The BEST Breadsticks

I have been putting off getting a Kitchenaid mixer for many years now. It just seemed like a good idea to wait until we were more settled and when I would be making recipes for more than just two people. But when I was gifted one for Christmas (THANK YOU!), it has now become the best thing ever.

Shenli does not like breadsticks. Or rather, he likes them at restaurants, but has never liked any of my weak attempts at making them. (as a side note, I've always considered myself good at making quick breads and pastries, but terrible at yeast breads. Now I'm starting to think it was just my mixing skills and not any lack of real skills on my part). I tried this recipe and OH MAN. Shenli said "why didn't we get a Kithenaid years ago?!?" I completely agree. The bread was soft, and the cheeses and flavors on top were amazing. We will be making these with every Italian dish possible now. We halved the recipe and it was enough for dinner and leftovers the next day for the two of us.

Craigo's Breadsticks
Recipe by Lauren's Latest

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 envelopes quick rise yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted, divided
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons Lawry's seasoning garlic salt (note: I didn't know what this was, so I used a combination of garlic powder and regular seasoning salt)
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup grated cheddar

Stir water, yeast and sugar together in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside to foam up.

Meanwhile, melt the butter and measure out the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir with the dough hook for a few seconds to disperse the salt into the flour. Pour in the foamy yeast mixture and start to incorporate. Drizzle in half of the melted butter. Scrape the sides if necessary and knead 7 minutes. Dough should be sticky. If it's dry, you've added too much flour, so add in a few sprinkles of water to get it to come together as a stickier dough. You're aiming to get the dough stuck to the bottom of the bowl. If you touch it with your fingers after 7 minutes, than maybe a small piece or two will stick. Grease the bowl and dough well with oil and let rise 30-45 minutes in a warm place until doubled in size.

Punch down dough and roll out to be 2 ft x 1 ft, approximately, on a floured board. Cut into 1/2-3/4 inch strips using a pizza cutter. Twist two strips together to create breadsticks and place onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. You may have to cut them to fit on the baking sheet. Let rise another 30 minutes or so. They should be almost touching by now.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle remaining melted butter over breadsticks, sprinkle with garlic salt and cheeses and bake 8-10 minutes or until poofy, hot, bubbly and brown. Cool 3-5 minutes before tearing apart and snarfing down.