Olive Garden Breadsticks

Recipe from www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com
Time: 1 hour
Yield: 14 breadsticks

Dough:
1 1/2 C hot water
2 T sugar
1 T salt
2 T butter, softened
4-5 C flour
1 T yeast

Topping:
3 T butter melted
sea salt
1/4 t garlic powder


1. Turn your tap water to hot. It should feel hot, but not so hot that it's uncomfortable to touch.
2. Fill up your handy measuring device with 1 1/2 C hot water.
3. Pour the water into your stand mixer. Add the sugar, salt and the softened butter.
4. Pour in about 2 cups of flour.
5. Using the paddle handle start to mix the dough on low.
6. Add the yeast.
7. Add the rest of the flour about a half cup at a time, until the dough scrapes the sides of the bowl clean.
8. Mix the dough for 5 minutes on medium speed. Until elastic-ey.
And who know if elastic-ey is even a word! If you were to touch it, it should spring back just a bit. That is what you want!
9. Spray your counter top and your hands with cooking spray. Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and roll it into a long log on your counter top.
10. Spray a sharp knife with cooking spray and cut the dough into 12-14 pieces. You can see that I cut it into 12 here....I actually ended up cutting parts off some of the bigger pieces and ended up with 14 breadsticks total.
11. Roll the pieces into long snakes. "Whoa." you might be thinking. "That looks like some kind of Pinocchio length breadstick, or somethin!" Don't worry. Once you set them in the pan, they will shrink a bit. It will work out well for you if you roll them out long....Pinocchio long.
12. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray, and lay the breadsticks out leaveing about 2 inches between each one.
13. Place the pans in your oven with the temprature turned to 170. Let them rise for about 15 minutes, or until doubled in size.
14. Once the breadsticks have risen, remove them from the oven. Brush them with the 1 1/2 T of the melted butter and sprinkle them with the sea salt.
16. Return them to the oven and turn the heat to 400 degrees. Your dough will rise a bit more as the oven temprature increases. Once it has hit 400 degrees the breadsticks should cook for about 12 -15 minutes, or until golden brown. Half way thought the baking period open up your oven and switch the bottom pan to the top, and the top to the bottom. This will ensure they cook evenly.
17. While the breadsticks are baking combine the rest of the melted butter with 1/4 t garlic powder.
18. When the breadsticks are golden brown, remove them from the oven and brush them with the melted butter/garlic mixture.
That's it! Serve these babies hot from the oven. You won't regret it!