OLIVE BREADSTICKS

These olive breadsticks are  super simple to make. It is a no knead recipe, with very little effort it will yield a delicious bread.

What will you need?

For the starter also called poolish:

Flour: highly recommend this over All  Purpose Flour because it contains a higher amount of protein which is better suited for recipes with higher water content. However, for this recipe All Purpose flour will work, too.

Water: depending on the season the temperature of the water will vary. In winter time we use lukewarm water, during summer the cold one is recommended. This recipe, like many of our focaccia recipes, calls for a high content of water and the term for this is “high hydration” dough. It yields soft and fluffy dough.

Yeast: whether you use “instant yeast” or “active dry yeast” it doesn’t really matter for this purpose. The main difference between the two kinds is that “active dry yeast” needs to be activated in warm water and sugar or honey prior to being used. Whereas “instant yeast” can be used right away.

Honey or sugar: yeast loves sugar, so whether you use active dry yeast or instant yeast, we recommend adding it so it feeds the yeast. To make it easy we simply dissolve the honey or sugar in the water.

Salt: personally we prefer to add just a little salt so we can taste the flavor of the bread. but feel free to a little more if you prefer saltier foods.

Extra virgin olive oil: also known as EVOO or EVO oil. We recommend the extra virgin olive oil instead of the simple “olive oil” because it’s much flavorful. Depending on the brand, EVO oil is pure whereas simple olive oil is mixed with other oils.

Instructions:

Activate yeast by mixing it with some lukewarm water (taken from the total) and honey.
Make starter simply by mixing bread flour, the yeast mixture and the rest of the water. Cover and let rest for about 5-6 hours.
The day after:
Using a fork or your hands, mix the starter, the rest of the flour, water and olive brine. Add the salt, and EVO oil.
NO KNEADING required, just mix it a little.
Cover and let rest for 30-35 minutes.
Chop 1/3 of the olives and keep the rest whole.
After the dough has rested, add in the chopped and whole olives and do one round of stretch and folds (check highlight “olive breadsticks” for the whole process).
Flip dough upside down, cover and place in the fridge.

The day after: take dough out of the fridge and let rest at room temp for about 3.5 hours in a warm spot.
Lightly dust with some flour a clean surface. Tip the dough on it and gently try to stretch it out getting a rectangular shape. Dust with some more flour on top and cut the dough in 5 or 6 strips.
Layer a pan with parchment paper and place the breadsticks on it, spacing them out. Let rest for about 1 hour in a warm spot.
Preheat oven at 410°F.
Bake breadsticks in the middle rack for about 20-22 minutes. Always check, every oven is different.
Enjoy warm or cold!

Why is my dough so sticky? Should I add more flour?

This is a high hydration dough, which means that there is a high water content. If you divide the total amount of water by the total amount of flour in this specific recipe, you will find out that the percentage of hydration of this recipe is 80%.  Here is where the stretch and folds will be helpful: not only they help with gluten development but they will also make the dough easier to handle. So please do NOT add any more flour, otherwise you will end up with a more dense and drier bread.

Why do we let it rest for so long?

There are different reasons why we prefer it this way: first, it helps with digestion because we use less yeast and his makes for longer resting hours. Second, the flavor and texture improve much more when letting rest at least 12 hours.

What pan should you use?

Highly recommend a metal pan instead of a glass one, because it holds the heat differently and will yield a very crispy focaccia on the bottom.

How to store it?

Notes:
-if you don’t want use the juice of the olives, you can sub it with cold water.
-store breadsticks in a ziplock back for up to 3 days on the countertop (just warm it up in the microwave or air fryer if you’d like it crispy). Or you could freeze them (which is what we usually do as it stays fresher).