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Breadsticks

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Makes 50 to 100 1x

Time A day or so, largely unattended

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
  • 1/2 cup semolina or cornmeal

Instructions

  1. Put the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse once or twice. Add the oil and pulse a couple of times. With the machine running, add 1 cup warm (not hot) water through the feed tube. Continue to add water, 1 tablespoon at a time and processing briefly after each addition, until the mixture forms a ball. It should be a little shaggy and quite sticky.
  2. Put a little oil in a large bowl and transfer the dough to it, turning to coat it well. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place. Lightly flour the work surface and turn the dough out of the bowl onto the surface. Fold the dough a couple of times to deflate it, then shape it once again into a ball. Put it back in the bowl, cover again, and let rise in the refrigerator for several hours or preferably overnight, until doubled in volume.
  3. Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets with oil and sprinkle very lightly with semolina or cornmeal.
  4. Cut the dough into 3 pieces; keep 2 covered while you work with the other. To roll by hand: On a well-floured surface, roll 1 piece of dough out as thinly as possible into a large rectangle about a foot long. Use a sharp knife or pastry wheel to cut the dough into roughly 1/4-inch- thick strips (slightly smaller is better than slightly bigger) along the long side.
  5. Transfer the strips to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart, and brush with oil. Bake until crisp and golden, 10 to 20 minutes, then cool completely on racks. Repeat with the remaining dough. Serve or store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe variations

Herbed Breadsticks
Add 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, or sage to the dough along with
the oil.

Parmesan Breadsticks
Try dipping these in tomato sauce: Add up to 364 cup grated Parmesan cheese to the flour mixture at the start of Step 1.

Cheddar-Jalapeño Breadsticks
Add 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese and 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped, to the flour at the start of Step 1.

Olive or Dried Tomato Breadsticks
Darkly colored and full flavored: Before beginning to make the dough in Step 1, purée 1/2 cup pitted olives (green or black) or dried tomatoes with the oil in the food processor. Add the dry ingredients and proceed with the recipe.

Sesame Rice Breadsticks
Replace 1 cup of the flour with brown rice flour. Sprinkle the breadsticks with light or black sesame seeds before baking.