Witch's Hairy Finger Breadsticks

WiGal's Note:

Green Halloween breadsticks from TOH-has a creepy picture! They're best when served right out of the oven because the cheese is still warm and soft. Serve with marinara dipping sauce.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 50 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 16

Yield: 32.0 breadst ...

• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water, 110 degrees to 115 degrees
• 1/2 cup milk, warm 110 degrees to 115 degrees
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon green food coloring
• 2 -2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup almonds, sliced
• marinara sauce

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water.
2. Add the milk, egg, grated Parmesan cheese, butter, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, food coloring, and 1 cup flour.
3. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.
5. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes.
6. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.
7. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
8. Punch dough down; let stand for 10 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
10. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.
11. Divide into 16 pieces.
12. Shape each piece into a 10 inch rope.
13. Cut in half.
14. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
15. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
16. Brush egg white over breadsticks; sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.
17. Place an almond slice at the tip of each.
18. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
19. Serve warm with marinara sauce.

Reviews

[Deantini]

This is a great & fun recipe! I love the colour - just perfect! I used cheddar instead of parmesan cheese. I made these for a Halloween Party at the kids' nutfree school, so I could not use almonds for nails; instead I used some red icing thinned with water. I know - bread and icing don't really go together but as far as I'm concerned - when Halloween comes around the ghosts enter the kitchen and weird things are known to happen. The fingers were a bit time consuming, because I had to re-shape them after they had been in the oven for 5 min. The dough puffed up so much that you could barely see any knuckles or nail impressions I had made, so after 5 min I removed the fingers and redid the forming of nails and knuckles. I would say that you can easily stretch this recipe to 40-50 breadsticks if you want long snarly fingers; mine sort of came out a bit like giants' fingers because the dough rose quit a bit while baking. Next time I would make the fingers longer and skinnier. Oh yes - the flavour :) was great, too! I sent the fingers to school with a side of spreadable cream cheese and cheddar cubes for an easy and fairly healthy snack tray at school. Made for PRMR.