Garlic Parmesan Bread Sticks.

BREAD STICKS

(This recipe is an easy fix to round off a perfectly planned Italian Meal. You may serve it with Pasta or with a steaming hot bowl of soup on a a rainy or chill day.)

Ingredients : 

1 egg (optional) , 1/4th cup olive oil (can be substituted by any oil without overpowering aroma) ,

1 tbspn butter , 1 packet (2-1/4th tspn) Active Dry Yeast , 1-1/4th tspn salt 

Dry Ingredients

3.5 cups all purpose flour , 1/4th cup sugar , 1 cup luke warm water

Procedure :

Sift the dry ingredients once to get rid of lumps if any. Add the egg , butter , Olive oil to he flour and mix it well. 

Adding egg is optional. The bread turns out great even without the egg. It makes it even lighter if you add one.

Add lukewarm water to make a semi soft dough. Knead well for about 3-4 minutes.

Place it in a bowl greased with olive oil. Cover and let it sit for 2 hours. 

This activates the yeast and ferments the dough to rise at least twice in volume. After about two hours Punch the 

dough to release the air and knead it for another 3-4 minutes. Make coconut size balls and roll them with a 

rolling pin to form a rectangular shape to 1/2 inch thickness.Place it on a greased baking sheet.

Use a pizza cutter to make sticks.Brush some olive oil on top. Drizzle some garlic powder and parmesan cheese.

Cover and let it sit for another 2 hrs.This process is called “Proofing the Dough”. Proofing ,term used by professional bakers , is the final dough-rise step before baking .
These are advisable times that give good results. If there is a crunch of time , you may wait till the dough rises decently.

Preheat the oven at  350 degrees and bake the sticks for 10-15 minutes. The time it takes to brown the upper crust 

varies depending on the thickness of the dough. So after 10 minutes keep an eye on the oven and extract the sticks when golden brown.

You may serve it with Marinara Sauce or Warm Alfredo Sauce.