting for that I decided to try a new recipe for bread sticks. Now, I love bread sticks. You can take me out for pizza, but if they have good bread sticks, I'll eat them first. 

Today I tried to make Olive Garden's famous bread sticks, and I think we have a winner for the recipe here. They are a little more dense than I would like to have had them, but they taste great, and if you have your handy dandy Kitchen Aid mixer, they are so easy to put together :)

Have you ever craved food and really wanted it but after you got it, you were still hungry? You might have been hungry for something other than food...it says in John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.  Have you ever thought that your hunger might not be a physical one but a spiritual one? Have you ever asked Jesus to help you with your spiritual hunger? I encourage you to visit your local independent Baptist KJV Bible preaching church to hear how your spiritual hunger can be quenched. Or if you are not courageous enough yet to go, visit my home church's website at: www.visitgcbc.com to hear some of the wonderful preaching messages by Pastor Ken Shaver.

Knock Off Olive Garden Bread Sticks

Dough: 

1 1/2 cups warm water (with yeast you are looking about 110 degrees max so you do not kill the yeast)
2 Tbs sugar 
1 Tbs yeast
1 Tbs salt 
2 Tbs butter, softened 
4-5 Cups flour (I used 4, but reserved the last cup for when I was rolling out the dough)

Topping: 

3 Tbs butter melted 
sea salt 
1 tsp garlic powder 

For the dough, pour the water into a stand mixer with the sugar and yeast, let that sit and froth for about 10 minutes. Add salt, butter, and 2 cups of flour. Mix the dough on low. Add the rest of the flour a half cup at a time, until dough scrapes the sides of the bowl clean. Mix the dough about 2 minutes on medium speed, until its soft and easy to work with. (The original recipe called for 5 minutes, but after 2 minutes it was ready to work with.)
Let the dough rest in the bowl until doubled in size, about 1 hour and then roll it out. 

Roll the dough out into a long log, spray a knife with cooking spray and cut the dough into 12-14 pieces. Roll those pieces into about 6 inch long snakes. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray, ( I usually only use one) and lay the bread sticks out leaving about 2 inches between each one.

Place them in the oven with the temperature turned to 170 degrees. Let them rise for about 15 minutes, or until doubled in size.(Putting them in the oven is the best way to help them double, if not then you have to wait and wait and wait for the dough to double again.)
Once risen, brush them with the 1 1/2 T of melted butter and sprinkle them with salt. (I had left the salt off, and the tasted just fine).
Now preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake them for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. While they are baking combine the rest of the melted butter with 1 tsp garlic powder. 

When the bread sticks are golden brown, remove them from the oven and brush them with the butter/garlic mixture.

These are very tasty, and very quick to make if you need bread for a meal. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does :)

Original recipe can be found at:
 http://readableeatables.blogspot.com/2011/08/olive-garden-breadsticks.html