Galganov's Easy Recipe for
Sesame Breadsticks!

Method I (mixing):

1. Sprinkle yeast onto warm water and let sit a few minutes.
2. Add salt, sugar and oil and mix vigorously.
3. Add 1/3 cup crushed sesame seeds and mix in.
4. Add 1/2 cup of durum flour (or all purpose if durum is not available) and stir well (100 strong strokes with a wooden spoon - or until the batter cascades off the back of the spoon).
5. Add 1/2 cup of flour and stir in. Work the dough with your hands once it is too stiff to stir with the spoon.
6. Add additional flour 1/4 cup at a time (or less) only until the dough stops sticking to the hands.
7. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes - until it feels silky-smooth.
8. Form the dough into a flat ball and lightly rub a thin coat of oil over the surface of the dough - then return the dough to the mixing bowl and cover it.
9. Put the bowl in a warm, draft-free place (we use the oven with the oven light on) and let it rise for 70 minutes (or until the dough has doubled in bulk).

Method II (forming + baking):

1. Turn the dough out onto your (lightly floured) work surface. Press the bubbles out of the dough - rolling it out into a fat snake shape (about 1" [2.5 cm] thick). Cover it with a dish towel and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
2. Break (or cut) the dough into approximately 20 even pieces.
3. If using a pizza stone, place the stone on the lowest shelf of the oven chamber.
4. Preheat the oven to 400^oF (205^oC).  Note: if using a pizza stone, the stone must be in the oven before turning it on!
5. Shape several of the pieces into snakes about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick and let them rest a little while. Then dip or roll them in sesame seeds to coat ... and press lightly to help assure the sesame seeds adhere to the sticks (very slight dampening of the sticks with water prior to coating in seeds will help adhesion of the seeds).
6. Place the breadsticks on the hot stone (or put your cookie sheet of bread sticks into the oven on the lowest shelf).
7. Bake the breadsticks - turning them once - only until they start to turn golden. Remove them from the stone to a wire cooling rack (we use an oven mitt to collect them off the stone) and bake the second batch.

The Background Story
Sesame Breadsticks

Most of us have only had those crunchy, dry breadsticks. They are quite wonderful and we like them very much but we also know the delights of a fresh, slightly chewy, home made breadstick - an entirely different treat.

Of all the breadstick flavours, our favourite is sesame so we created this recipe as a sesame breadstick - rich with sesame flavour in the inside and coated in sesame for more of that delicious sesame taste on the outside.

We like to bake these, 10 to 12 at a time, directly on a pizza stone on the bottom shelf of the oven - we think a stone yields the best results - but they can also be baked on a greased cookie sheet.

These wonderful treats come out of the oven a little chewy on the inside ... and you can bag them, once they've cooled, to help keep them chewy but eventually one must make the choice to let them stale and dry out. If not, like any bread, they can mold. We enjoy them fresh but after a few days it's best to un-bag them and let them air dry (or put them in your drying machine). Dried, they will be that familiar, crunchy bread stick with which we are all most familiar ... and they will last a long time.

This recipe will make about 20 - 5 ounce (14 g) breadsticks (although we usually make 2 dozen bread sticks from this recipe).

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