Steamed Cheese Cupcakes

With cheese leftover from the Cheese Breadsticks, I decided that the next recipe to try shall be this, Steamed Cheese Cupcakes.

Recipe from food-4tots.com
http://food-4tots.com/2015/01/21/steamed-cheddar-cheese-cupcakes/2/

My own notes in * with italic font

Steamed Cheese cupcakes

Yield: 28 small cupcakes (*small cupcakes cups) (note 1)

Ingredients:
Group A
80g cheddar cheese, grated (note 2)
80g unsalted butter
125g milk

Group B
3 large eggs (large, 65g each with shell) – at room temperature (*I just used 3 normal eggs)
100g castor sugar
Pinch of salt

Group C
210g cake flour (low protein flour)
12g double acting baking powder

Methods:

1. Grate cheese and cut butter into cubes. Put cheese, butter and milk into a small bowl and place a sauce pan below filled with water. Heat up the sauce pan under low heat. Stir the ingredients occasionally until melted. No need to boil. Remove the bowl from the sauce pan. If you notice small lumps of cheese, filter the mixture through a sieve. Set aside to cool. (*I noticed there will be a layer formed when left to sit for awhile, so I will stir it periodically)
2. Preheat steamer (note 3 – 6) and prepare cupcake moulds (note 7).
3. Mix together flour and baking powder. Sieve and set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until foamy with an electrical hand mixer at low speed. Add sugar bit by bit and beat at medium speed until combined. *Then add salt? Then change to high speed and beat until the mixture is pale yellow, fluffy and thick. It takes about 5 minutes or so. (*My Kitchenaid Mixer took only about 3 minutes)
5. Add cheese mixture from step 1 and beat to combine.
6. Add flour mixture through a sieve in 3-4 batches. Use a balloon whisk to gently incorporate the mixture. Be careful not to deflate the air bubbles in the mixture. Half way change to a spatula, use folding method to complete the mixing process. Do not overmix!
7. Spoon the batter into the lined cupcake moulds until 90% full. Lightly tap the base of the mould to release some of the air bubbles.
8. Transfer to a preheated steamer. Steam on medium heat for 15 minutes or until cooked (depending on the size of the moulds). At the end of the steaming, tilt the lid slightly to release the steam for a few seconds. This is to avoid the cupcakes from shrinking due to a sudden drop of temperature.
9. These cupcakes are best served warm. You can freeze them (for 1-2 months) for later consumption. Before eating, remove from the freezer, thaw and steam again for 8-10 minutes until the muffins are soft.

Notes:

1. *Small cupcake cups bought from Phoon Huat.
2. Author used KerryGold reserved cheddar (hard cheese), I used Coon Tasty Cheese. You can use any brand you like or sliced cheddar cheese (processed cheese).
3. You can use bamboo steamer, electrical steamer, Chinese wok or stainless steel pot. If you use stainless steel pot, wrap the lid with a piece of cloth to avoid condensation during steaming.
4. The water must be boiling hot before the steaming begins.
5. The steaming pressure must be maintained throughout the process. Hence, do not lift the lid during steaming as loss of pressure resulting a drop in temperature will affect the outcome of the end product.
6. Make sure you have sufficient water to last the entire steaming process as it is not recommended to top up water half way.
7. Cupcake liners and soft paper baking cups are too flimsy on their own and can’t hold the mixture well. Hence, use moulds, ramekins, teacups or small bowl to support the base so they can rise nicely. If you don’t have cupcake liners, then you can grease the moulds with oil and steam.

Recipe for Steamed Cheddar Cheese Cupcakes
Source: Adapted and modified from Suzanne Eng (Facebook group: Mummies @ Home – Homemade Meals for Children)
Yield: 12 small cupcakes (7cm diameter x 3.5cm depth pudding mould) (note 1)
Ingredients:
Group A
80g cheddar cheese, grated (note 2)
80g unsalted butter
125g milk
Group B
3 large eggs (large, 65g each with shell) – at room temperature
100g castor sugar
Pinch of salt
Group C
210g cake flour (low protein flour)
12g double acting baking powder
Methods:

