Almost Olive Garden Breadsticks

 The other day I made a soup and wanted to serve some sort of bread with it.  I know my family loves the Olive Garden Breadsticks so I tried my hand at a copy cat recipe.  The family liked them... a lot... I'll still have to just take their word on it as bread and I  can't exist together these days.  The recipe made twelve humongous bread sticks.  Next time I will make sixteen instead of the twelve to make them a bit smaller.  The recipe also called for 1/4 a cup of butter and I found that to be a bit much and had about two tablespoons left over.  I've had this recipe in my arsenal for several years now and it was prior to my blogging years.  Therefore, I do not have the source of this recipe.  I know that there are many copycat recipes out there and I would give credit where credit is due.  But for now, just go make yourself a batch of these and enjoy!

Almost Olive Garden Breadsticks

recipe source unknown

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

for topping:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

I use my Kitchen Aid for making all my bread dough so the directions allow for that use.  Adapt as you please for your favorite method.  

In a mixing bowl, bring the water, yeast, sugar and salt together and gently stir to just combine.  Allow the mixture to become nice and foamy; add the melted 2 tablespoons of butter.  On low speed, start adding the flour until the dough begins to start pulling away from the bowl... I didn't need the last 1/4 cup of flour so just see for yourself if the dough needs it.  Using the dough hook attachment, kneed the dough for about five minutes until the dough becomes smooth.
Lightly grease another large bowl and add the dough, turning once to coat all sides with a bit of the grease, and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.

Punch dough down and knead just ever so slightly so that you can cut the dough into 12 to 16 pieces depending on your preference.  Roll pieces into about 10 inch lengths and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Cover and let rise for a second time, about 30 minutes.  

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Make the topping mixture by combining the melted butter with the garlic and salt.  Bake the dough for six minutes, remove from oven and glaze the breadsticks with the butter/garlic mixture.  Return breadsticks to the oven and bake for another six to ten minutes (breadsticks should become lightly golden) and remove from oven; glaze the breadsticks with the garlic/butter mixture a second time.  These are best served warm.