Grissini -Thin Italian Bread sticks

Now that schools are reopened the problem is finding a snack for the 10 minutes break and also for tea time. Sometimes I feel lunch and dinner which involves planning and preparation can be easily taken care of, but when it comes to snacks we are- I am especially - at a loss. We depend on the regular junk food like chips,biscuits blah blah.. But here also planning helps me if it involves baking. In such cases I plan the baking atleast one day in advance and make sure its ready by tea time. Same thing happened with these breadsticks. For a long time the grissini is something I keep on salivating but too lazy to make but this recipe from LA times looked too easy and had whole wheat flour also in it which made it extra tempting.

Ingredients:

Warm Water: 1/2 cup

Active Dry Yeast/Fast rising Yeast: 1 pkg or 2 and 1/4 tsp

Sugar: 1 tsp

All Purpose Flour: 1 and 1/4 cup

Whole Wheat Flour: 1/2 cup

Olive Oil: 2 tbsp

Salt: 1 tsp

Preparation:

In a big bowl, mix together water,yeast,sugar and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. Keep aside for 5 minutes until it bubbles or for 10 minutes. Mine did not bubble as my yeast was near its expiry.

Stir in the remaining flour,whole wheat flour, olive oil and salt and knead for about 5-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.Shape it into a round ball and place in an oiled/greased bowl turning once so that it gets coated with oil. Cover with a plastic wrap wrap and keep the dough bowl in a warm place to rise until doubled for about 1hour.

Once risen, divide the dough into four pieces. Take each piece and roll out gently to a thin rectangle. cut each rectangle lengthwise into several strips. Place the strips half inch apart on lined baking sheet. 

Repeat the process with remaining 3 dough balls. You can otherwise wrap them and freeze the dough for future use.

Allow the grissini to rise until puffy for about 30 minutes. Ten minutes into the rising, preheat the oven to 400F or 200 C. Bake the grissini in batches if needed preferably in the top rack of the oven for about 6-10 minutes rotating the baking sheets halfway through. You can see brown spots appearing on the edges and top while baking. Take out and let the sticks cool completely in the wire rack before consuming.

Simple paper thin breadsticks for anytime snacking though especially perfect with tea. These days when the monsoon plays hide 'n seek  here, it is better to enjoy a cuppa of chai with the baked breadsticks rather than any oily fried food.You can also flavour the sticks with your choice of seasoning or spices.