After watching the Great British Bake Off and the Master Class episode which featured Paul Hollywood’s breadsticks, and seeing as though they did not require as much effort as some other dough based bakes, I thought I would give his recipe a try.
However, (yes, always one of those with my baking!) I did not fancy a savoury breadstick, I wanted a sweet one and I had been sent some very fragrant mixed spice from Steenbergs. Cue my lightbulb moment as after having looked through my baking cupboard, I thought I would do some festive baking and make some Christmas Spiced Breadsticks. Having looked at Paul’s Olive Breadsticks recipe in The Great British Bake Off Everyday book, I used this as my starting point, changed some of the ingredients and I also amended the quanitities for I did not want 36 breadsticks .
Here are my festive Christmas Spiced Breadsticks
- 350g strong white flour
- 1 x 7g sachet of fast action yeast
- 1 tsp Steenbergs mixed spice (nutmey and cinnamon)
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 260ml luke warm water
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 eating apple, peeled and grated
- 50g sour cherries
- 50g sultanans
- icing sugar for dusting
- Place the flour into the bowl of a food mixer, add the sugar and spice on one side and the yeast on the other and add ¾ of the water
- Add the dough hook and mix on a slow speed and as the dough comes together Add the remaining water, turn the speed up to medium and mix for another 6 minutes
- Add the olive oil and mix for another 2 minutes on medium speed
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and then add the fruit and mix with your hand or a spoon until evenly distributed within the dough
- Grease a large plastic tub (3 litre) and place the dough inside, cover with cling film and place in a warm place for about an hour until the dough has tripled in size
- Pre-heat the oven to 220oC / 200oC (fan) and line a long and large baking tray/s with greaseproof paper
- Dust a worktop with flour and icing sugar and add the dough and carefully stretch it out from all sides to make a large square/rectangle - I judged the size by my eye
- starting at one long end, and using a pizza cutter, cut out approx 12 x 1 inch wide strips and place well apart on the baking parchment
- Place in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes until golden
- Will keep in an airtight container for a few days
They tasted really nice and the spice from the Steenbergs blend was a wonderful additon and a little certainly goes a long way! Really nice to have a fruit and spice breadstick and there was no snap as mine were more dough well more like bread sticks, but that is fine as I like fruit bread which is what these reminded me of. I have to say having made these now, I am addicted to homemade bread sticks!! Yum.
The Great British Bake Off Everyday book is the official cookbook from the 4th series, and I was sent a copy way back when I attempted choux pastry. This book is a wonderful read and showcases some great recipes from cakes, bakes and trifles from Mary Berry, bread, buns and egg custard tarts from Paul Hollywood and a few recipes contributed by the GBBO contestants themselves, like the Mexican breadsticks and the infamous allottment carrot cake. The book also features some recipes which were not shown during the series and while some were featured during the master class programmes, like Mary’s Whole Orange Cake the other week on BBC 2 , the rest are just a bonus really.
Priced at £9 this book is a must for all GBBO fans and a lovely souvenir of series 4. My only complaint is I wish that every bake had an accompanying photograph!
Don’t forget until November 30th Helen and I are inviting you to link up a recipe inspired by the GBBO 4th series please join in, baking is fun and tasty!!
So now it is over to you …………………………………. on your marks, get set and baaaaaaake!!!
Whatever you decide to bake please make sure:
**RULES**
**all recipes must be a new post and not an old one linked up
** you can link up as many recipes as you like as long as they fit the rules
**all recipes must fit the themes set during series 4 of the Great British Bake Off and/or the Master Class series
**all entries must carry the GBBO badge (see below)
**all entries must also carry a link to Helen and myself please http://www.thecrazykitchen.co.uk/p/the-great-bloggers-bake-off.html and http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/category/gbbo
**all entries must be linked up on either mine or Helen Hollywood’s blog by 11.59pm Saturday 30th November, 2013
There will be prizes again at the close of the linky – details to follow.
We look forward to seeing your bakes 🙂
I was sent a tub of Stork and a jar of Steenbergs for the purpose of this bake, although it was my choice of recipe
Carolin
Lovely idea. I’m not a fanof ccinnamon, but I think the nutmeg would balance it out nicely. Love the presentation by the way x
Jenny Paulin
thanks Carolin x
Helen
ooh great styling there Ms Paulin, these look fab!
….I am desperate to make more breadsticks but not sure I will be able to control myself!!
Jenny Paulin
why thank you Mrs Jessup!! I love homemade breadsticks now and surely they cant be as fattening as say chocolate cake???? x x
HonestMum
Just beautiful! What a stunning Christmas gift! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Jenny Paulin
thank you x
Lauren
Oooo now these sound delicious. xx
Jenny Paulin
mmmmm they didnt last long 😉
thank you x
Charlotte
These sound delicious! Love the first photo! Popping over from Tasty Tuesdays but I am a bit behind. 🙂
Jenny Paulin
thank you x
Oana79
Oh, how lovely they look! Love cinnamon and nutmeg, perfectly Christmassy!
Jenny Paulin
they did taste festive x
Sara (@mumturnedmom)
These sound lovely! Huge fans of fruit bread in this house 🙂 #TastyTuesdays
TheBoyandMe
Ooooh! I like the look of these, such a different flavour to normal. Fabulous ribbon as well.
Sticky Toffee Apple Breadsticks | Mummy Mishaps
[…] winner as far as I am concerned. I made some breadsticks for the first time the other week and my Christmas Spiced Breadsticks were so good that I decided to bake some more breadsticks a couple of days after because they were […]
Kirsty - Hijacked by Twins
Ooooh they sound delicious, I love thinking about Christmas bakes x
Jaime Oliver
They look so tasty Jenny, i am just starting my baking/cooking journey so i hope i get better soon x
Emily @amummytoo
Very pretty as always and I love the festive presentation. Now I just need to stop being a wimp and actually try making some breadsticks! Thanks very much for linking up with #recipeoftheweek. I’ve pinned this 🙂 Also I’ve just put a fresh linky live for this week and would love you to join in.
boost instagram likes
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home
a bit, but other than that, this is great blog. A fantastic read.
I’ll definitely be back.