Right. I think I’ll consult The Bread Bible. I wonder why it did that to you?
The breadsticks are delicious.
A bump so I can get an answer, please?
Ginger - Did you see what Stranger On A Train and I posted?
Lissla - Can you post your chocolate breadsticks recipe?
StG
Yes, and I wanted some clarification:
Thanks!
Oh, dear. I don’t actually have a recipe, per se, but I can fudge (heh) one up.
5 c. flour
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp salt
1/3 c. softened butter
2 eggs
1/4 c. sugar
2 c. warm water (approx.)
250g dark chocolate bar
Mix flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Stir in butter, eggs, and add water gradually until you have a soft (but not gooey) dough). Knead well, and let rise until it’s doubled (about two hours in my kitchen). Punch down, knead, and set for second rise. That will take about an hour. Stick the chocolate in the freezer for half an hour, and then shave/grate/slice it with a knife so you’ve got shavings/thin chunks.
When it’s finished rising pat it out on a floured board until it’s pretty thin- say, between a centimeter and an inch- and cover it with the chocolate. Roll it up from right to left, and press it out to a rectangle maybe 2 inches thick or a bit thinner. Slice it up lengthwise- like it’s a really thin jelly roll or cinnamon buns- into 1 inch chunks. As you lay the breadsticks out, stretch and twist them so they a) hold together (twisting helps), and b) are longish and skinny. Lay them close together (but not touching) on a greased baking sheet- the sides will touch when they’ve been baked.
Proof them for half an hour while the oven heats to 400F. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Eat. You can increase the chocolate if you want to.
Freeze after all rising stages are complete; otherwise, it’ll rise slowly or incompletely.
Stranger
Thank you so much. I’ll report back.
Thread rising from the dead…
The little one turns 2 this weekend, and the menu for the family party is Italian. Can someone provide me with a nice bread suitable to make into garlic bread? I’d like a basic white Italian or French loaf which we will then use to make garlic bread - no point making loaves of garlic whose leftovers can’t be eaten with peanut butter (because that’s what the boys will do).
Anyone? Bueller?
Here is a recipe for you Ginger . I make this in my bread machine. This recipe is from their instruction book, so I do not have regular instructions for it. Jayjay and I love it.
Italian Herb Bread
10-11 oz water
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 grated parmesan or romano cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp active dry yeast
Add all ingredients in order to the bread machine. Select French setting (3:50), medium crust, then bake.
It makes a great loaf of bread.
I’ve had good sucess just mixing and matching flours. My recipe (basically the same as yours, even simpler cause I don’t add sugar or oi, just water flour yeast saltl) calls for 3 cups of flour. I’ve had good success with the following recipe:
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour (never more than 1/4 cup buckwheat per 3 cups… it makes the whole thing taste overwhelmingly of buckwheat)
1/4 cup oats, ground into coarse flour in my coffee grinder
2-3 tablespoons flax, ground into meal in my coffeegrinder
Black pepper to taste (1-2 tsp)
Basically, make sure you always have at least 1/3 white flour, add other flours in relatively small amounts till you have the total volume desired, watching out for very strong-flavored flours/meals. I can’t even think of 12 grains, myself 
) Sesame seeds, or almonds ground into meal (couple tablespoons) Semolina flour, prolly 1/4 cup, quinoa flour if you can find it, 1/4 cup. rice flour, 1/2 cup, etc.
Use extra yeast b/c some of these flours are really don’t rise well. I prefer “instant” yeast b/c you don’t have to fool with proofing it, or keeping it in the fridge.
Thanks, guys!