1. Grate cheese and cut butter into cubes. Put cheese, butter and milk into a small bowl and place a sauce pan below filled with water. Heat up the sauce pan under low heat. Stir the ingredients occasionally until melted. No need to boil. Remove the bowl from the sauce pan. If you notice small lumps of cheese, filter the mixture through a sieve. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat steamer (note 3 – 6) and prepare cupcake moulds (note 7).
3. Mix together flour and baking powder. Sieve and set aside.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until foamy with an electrical hand mixer at low speed. Add sugar bit by bit and beat at medium speed until combined. Then change to high speed and beat until the mixture is pale yellow, fluffy and thick. It takes about 5 minutes or so.
5. Add cheese mixture from step 1 and beat to combine.
6. Add flour mixture through a sieve in 3-4 batches. Use a balloon whisk to gently incorporate the mixture. Be careful not to deflate the air bubbles in the mixture. Half way change to a spatula, use folding method to complete the mixing process. Do not overmix!
7. Spoon the batter into the lined cupcake moulds until 90% full. Lightly tap the base of the mould to release some of the air bubbles.
8. Transfer to a preheated steamer. Steam on medium heat for 15 minutes or until cooked (depending on the size of the moulds). At the end of the steaming, tilt the lid slightly to release the steam for a few seconds. This is to avoid the cupcakes from shrinking due to a sudden drop of temperature.
9. These cupcakes are best served warm. You can freeze them (for 1-2 months) for later consumption. Before eating, remove from the freezer, thaw and steam again for 8-10 minutes until the muffins are soft.

Notes:

1. The pudding moulds I used can be found at Daiso.
2. I used KerryGold reserved cheddar (hard cheese). You can use any brand you like or sliced cheddar cheese (processed cheese).
3. You can use bamboo steamer, electrical steamer, Chinese wok or stainless steel pot. If you use stainless steel pot, wrap the lid with a piece of cloth to avoid condensation during steaming.
4. The water must be boiling hot before the steaming begins.
5. The steaming pressure must be maintained throughout the process. Hence, do not lift the lid during steaming as loss of pressure resulting a drop in temperature will affect the outcome of the end product.
6. Make sure you have sufficient water to last the entire steaming process as it is not recommended to top up water half way.
7. Cupcake liners and soft paper baking cups are too flimsy on their own and can’t hold the mixture well. Hence, use moulds, ramekins, teacups or small bowl to support the base so they can rise nicely. If you don’t have cupcake liners, then you can grease the moulds with oil and steam.

- See more at: http://food-4tots.com/2015/01/21/steamed-cheddar-cheese-cupcakes/2/#sthash.aNjOHqck.dpuf

Sheep German Cookies

There was so much craze on the Sheep German Cookies on Facebook. They are so cute and make me so tempted to try, what's more this year is the year of the Goat. So apt right?

Before we start on the shaping, let's start on the recipe which I took from one of the mommies from Facebook (cannot remember who anymore, but pretty much the same recipe for most except this one calls for milk powder).

German Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:
1) 125g Butter (I used SCS butter)
2) 40g Icing Sugar (I used 35g)
3) 125g Potato Flour/ Starch
4) 80g Super Fine Flour (I used Top Flour, but as per my previous articles on Flour, it can be Cake Flour as well)
5) 1 tablespoon Milk Powder

Method:
1) Preheat the oven, 150 degree celsius
2) Soften the butter, add on icing sugar and beat until fluffy and light in colour by mixer.
3) Sieve and combine the flours and milk power.
4) Sieve all the flour mix and make become a dough.
5) Cover the dough and put into the fridge for 30 minutes (I was busy with other recipes as well as attending to the boy, hence the dough was left in the fridge for at least 7 hours which by then was very hard. In this case, I took it out 15 min earlier to soften before shaping)
6) Shape it to round/ sheep shape. Use a fork to press on the top (for round shape), wet the fork with each press to avoid sticking.
7) Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven or until light golden colour (I only used about 12 min)

For Sheep Shapes:
1) Shape it to a ball for the body
2) Shape 2-4 small balls for the wool, placed onto on the round body, then press down with toothpick
3) For the horn, use choc chips on each side
4) For the eyes, uses sesame seed (I find this very challenging, the use of a tweezer will make the job much easier. Another suggestion was chocolate rice but )

my cute meh-meh

I saw another mother shaped into other animals. Creative yah! But I am keen to try chicken and dog. Shall post if I do get a chance to try.

