Olive Garden Style Breadsticks

Have you ever been to Olive Garden? If not, then YOU HAVE TO GO NOW! They serve the best breadsticks EVER in Abu dhabi - and they are unlimited too! Since i don't visit olive garden often, i decided to recreate my favorite breadsticks at home to enjoy whenever i want. Now you can do too!

So lets get started in the kitchen!

[Serves 4]

Ingredients:

3/4 cups warm water

1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast

1 tbs white sugar

1 3/4 cups plain flour (you may need to add more or less if needed)

1 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

1/2 Tbs salt

For the butter topping:

1/4 cups butter

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

Before we start, i would like to apologise in advance for any of my unappealing and unphotogenic instructions pictures. Although i promise that the final result will amaze you.

To start, dissolve the 1 1/8 tsp of yeast and 1 Tbs of sugar into a large bowl with 3/4 cups of warm water. Stir it with a wooden spoon and set aside for about 10 minutes until bubbles forms. Ensure that the water is not too hot, or else the yeast will die (enzymes denatures - remember?!) If no bubbles forms, this could mean that your yeast is inactive, and you will have to get a new packet.

Next, add the 1 Tbs of melted butter, and 1/2 Tbs of salt into the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Once combined, slowly add in the flour 1/4 of a cup at a time and mix with a wooden spoon.

Proceed this way until the dough seems smooth enough to handle by hand. Once the dough is not very sticky, move it to a clean floured surface and knead by hand, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky. However, do not overknead! you can always opt for a stand mixer attached with a dough hook if you don't want to use your hands.

You will know that the dough is properly kneaded when it has an elastic - like feeling almost like an ear lobe ). You can test this by pinching the dough; it should return back to it's shape rather than sticking out. (As shown in the picture above).

Grease a large cookie sheet with butter, or cooking spray. Likewise you can lay a sheet of parchment paper to cover the bottom of the tray. Pull off equal pieces of the dough and roll them out into strips of equal size and length using your hand.

Cover the dough with a light, damp cloth and let it sit in a in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour to allow the dough to rest and rise.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius. Meanwhile, melt the 1/4 cup of butter in the microwave and stir in the 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of garlic powder. Be cautious about adding the salt; if you add too much, your breadsticks could become too slaty!

Place the breadsticks tray in the preheated oven and leave it to bake for 6-7 minutes.

After the 6-7 minutes, remove the tray from the oven and brush the breadsticks with half of the butter topping. Return it to the oven and bake for another 7 minutes, or until the breadsticks form a golden brown color.

Remove the tray from the oven again, and immediately re-coat the other half of the butter topping so that the bread to absorb it. Allow it to cool before serving. This is best served with either a light or creamy soup. Alternatively, it can be eaten on it's own