Homemade Soft Garlic Breadsticks (rolls) with Garlic Butter

A few nights ago, Steve was telling me that he thought I could make some awesome homemade garlic breadsticks if I did a little research. I'm not sure if that was a challenge or not, but that's how I took it. Since I absolutely adore fresh baked bread, the search began that evening. It didn't take long until I came across this recipe from allrecipes.com:

Soft Garlic Breadsticks

• 1 1/8 cups water (70 to 80 degrees F)
• 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh basil
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted

1. In bread machine pan, place the first nine ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed). When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 20 portions. Shape each into a ball; roll each into a 9-in. rope. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes or until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Brush warm breadsticks with butter.

This looked like it could work and if it ended in a horrible disaster then I'd just try another recipe later. Live and learn, right?

 Before baking, but after rising

I did make a few changes to them. For starters, I used dried basil as opposed to fresh, since that is what I happened to have on hand. I also turned the dough into 9 jumbo sized rolls instead of 20 breadsticks, let them rise for one hour, and I baked them in a 9 in. cake pan.  I also brushed them with garlic butter instead of regular butter. As luck (and a little bit of baking skill) would have it, they turned out pretty darn tasty! Well, that was my opinion. I can only assume that Logan loved them since he chowed down on his piece! He finished it in 2 minutes flat without touching any other piece of food on his plate. Not that he doesn't do that with ANY bread item, but I'd like to think it was the rolls! Steve...well, "they might have been a little better if they were in stick form, but they're pretty good."

After baking and brushing with garlic butter

Next time I'll have to try making them in stick form. Either way, nothing beats the taste of fresh baked bread, warm out of the oven. Especially when it's brushed with homemade garlic butter!  (this would be really good for just plain old garlic bread too, TRY IT!)

Homemade Garlic Butter (allrecipes.com)
1 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

The recipe for the breadsticks said that this dough would also make a good pizza dough. Within the last year we finally found a favorite pizza dough, but I wouldn't be opposed to giving this one a shot. it's never a bad idea to have a backup!

Enjoy!