Olive Garden's Bread Sticks

I have made this recipe a few times now and I love it everytime. It's not as wonderful as the real Olive Garden Bread Sticks but it's close! I made and Italian dinner for Adam and I last night for Valentines day and this recipe went perfect with our manicotti and salad. Mine don't look as good as the picture, but I think that's due to my average baking skills.

Olive Garden's Bread Sticks

Makes 12 to 13 bread sticks
(We halfed the recipe and it made about 4 breadsticks, so maybe I make the breadsticks too big...)

2 tablespoons gradulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water
16 ounces bread flour (3 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

On Top
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (we don't have garlic salt, so we sprinkled it with garlic powder instead and then we grinded some rock salt on it.)

1. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water in a small bowl or measuring cup and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, or until it becomes foamy on top.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer to mix the softened butter into the flour. If you don't have a stand mixer, use a mixing spoon. When the yeast mixture is foamy, pour it into the flour mixture and use a dough hook on your mixture to combine the ingredients and then knead the dough in a covered container and let it sit for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it doubles in size.

3. When the dough has doubled, measure out 2-ounce portions and roll the dough between your hands or on a countertop to form sticks that are 7 inches long. Place the dough on parchement paper-lined baking sheets, cover, set aside for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size again.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

5. Bake the bread sticks for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. When the bread sticks come out of the oven, immediately brush each one with melted butter and sprinkle with a little garlic salt.
(The first time I baked these, I baked them in the oven with the parchment paper and my whole kitchen began to smoke. So I just put the breadsticks on a baking sheet that I spray with cooking oil and that seems to work our fine. Maybe you'll have better luck with the parchment paper than I did.)

I got this wonderful recipe from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. Great recipe book!

Eat with:
Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup
Olive Garden's Salad and Dressing