Yield: 64 bread sticks
Time:
- Mix: 2 – 10 minutes
- Ferment: 1.5 – 2 hours
- Divide/shape: 10 minutes per 16 bread sticks
- Bake: 25 – 30 minutes per 16 bread sticks
Ingredients:
- 623 g flour
- 397 g water at room temperature
- 6.5 g (2 t.) instant yeast
- 9 g (1.5 t.) salt
- 28 g (2 T.) olive oil
- topping of your choice (I used a mixture of coarse Kosher salt, coarsely-ground pepper, and chopped fennel seed, as suggested by the original recipe)
Method:
- Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Combine the water and olive oil in a liquid measuring cup. With the processor running, add the liquid to the dry ingredients in a steady stream.
- Process until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 90 seconds.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled container. Cover the container and let the dough ferment at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1.5 – 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. A baking stone and steam are not needed.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into four equal pieces. The steps that follow will be repeated for each of the four pieces. Keep the pieces you’re not working with covered.
- On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 12 x 8 inches. The exact dimensions are not critical.
- Cut the dough into 16 strips of equal width. A pizza cutter works very well for this.
Fold each strip over on itself (according to Baking Illustrated, this makes it stronger). On an unfloured surface, roll the strip into a long snake. Make it a bit longer than the length of your baking sheet, to allow for spring-back.
- Place the snakes evenly spaced across the width of the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Lightly spray or brush the grissini with olive oil and sprinkle on the topping.
- Bake at 350 °F for 25 – 30 minutes, until golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack.