Choc Chip Cookies

I had quite alot of choc chip leftover from the animal cupcakes decorations, hence I thought the best way to use them up is to bake choc chip cookies. I wanted to try Famous Amos kind but the recipe I found looks like alot of ingredients. I am not ready to go buy more ingredients just to make one item. I remembered I was ever given a recipe, memory was that it was not too bad. Hence I went to dig out my Recipe File.

Choc Chip Cookies Recipe (yields about 40 small cookies)

Ingredients:
125g Butter
70g Castor Sugar
70g Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Egg
260g Self-Raising Flour
130g Choc Chips (more if you like)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius
2. Sift the flour, set aside
3. Beat butter, essence, sugars using mixer until smooth
4. Add egg and beat until well combined
5. Stir in sifted flour and the remaining ingredients
6. Take rounded teaspoons of mixture and roll into balls
7. Place balls about 4 cm apart on slightly greased oven trays or line with baking sheet
8. Bake in preheated oven for 15 min or until brown (*my oven definitely takes less than 15 min, perhaps about 12 min)
9. Cool in trays for short while and transfer to wire rack for cooling

 

mixed dough

all spread nicely on the tray waiting to be baked

baked products

Different Types of Flour

During this period, I was quite on form (by my standard) on baking.

In fact just last Friday alone, I had baked 3 different recipes on the same day.
1) Cheese Breadsticks
2) Choc Chip Cookies
3) Meh Meh/ Sheep German Cookies

However with so many different kind of recipe experiments, each recipe called for different kind of flour. I am not a pro as yet to differentiate one from another. So to be on the safe side, I buy those flour as indicated in the recipe and guess what, I have so many different kind of flour now. This can get quite frustrating.

So I googled the Internet to get a better understanding. This particular website stands out, perhaps she's a Singaporean and can explain better.

http://everybodyeatswell.blogspot.com/2013/05/different-types-of-flours-for-chinese.html

Some excerpts from the website:

QUOTE

To understand what type of flour to be used for what type of cakes, tarts, cookies, breads or buns, you have to first understand the role of protein and gluten in flours. Flours are either wheat-derived or from non-wheat sources (gluten-free). Wheat flour contains protein and when it comes into contact with water and heat, it produces gluten, which helps yeast stretch and rise, and which gives elasticity and strength to baked goods. Different types of wheat flour contain different amounts of protein, so the main difference between flour types is in the gluten content, which can vary depending on whether the flour is made from hard wheat or soft wheat, what brand it is, whether it is bleached or unbleached or for what purpose. At one end of the spectrum, you have Cake Flour (lowest protein level, 6-8%), then you have Pastry Flour (8-10%) and All-Purpose or Plain Flour (medium-protein level, 10-12%), and at the other end of the spectrum, you have Bread Flour (highest-protein level, 12-14%). The type of flour used will ultimately affect the finished product, so always use the type of flour which the recipe specifically calls for.

Cake Flour (low-protein flour, low-gluten flour, 低筋面粉) is a finely-milled soft wheat flour with a high starch content and a low protein content (6-8%). It has the lowest protein content of all wheat flours. It is smooth and velvety in texture. Cake flour is almost always chlorinated (bleached), which toughens the protein molecules, enabling the flour to carry more sugar and liquid with collapsing. Good for making cakes (especially white cakes and biscuits) where a tender and delicate texture is desired, or cakes with a high amount of sugar and liquid in proportion to flour.
One cup sifted Cake Flour can be substituted with 3/4 cup (84 grams) sifted bleached All-Purpose Flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.
Cake Flour is sometimes also called "Softassilk Flour".

Pastry Flour is similar to Cake Flour, but not bleached. It is made from soft wheat flour and has a slightly higher protein content (8-10%) than Cake Flour, which aids the elasticity needed to hold together the buttery layers in flaky doughs such as croissants, puff pastry and pie crusts. It is soft and ivory in color. The medium protein level makes Pastry Flour great to use in recipes where you want a tender and crumbly pastry, as too much protein would give you a hard pastry and too little protein would give you a brittle dough. Good for making pastry, pies and cookies.
To make Two cups of Pasty Flour, combine 1-1/3 cups (185 grams) All-Purpose Flour with 2/3 cup (90 grams) Cake Flour.

