Amateur Hour: Bread Stick Batons!

Setting Up: What Kind of Food Items?

1 Packet of active dry yeast

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 cup of warm water (roughly 110 degrees Fahrenheit)

1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons of chopped fresh or dry rosemary

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of olive oil (this will make sense later)

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Setting Up: What Sort of Equipment?

1 large mixing bowl

Measuring cups

1 lemon zester (ignore the grater in the picture, I had other ideas)

Measuring spoons

Wooden spoon

The Steps:

1. Sprinkle one packet of yeast and one teaspoon of sugar into your 1 cup of warm water (put all of this into your large mixing bowl)

2. Mix in 2 tablespoons of oil (that's it) and 1 1/2 cups of flour

3. Beat with your wooden spoon until your dough is glossy and stretchy

4. Mix in the rest of your flour (that's 1 cup)

Note: The following is the instructions to kneading by hand as opposed to kneading with a dough hook. If you want to do it the other way, say so in the comment and I'll consult this cook book that I'm using and I'll summarize it (because the books gives you entire paragraphs).

5. Knead until smooth and springy on a floured surface

6. Pat into a 6x6 square (to the best of your ability. Judging from the picture below, I failed miserably to create a square).

7. Brush the top of your dough with the rest of your olive oil (that's 1 teaspoon) and let it sit and rise for about 45 minutes (unless you're lazy like me, then you can just jump right in)

8. Get out three large cookie sheets and gently rub about 2 tablespoons of flour.

9. Cut your dough into fourths. Length-wise or like it's pictured above

(I didn't read the directions like I should have, so I almost forgot to put the olive oil on. Sorry for any confusion!)

10. Cut each quarter into 8 strips like the above photo is showing. Place each of these strips on one of your three cookie sheets. I recommend placing them as close together as they can get without touching. Maybe you can manage with two cookie sheets! But I must say, the recipe recommends that they be kept 1/2 an inch apart.

11. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

12. Bake for 20-25 minutes (they'll be brown).

This was my first time making these. I think I'll try and do a better job of following the instructions next time....

--Jude