Twisted Ciabatta Breadsticks

Step 1

Mix. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and instant yeast. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients; pour the warm water and olive oil into it. Mix the dough until it comes together in a messy ball with no dry patches of flour hiding inside. Scrape down the walls of the bowl, gathering the dough together.

Step 2

Bulk Fermentation. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1 hour, with folds every 15 minutes. Then let the dough rest for 45 minutes.

Step 3

Towards the end of the 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set it aside.

Step 4

Stretch. Dust your counter well with flour, then dust the top of the dough with flour too. Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto the counter. Dust the top side of the dough with flour and use flat fingers with gentle pressure to stretch and smooth the dough into a rectangle approximately 10" tall and 15" wide. Use a bench scraper to get more flour underneath and lift the dough to stretch it if it's sticking.

Step 5

Cut. Dust the sticky top side of the dough lightly with flour again. Cut the dough into one inch strips (you should get about 10 of them!). Cut in in an up and down motion so the dough doesn't stick to your blade. Dust in more flour or wipe the blade as needed to prevent sticking.

Step 6

Twist. Twist each dough strip on the counter by rolling each end in opposite directions. Use gentle pressure to avoid flattening them. Transfer the breadsticks to the parchment lined sheet pan. TIP: Support each breadstick from the middle when you lift or move them so they don't stretch out!

Step 7

Bake for 11-13 minutes for soft breadsticks or 14-16 minutes for crispy breadsticks. They will be lightly golden brown in the spaces between the floury stripes. Even soft-baked ciabatta breadsticks will seem very hard and crusty when they first come out of the oven, but they will soften as they cool