Recipe Hunting 101 - Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks

I am kind of obsessed with bread.  I love restaurants that give you free bread as soon as you sit at the table.  The Cheesecake Factory has my favorite free bread.  They have this dark brown pumpernickel bread that is simply wonderful smeared in butter.  Lucky for me, my husband isn't a huge bread fan so I end up eating the entire basket of bread before dinner even gets to the table.  I have to plan ahead before eating at The Cheesecake Factory.  I will skip breakfast and lunch before I go there just so I have room for the bread, the monsterous portions of dinner and a slice of cheesecake.  I walk out of that place 10 pounds heavier everytime.  :^)

I am also the type of person, who feels it is absolutely necessary to have breadsticks with my pizza.  A local pizza place, Valentino's has by far my favorite breadstick on their menu.  They call it giant breadstick.  It is about a foot long, super soft on the inside and they top it with either a garlic parmesan mixture or a cinnamon glaze.  I am particularly partial to the garlic version, so it is imperative I have mints or gum to chew on after eating one of these puppies! 

A few months ago, I saw a post on Tasty Kitchen for a breadstick recipe that caught my eye.  When all said and done, it wasn't quite Valentino's version but it did make a really tasty breadstick.  I dipped it in some marina sauce and ended up eating three in no time flat!

Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks - adapted from Tasty Kitchen post by Melanie - My Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup warm water (100-115F)
1 tbsp instant yeast
2 tbsp sugar
3-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp melted butter
Extra toppings:  garlic salt, parmesan cheese, dried oregano

Directions: 
1.  Mix all the ingredients, minus the butter, in a large bowl and knead for 3 minutes.  Let the dough sit for 10 minutes.
2.  Brush the melted butter all over a 11x17 inch baking sheet and set aside for a moment.
3.  Roll out the dough on a smooth surface, if your dough is really sticky like mine was you may need a touch of flour too.  When the dough is about 1/4 -1/2 inch thick cut into large strips with a pizza cutter. 
4.  Place each strip on your buttered baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart.  You can twist the dough strips a bit if you would like to at this point.  It's not necessary, but is kind of fancy looking!
5.  Sprinkle the breadsticks well with your extra toppings and lightly cover with a greased sheet of plastic wrap  ( I sprayed mine with some Pam) and let set for 30 minutes.  It will rise a little bit, but not much at this point. 
6.  Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.