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Knobbly, golden bone-shaped breadsticks are the easiest Halloween bake there is — a few snips with kitchen scissors turn each strand of dough into a bone. They are crisp outside, soft inside, and perfect for dunking into a bowl of bright red "blood" tomato dip. A great one to make with children.
Ingredients
- 250 g strong white bread flour
- 50 g active sourdough starter, at its peak
- 140 g warm water (about 28°C)
- 15 g olive oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 5 g fine sea salt
- 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
- Flaky sea salt or 20 g finely grated Parmesan, to top
- For the "blood" dip: 300 g passata, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper
Contains: wheat (gluten), eggs, milk (if using Parmesan).
Method
- Mix. Whisk the starter, sugar and oil into the warm water. Add the flour and salt and mix to a rough dough.
- Knead. Knead for 5–8 minutes until smooth and springy. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
- First rise. Cover and leave at 24–26°C for 4–6 hours until roughly doubled. (Or refrigerate overnight and shape the next day.)
- Divide. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces of about 37 g. Roll each into a rope about 20 cm long.
- Shape the bones. With kitchen scissors, snip 3 cm into each end of a rope, straight down the middle, so each end has two "fingers". Curl each finger outwards into a little round knob, then lay the bones on lined baking trays with space between them.
- Second rise. Cover loosely and leave for 45–60 minutes until slightly puffy. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
- Glaze and bake. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with flaky salt or Parmesan, and bake for 15–18 minutes until deep golden.
- Make the dip. Warm the passata with the garlic and olive oil for 5 minutes, season, and serve in a bowl surrounded by the bones.
Bake this with a live starter
Our San Francisco sourdough starter is a live culture held dormant rather than dehydrated — ready to bake with in about two hours.
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