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Crispy on the outside, chewy/soft on the inside and ready to eat straight from the oven. Breadsticks in an Hour is the perfect accompaniment to soup, salad and pasta.

I am in the midst of packing up our apartment for a long overdue renovation. We will be in temporary digs for about 6 months. So, as a result, I am keeping things simple. But we are bread people. There, I’ve said it. I never understood the fad of not eating carbs. We eat them daily and both my husband and I are slim.

Since we are under a severe freeze warning this week, following a snow and ice storm, all I want for dinner is some good hot soup and bread for dinner. Although, honestly, I’m in the mood for homemade soup and bread anytime of the year. And you will find many wonderful examples on my blog.

Not only do I want to keep things simple after a day of packing and lugging boxes, but many of my things are already packed up. So I have to come up with things that are still available to me until we actually move in about 10 days. And between the weather and moving, we are not rushing out to the store when I am out of something.

One day last week, it was 4:00 and we were having pasta for dinner and I realized that I didn’t have any bread. I know that for many people this is not a serious problem. However, I REALLY wanted bread with my dinner. So I went online looking for a quick recipe that didn’t require either a long rising or baking time. I came across a recipe here. It looked easy enough and I had all of the ingredients. I thought how bad could it be? I have made it twice now, tweaking it some, and I am sharing the results with you.

The way that I made the Breadsticks in an Hour yielded about 18 to 20 breadsticks. I used different flours each time and both versions had their merits, although the one I am showing here was the favorite. They freeze well and add just the right accompaniment to pasta, soup and salads. This is a recipe that will be made on repeat throughout the year.

In addition, the Breadsticks are fun to make and would be a great small project to do with kids. While I made this using a stand mixer, you could make them entirely by hand. The kneading would take a bit longer. I added rosemary and garlic powder to the dough, but you can make them with just some flaky salt on top, sesame seeds or any other dried herb or grated cheese. As they are shown here, the Breadsticks in an Hour are vegan and Kosher.

So if you are new to bread baking or an old hand at it, these are a great addition to your repertoire. Give them a try! You won’t be disappointed.

Recipe

Yield: 18 to 20 long breadsticks

Ingredients

1.5 cups of warm water (warm to your finger tips)

1 Tablespoon active dried yeast or instant yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon dried, crumbled rosemary (or 2 teaspoons fresh, chopped rosemary)

3/4 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder

3+ cups of flour (I love Bob’s Mill Artisan Flour. I also used about 2 Tablespoons of Janie’s Whole Kernel Bread Flour. The first time I made these, I used only the Whole Kernel Bread Flour.)

EVOO (About 1/4 cup in total) (Try to use a good, flavorful EVOO. I like Mediterranean Blend or the oil left from making Garlic Confit.)

Flaky Salt for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. I like my oven to be good and hot when I bake bread.

If you are using Active Dried Yeast (as I do), then place the yeast and sugar into the warm water. Stir it through and allow to stand until bubbly. My house has so many yeast spores around that this only took about 5 minutes. If you are using Instant Yeast, you can skip this step.

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add 3 cups of the flour, the salt, dried herbs and seasonings, if used. Give it a quick mix with a spoon or spatula to distribute everything. Add your Instant yeast, sugar and water OR the yeast/water/sugar mixture once proofed.

On the lowest setting, start to mix everything together. Once the flour won’t fly out of the bowl, turn the mixer up to the second level and keep it going until a soft dough just clears the sides of the bowl and is only very slightly sticky. If necessary, add another one to 2 Tablespoons more of flour. This only took about 4 minutes.

Allow the dough to rest in the bowl, covered with a towel, for 10 minutes.

Spread EVOO in a half-sheet pan and a quarter-sheet pan. (I use a silicone brush).

After the dough has rested, add a little EVOO to your counter surface or silicone mat. Press the dough out with your hands into a rectangle that is about 16-inches by 7-inches. You don’t have to be perfect! I use a silicone mat with a ruler on it, to make it simple for me.

Since I am using a silicone mat, I use a large plastic knife to cut my dough into strips about 1 to 1.5 inches in width. I do the cuts vertically along the short end. The dough is stretchy so your breadsticks will end up longer then the 7-inches.

Then give each strip a few twists. Again – we are not going for perfectly even. Some bits will be a little thinner and some fatter. Place the twisted strips onto the baking sheets about 1/2-inch apart. If an end is too thin, I just tucked it under a bit. I love the knobs and twists that get a great crisp on the outside, with a lovely chewy, soft inside.

Brush the breadsticks with EVOO and sprinkle with Maldon Flaky Salt (widely available) or sesame seeds. Allow to rest for about 20 minutes. They will poof up some.

Place the breadsticks in the oven and bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown. As soon as you remove the breadsticks from the oven, brush with a little more EVOO and sprinkle on a few more flakes of salt.

My current oven can only accommodate one pan, so the other pan got an additional 18-minute rest. I didn’t notice any difference in the two pans after baking.

To freeze: Just place in a freezer bag. Re-warm, thawed breadsticks in a 350 degree F. oven for about 3 minutes.