Homemade Garlic Bread Sticks

GARLIC BREADSTICKS: light or dark

Remember back when I made and gave you the recipe for those yummy cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning? I promised you then another recipe for the frozen bread dough loaves. These are easy and a real crowd pleaser, so I'll give you the instructions here. They're delicious served with a nice salad for a great dinner. You'll be glad you tried them! (I will say that it's hard to make more than two to three pans of these and all sit down to eat at the same time. If these are to be made for a crowd, they will not all be able to be done around the same time unless you have two ovens or access to a big old pizza oven!)

YOU WILL NEED

FROZEN BREAD DOUGH LOAVES
SHREDDED MOZZARELLA
MELTED BUTTER
LAWREY'S COARSELY GROUND GARLIC WITH PARSLEY

A PASTRY BRUSH

MARINARA OR RANCH FOR DIPPING

*Please note, the second photo is darker than I like my breadsticks, but I custom make these for my boys who love them dark on the bottom and on the top.

First, allow a loaf of bread for each two people. I get my loaves in the freezer section at Kroger and they have a pack with five loaves. Never hurts to have a few spare.

Next thaw the dough in a glass dish that's been sprayed with Pam. I leave these on the counter in the morning if I want to make these in the afternoon. Spray the tops of the loaves with Pam also. Cover with Cling wrap until thawed and you can easily poke your finger down into the loaf.

If speedy thawing is needed, place the covered glass pan with the loaves in the microwave and place a large glass measuring cup about half full of water in there also. Thaw or defrost around ten minutes on power level two or three. If more time is needed, only go in rounds of five minutes at a time, checking after two or three minutes at a time. Watch the loaves so one or more parts of them do NOT start to cook and harden up or swell up more than others. You want the loaves to thaw uniformly and only thaw to softness, not to doneness. IN OTHER WORDS...watch them when thawing in the microwave! The cup of water allows moisture in the oven while these thaw so they don't dry out. Be careful when removing it from the microwave.

You'll need large jelly roll pans (cookie sheets with sides) or you can use your ceramic pizza stones from Pampered Chef.

The cookie sheets/jelly roll pans will need to be lined with foil. Spray the foil with Pam. Roll out or press out each roll of the dough with your hands in their own pans. These will end up in a long regtangular shape and should be as wide and as flat as you can make it. Cover it with a clean cotton lint-free dishtowel and let rise to about twice the height. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425.

Once the dough has doubled *or almost* in height, place shredded mozzarella on the surface of the dough. Place the pans (one at a time) in the oven on the center rack, watching closely for 8-10 minutes, making sure not to burn the bottoms or the tops. If you'd like your top more brown like my boys do, move to the top shelf for the last few minutes of baking. I've found that cooking more than one pan at a time will cause the pans to cook unevenly.

When they're to your desired doneness, and the cheese is browned and bubbly, remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter. Sprinkle generously with the coarsely ground garlic with parsley. Cut into strips with a pizza cutter and enjoy the resulting finger-lickin' goodness!

The secret to the taste? This seasoning. They're just not the same with any old garlic salt...believe me!

OFFICIAL FARMHOUSE FOOD!