Baking the perfect sound…Crackin’ Baker’s Stick (Grissini)

So how does one bake a sound?
 I could suggest to have “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie”…or I could encourage the “baker’s man”-reader to “pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake”. Maybe shall I ask the Queen of Hearts to make some tarts? Possibly I should turn to the Englishman and “grind his bones to make my bread”.  Although, the deeply rooted English traditions in the so-called child-friendly nursery tunes would back me up in committing any of the above baking tricks, I did choose a more conventional way: I baked the tastiest Grissini with the perfect crackin’ sound!

 

Ingredients

300 g white flour

15 gr fresh yeast

150 ml milk with a little sugar added

75 g butter

1 tsp salt

Fillings

50 g grated parmesan/ chopped herbs/Nigella seeds

 

Method

Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the milk and crumble in the yeast. Set it aside for 10-15 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Add rest of the ingredients (apart from fillings), rub in the butter and mix to a soft, sticky dough. Cover and leave to stand for about an hour. On an oiled or floured worktop, lightly knead the dough for 10-15 seconds only, no more. Return the dough to its bowl, cover and leave for another hour.

Heat the oven to 160C. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and knead in the fillings (one filling/ dough ball). Roll the dough pieces to about 1cm thick one by one,, cut each into about 9-10 strips and then, using hands, roll each strip into a pencil-like stick, without stressing the dough too much. Lay the dough sticks on a baking tray lined with non-stick paper and bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Than finally let’s get cracking…