Summer is here and with it, its barbecues, meals outside with friends, picnics on the beach etc. Olives Breadsticks is my go-to option to have bread on the table that’s easy to make and easy to share. You can use the Olives Breadsticks as an appetizer, side dish or just a snack.
In French, we call them Benoîtons. These littles breads are so easy to take everywhere, in your lunch bag or your picnic basket on the beach (for the lucky ones who have vacations).
Origins of Benoîtons
Our Benoîtons are said to come from a Rye bread, which is a specialty from Valais (in Switzerland). They were little round bread made with rye and raisins. If you want to try the original recipe, you can use 200 g of rye flour and 300 g of half whole wheat flour. At the end of the kneading, add 200 g of raisins instead of olives.
Shape the Olives Breadsticks
I am making this one easy for you as you don’t have to shape them by hand. Just roll the dough in a rectangle of about 8×16 inches and cut strips of a little over an inch using a dough scraper (you can find one here). This way, you have regular breadsticks with little work.
Try different flavors
This recipe is super easy to tweak! To change from the Olives Breadsticks, just remove the olive and turmeric and replace by other ingredients. You can try with dried tomatoes and oregano for example or do a sweet version by using chocolate chips and hazelnut, or dried fruits such as figs and apricots.
Trick to get a nice crust
The trick with any bread to get a nice crust is to inject humidity in the oven by using vapor. To do so in our regular oven, they are two methods.
- You can add a bowl of water in your oven, just add it at the same time you put the bread in the oven
- You can throw a handful of ice cubes in the oven (my favorite method). Make sure to place a tray/baking sheet on the lower part of your oven and preheat the oven with it. Once it is hot, put your bread in the oven, throw the ice cubes on the hot tray and quickly close the oven.
The vapor will help having a nice crust, gold and crunchy.
You are now ready to bake the Olives Breadsticks, recipe below!
Olives Breadsticks
Equipment
- Stand mixer with hook
- Dough scraper
Ingredients
- 500 g bread flour
- 350 g water
- 7 g dried yeast
- 10 g turmeric
- 30 g butter room temperature
- 250 g black olives chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine yeast, 50 g of warm water and a pinch of sugar. Let the yeast activate for about 10 minutes (or until it bubbles and start rising).
- Using dough hook of stand mixer, knead together for 3 minutes on low speed 5 minutes all your ingredients except for the butter and olives. Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed, then add the butter. Knead for another 2 or until smooth, soft and only slightly sticky dough forms (it should pull away from sides of bowl).
- Add the olives at the end.
- Place dough in clean bowl. Cover with a towel and let dough rise for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, fold the dough, put it back in the bowl covered with the towel and let rise another hour.
- Fold the dough a second time and spread the dough in a rectangle of about 8×16 inches (it will be less than 1 inch high).
- Using a dough scraper, cut stripes of dough of a little over an inch. Place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
- Cover the dough with a towel and let rise one hour.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 400F.
