Soft Gluten Free Breadsticks

Ingredients

Directions

• Make the dough. Place the flour, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer, and use a handheld whisk to combine well. Add the salt, and whisk to combine. Add the butter and water, and mix on low speed with the dough hook until combined. Raise the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky, but should be smooth and stretchy. Spray a silicone spatula lightly with cooking oil spray, and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

• Shape the dough. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth as described in These General Shaping Tips. Divide the dough into 12 pieces of equal size (each about 3 1/2 ounces).

  Working with one piece at a time (covering the other pieces with a moist tea towel when you’re not working with them), shape into a round, then pat into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick and about 4 inches long. Fold the rectangle along the length halfway, from bottom to top, and top to bottom. Fold the smaller rectangle now in half, each side just folded over one another. Roll the dough back and forth on the lightly floured surface to seal the edges well, and to elongate it slightly until the dough is about 7 inches long, tapering the dough on both ends. Place the shaped dough on the prepared baking sheet, each piece about 2 inches apart from the other.

• Let the dough rise. Once all of the breadsticks are shaped, cover the baking sheet with oiled plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free location to rise until the breadsticks are nearly doubled in size (about 1 hour, depending upon the environment). About 25 minutes before the dough has finished rising, remove the plastic and preheat your oven to 375°F.

• Bake the rolls. Once the breadsticks have finished rising, remove the plastic, place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 350°F. Bake for 5 minutes. While the breadsticks are baking, melt the butter for the garlic butter in a small, microwave-safe bowl or in a small saucepan. Mix in the garlic salt. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and brush each breadstick generously with the garlic butter. Return the breadsticks to the oven and continue to bake until they are lightly golden brown all over (about another 5 minutes). Remove the breadsticks from the oven and brush again with garlic butter. Serve immediately.

• From the book Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: Biscuits, Bagels, Buns, and More by Nicole Hunn. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group.  Copyright © 2013.