Copy-Cat: Olive Garden Bread-sticks

I LOVE the Olive Garden!

SERIOUSLY!

Never ending salad and Breadsticks are my FAVORITE part about going there.

Forget the entree, give me that AMAZING salad dressing and some breadsticks and I am good!

Sadly, I live where the NEAREST Olive Garden is 75 MILES AWAY!!! (Translation 1 hour and 45 minutes!!!)

So when I Pintrest I found some CopyCat recipes, I was ready to try them right away.

The first I tried I was NOT IMPRESSED! 

As a self proclaimed baker, I knew something was wrong when I read the recipe and it told me to make the bread, knead, shape, and then let rise for 15 minutes before baking...

I am not one who follows directions, usually... but I did (mostly... I let them rise for an hour out of the oven not 15 minutes in the oven...)

They were ok. Very dense, and chewy! 

So I thought, I will try again but this time, use my bread baking knowledge and rise them twice!

This time they turned out pretty dang good!

Olive Garden Bread Sticks (Print)

 1 1/2 cups Warm Water (about 110 F)

 2 Tbsp Honey

 1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast

Warm water, yeast, honey, and kosher salt. DO NOT but the salt in with the yeast you will kill it!!

 4-5 cups Bread Flour

 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt

 2 Tbsp Olive Oil (EVO)

 3 Tbsp Butter, Melted

 1/2-1 tsp garlic powder

In the bowl of a standing mixer put the honey and yeast. SLOWLY pour the hot water into the bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Honey and yeast

Warm water added. After sitting for 10 minutes, if it looks the same you killed the yeast! So start over.

Add 2 cups of the flour, salt, and EVO. Mix with the dough hook attachment until all incorporated. Knead the dough in the mixer, adding the remaining flour a quarter cup at a time until it no longer sticks to the sides, but just the bottom. Continue kneading for 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups flour, salt, and EVO

Dough is still attached to the side add more flour and knead until incorporated. If it still look like this repeat.

Dough ready to knead for 5 minutes. It is just sticking to the bottom.

Cover and let rise for an hour.

Let rise in the mixer bowl for about an hour (cover with either plastic wrap or a loose weave kitchen towel). Dough should double in size.

Nicely doubled dough.

Punch down and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Put the pizza stone in the oven while you are waiting, and get your counter ready to shape the sticks.

Divide the dough in to even size portions (I weighted the dough and then divided into even pieces, it was about 2 grams per stick). Roll into cigar sized bread sticks. Place on parchment paper and let rise for 45 minutes, until about doubled in size. In the mean time pre-heat the oven and your stone at 350 F. (NEVER preheat your stone for longer than an hour!)

Shaped bread sticks ready to rise.

Before placing in oven brush with some melted butter.

Nicely risen bread sticks. Now brush with butter and bake.

Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on how doughy you like them. I did 10 and they where perfect!) Mix the remaining melted butter with the garlic powder.

Don't these look good!

Immediately remove from oven brush with the garlic butter and ENJOY! These are best right out of the oven!

P.S. B said these are better than OG's but I think he is a little bias.