Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks Recipe

• Roast the head of garlic. Click here for easy directions.

Make the dough:

• In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, combine the yeast and warm water.
• Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes of until the yeast is foamy and dissolved. This is called "proofing" the yeast. If the yeast doesn't dissolve, your yeast is dead.
• Start again with active yeast. Add flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar. Mix by hand or with the dough hook on low speed for 1 minute.
• Once all of the ingredients are mixed, knead for 7 minutes by hand or with your dough hook on low-medium speed. If your dough is too wet, add up to 1/4 cup more flour. After kneading, your dough should be smooth and elastic. Poke it with your finger - if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading.
• Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large mixing bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn it over to coat all sides.
• Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm environment (about 75F-80F).
• I simply placed my bowl on top of the oven as the garlic roasted, which warmed the oven's surface. Depending on your type of yeast, your dough will have doubled in size in about 1 - 2 hours.
• I use Red Star Platinum and my dough took 1 hour, 20 minutes.
• Punch the dough down to release the air. Divide the dough into two. Roll each half into a ball and let rest in two separate bowls lightly covered for 10 minutes.
• You may freeze one of the dough balls at this point to use at a later time. Please read below in the notes for freezing instructions.
• Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. Chop up the roasted garlic and combine it with the melted butter in a small bowl. Set aside.

Assemble:

• Roll each ball of dough out into a 7x10 rectangle on a lightly floured surface or on your silicone baking mat. Top each dough rectangle with melted butter/roasted garlic mixture.
• Then top with grated parmesan. Using a very sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut rectangles into long strips about 1.5 inches in width.
• Then, twist each strip up and top with a little more parmesan cheese if desired. See photos above for a visual. Twisting is optional.
• Bake breadsticks in two batches - 7 breadsticks per baking sheet. Bake for 16-17 minutes. Then, remove from the oven, push the 7 breadsticks together so they're all touching, and top with 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Return to the oven for about 4-5 more minutes or until they've reached your desired doneness.
• Like them extra brown and toasty Keep in for a few minutes longer. Repeat with second batch and remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. (If you don't want cheese on top of them, then just bake the breadsticks for 20-25 minutes or until they've reached your desired doneness.)
• Remove from the oven and enjoy! Cover leftover breadsticks tightly and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days. Baked breadsticks freeze well - up to 2 months.

Make ahead tip: 

• This recipe is enough to make 14 breadsticks. If you do not need 14, here are the freezing instructions: After the dough has risen and you divide the dough in half to form into two rectangles (step 5), you may freeze one of the balls of dough to make breadsticks or pizza at a later time. Or you may simply freeze both balls of dough, separately.
• Lightly spray all sides of the dough ball(s) with nonstick spray or lightly coat all sides with olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s) and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. 

Thawing Instructions: 

• Put your frozen dough ball(s) in the fridge overnight or for about 12 hours to thaw.
• When ready to make the breadsticks, remove the dough from the refrigerator and set out on the counter to rest for 30 minutes and come to room temperature. Continue with step 6.