Wednesday, January 18, 2012

How to Sleep Well at Night

What keeps you up at night?  Worrying about your kids? About drugs and rock music and all that comes along with that-if you catch my drift.  Wondering what to do about all the problems in the world? Poverty, hunger, wars.  What keeps me up at night?  How do I make gluten free bread sticks?  How?  How to make them soft and chewy.  What if can't do it.  Jenny asked for them weeks ago! I have to figure this out!  I have to!!!  AAAAHHH!

Ok so that was a little over the top.  But I do lay awake and think about how to make certain things they ask for.  And Jenny wanted bread sticks.  She knows just how to phrase it too.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, dear?"  (You always answer your children that way, right?!)

"You remember when we used to always go to that pizza place?  You remember they had bread sticks?  You remember how good they were?  I miss those so much."

"I know baby"

"I bet you could do it Mommy."

"Sure I can do that."  I can make soft chewy bread sticks without the stuff that makes them soft and chewy.  Sure.  No sleep till I figure it out.

But I love a challenge and this one turned out great!

Bread sticks two ways :


Parmesan Bread sticks


I started out with a package of Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza mix.


I don't typically use a lot of mixes just because they are so expensive, but I hit a sale at Big Lots of all places and I bought about 6 bags of this for $2.90.  Can't beat that.

I just mixed it according to the directions and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

I grated some Parmesan cheese into a pie plate.


I then dump 1/2 of the dough onto a mat and sprinkled it with flour just to make it easier to handle.  I put the other half in the fridge.


I took a golf ball size ball of dough.


I then rolled it into a "stick" about 6 inches long.  I brushed each stick lightly with an egg/water mix just to help it brown pretty and for the cheese to stick.  (1 egg and about 2 Tbsp. of water)

I then rolled them in the cheese.


I lined them all up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and baked them at 375 for 20 minutes.


I had to snap this quick before someone ate the last two!  I have to say that this turned out great!  They were not really cheesy but you could taste the Parmesan.  The were a little crunchy on the outside and so soft on the inside.  We served them with pizza sauce and they were gone in minutes!  Perfect for a party or spend the night company.


Cinnamon Bread sticks:
I did the same thing with the other half of the dough as I did to the first.  I placed it on a mat.  Sprinkled with flour and rolled it into sticks.

But instead of egg and cheese I brushed them with butter and then rolled them in cinnamon and sugar.


I have no idea what the cinnamon to sugar ratio was here.  Just do what feels right to you.  I mean at least where sugar and cinnamon are concerned.


Into the oven for 15 minutes at 375.  

To make these really yummy you could make a sort of frosting/glaze to dip them in.  That would be a lot of sugar and way over the top. 

I totally did that.


About 2 cups of powdered sugar. About 2 Tbsp of milk.  The leftover melted butter and some vanilla.

Do not eat this with a spoon.  That would be immature and a little gross.

Don't judge me.

Instead put it a cute red cup and serve it up with cinnamon bread sticks.


These were good too!  My one note on these is that they were definitely not as soft as the ones the night before.  Next time I think I would let the dough get to room temperature before rolling them.  That being said my 13 year old just sat and groaned as he ate them.  That's a good thing.  At least today it was.

So rest well tonight friend.  No need to worry about how to make soft bread sticks.  We got that one covered.  

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