The previous times I made cheese sticks, I used the recipe from Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf....not a sourdough recipe. This time, the adventurous spirit of Johnny and LD in converting conventional breads to fully sourdough rubbed off on me; I decided to play matchmaker, marrying Susan's recipe from the Wild Yeast blog and Dan's recipe, making the bread sticks cheesy and fully sourdough, with some tweaks. Hey, it worked!
The Dough
| Ingredient | Metric | Imperial | Baker's Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| organic pastry (soft) flour | 340 grams | 12 oz | 100.00% |
| water (+ or -) | 180 grams | 6.35 oz | 52.94% |
| salt | 9 grams | 0.32 oz | 2.65% |
| butter | 25 grams | 0.88 oz | 7.35% |
| cream cheese | 125 grams | 4.41 oz | 36.76% |
| active 100% hydration starter (made from high protein flour) | 200 grams | 7.06 oz | 58.82% |
- Total Flour Weight:
- 340 grams
Percentages are relative to flour weight (flour equals 100%) and every other ingredient is a percentage of this. Flour from the starter is not counted. This recipe was originally in grams and has been automatically converted to other measures.
(Yield: 40 sticks)
I rubbed the butter and cream cheese into the flour (with salt thrown in), then scrunched in the rest of the ingredients. Thereafter, 2 short kneads, 2 fold n turns. Divide into 3. Pat into rectangle (didn't measure) and cut into strips. Rest strips on parchment paper. After 10 mins, stretch to length of cookie tray, which explains its rustic looks. For more precise and better instructions, do follow the Wild Yeast link above.
I actually mixed fried bacon bits into a third of the dough, and, after brushing with egg, I sprinkled sesame seeds; sticks are in the background jar. The rest I left it plain and cheesy, sprinkled with crystal sugar...you do know we have sweet tooth.
Addictive stuff.
Now, where is LD's lemon zest and rosemary bread?
Replies
Thumbs up, I'm sure. I wish there was a crumb pix.
Your cheese sticks look fabbo, TeckPoh! And what great pics!
Like the sound of your lemon zest and rosemary bread, too, LeadDog.
Adding both to my ever-growing list of must-try recipes. Just as the Hydra grew two heads every time one was cut off, seems I bake one new bread and voila! - two more take its place! So much SD baking to try and only one life...but ain't it grand?
Cheers all
Ross
Gave these a go last night. I believe that they will become a staple in our house!
I used a food processor to blend the powered salt (I use Kosher so I ground it before adding it to the flour to try and help evenly mix it in), butter and cream cheese. At first I thought the dry mixture was way to salty, at least to my taste, but in the end all was good. I thought that having an even mixture would be better than clumps of cheesy goodness. However I did add 63 g of coarsely shredded Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese to the dough (might need to go a little more on the Cheddar next time). Brushed with egg white and sprinkled on some sesame seeds and some sea salt and baked for 30 minutes.
I think I had the amount of water or starter wrong as I was going back and forth between this post an the Wild Yeast Blog post and my dough was very hard to handle. Might have needed to do another stretch and fold or two as it seemed to be coming together, but still... The sticks really tried to stick to the parchment paper too. I'll have to watch that next time.
Add some powdered garlic to the flour and make them a bit fatter and they would be great with a plate of lasagna! :)
Thanks for another great formula!
James