Twisted Garlic Breadsticks

• servings: 8 servings
• active time: 30 minutes
• total time: 2 hours

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons salted butter (56 g)

2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

A few pinches of red pepper flakes (optional)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast, or one packet (7 g)

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (12 g)

1¼ cups warm water (300 ml)

3½-3¾ cups all-purpose flour (475-500 g), plus more for dusting

4 Tablespoons melted butter (56 g)

2 teaspoons salt (12 g)

1 teaspoon garlic powder (2 g)

Directions

Add yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl. Pour the warm water slowly over the top of the yeast, and let the mixture sit for five minutes to allow the yeast to activate.

Add 3½ cups (475 grams) of flour, melted butter, salt, and garlic powder, then stir together until combined. If making the dough by hand, I like using a flexible bench scraper here, as it makes for easy cleaning later.

Kneading with a stand mixer: Knead the dough with a dough hook on speed 2 for 10-15 minutes until the dough is stretchy. As the gluten develops, the dough should begin to form a clump around the dough hook and will no longer stick to the sides of the bowl. If the dough still sticks to the edges of the bowl after five minutes, add more flour about a Tablespoon at a time and 30 seconds apart until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.Kneading by hand: Knead the dough for 15-20 minutes on a clean workspace until the dough is stretchy. As the gluten develops, the dough will go from sticky to tacky. If the dough still seems sticky after 8 minutes of kneading and leaves a lot of residue on your hands, knead in more flour one Tablespoon at a time until the dough is only tacky.

Pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a quarter and slowly pull it apart in your fingers. If it stretches thin enough to see light through it, you have developed enough gluten! If it breaks and doesn't stretch much, knead for another minute and retest.

Cover the bowl with the dough with a lid or kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

Line two half sheet baking pans with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.

Lightly dust your workspace with flour, then remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 16 roughly equal pieces. (Using a kitchen scale here is helpful, as each piece of dough will weigh around 50 grams.)

Working with two pieces of dough at a time, roll each into a log about 8" or 20 cm long. Lay the logs parallel to each other and pinch them together at one end. Pick up the dough at the joint with one hand, then, with your other hand, quickly twist one of the logs of dough around the one hanging. Lay the twist on a prepared pan, tucking in the edges to prevent the twist from unrolling.

Repeat with the remaining dough, placing twists about 4" or 10 cm apart on the baking sheets. Cover with a kitchen towel, then let rise for about 20 minutes until puffy.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Once melted, add the minced or pressed garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir together until the butter is bubbly, then remove from heat.

Bake for 16-20 minutes, until the tops and bottoms of the breadsticks are lightly golden brown.

Brush the garlic butter over the warm breadsticks, then serve immediately.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 breadstick
• Calories: 313
• Total Fat: 12 g
• Saturated Fat: 7 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 31 mg
• Sodium: 624 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 44 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Total Sugars: 2 g
• Protein: 6 g