Self-Rising Flour (自发粉） has a 8-9% protein content and contains flour plus baking powder and salt. If the flour is stored too long, the baking powder will lose some of its strength and your baked goods will not rise properly.
If you want to make you own SR Flour, add 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt per cup (130 grams) of All-Purpose Flour.

All-Purpose Flour or Plain Flour (medium-protein flour, medium-gluten flour, 中筋面粉) has a 10-12% protein content and is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat flours. It can be bleached or unbleached. Good for making cakes, cookies, breads and pastries.

Bread Flour (high-protein flour, high-gluten flour, 高筋面粉) has a 12-14% protein content and is made from hard wheat flour. The high gluten content is good for bread baking, because when combined with water, the flour becomes elastic from gluten formation, and this gives you the chewy texture that is desired in a good bread. Comes in white, whole wheat, organic, bleached and unbleached. Good for making breads and some pastries.

The above cover more or less all you need to know about flours in the western baking world. When you need to make chinese steamed buns, the recipe often calls for using Hong Kong Flour (Waterlily Flour) or Pau Flour or Cake Flour, you start scratching your head again and ask what the heck is that? Actually HK Flour = Waterlily Flour = 香港水仙面粉. Pau Flour is most of the time synonymous with HK Flour, but not always, because some Pau Flour comes pre-mixed with added yeast. Then you wonder, why do you need HK Flour, Pau Flour or Cake Flour to make chinese steamed buns, why can't I use ordinary Plain Flour? Well, HK Flour is highly bleached. Freshly milled flour is unbleached and is yellowish naturall. Bleaching not only whitens the flour, it breaks down the gluten level further and makes the flour softer. HK Flour has about the same protein level as Pastry Flour, about 8-10%, whereas Cake Flour has a slightly lower protein level, about 6-8%. Hence HK Flour, Pau Flour and Cake Flour which are all bleached low-protein flours are suitable for making asian dim sum especially the HK-style smiling char siew buns which have a very white fluffy texture.

Then how does HK Flour differ from Superlite Flour and Top Flour which are often mentioned in recipes from Singapore and Malaysia? According to the Prima Flour website, "Superlite Flour is a super soft flour best used for making Hong Kong type steamed buns, Japanese castella cake, Malay sponge cake (kueh baulu) and others where a specially soft and light texture is required. This flour is also referred to as "Hong Kong Flour" by some users." Ok, mystery solved. So the Prima brand Superlite Flour is actually just Hong Kong Flour!

Then what about Prima Top Flour? The Prima website says that "Top Flour is an extra-fine quality flour to give exceptionally smooth and fine texture for your baking needs. It is especially ideal for baking very fine cakes; such as chiffon cakes, swiss rolls, crepes, cake doughnuts and butter cookies." I have never used Prima Superlite Flour or Top Flour before, and I don't know their protein level so I can't tell you what is the difference, but I suspect if there is a difference, it is very subtle in terms of protein level. They should be very similar in nature as in they are both low-protein flours for making delicate cakes and cookies.

Not to forget, Prima also has a Cake Flour which we already know what it is. The Prima website says that "Cake Flour is a superb quality, soft-as-silk flour. It has excellent tolerance to a high amount of butter and sugar resulting in cakes of good volume. This flour is best used for baking sponge cakes and very rich cakes like pound cakes."

**More useful info on the comments:
Bake King Brand, Top Flour is also Cake Flour

Basic Flour to have: Plain Flour, Cake Flour and Bread Flour

How to turn All-Purpose Flour into Cake Flour
Step One: Measure out the all-purpose flour that you'll need for your recipe.

Step Two: For every cup of flour you use, take out two tablespoons of flour and return it to the flour bin. Throw the cup of flour (minus the two tablespoons) into a sifter set over a bowl.

Step Three: Replace the two tablespoons of flour that you removed with two tablespoons of cornstarch.

Step Four: Sift the flour and cornstarch together.

To make 1 cup of self raising flour:
1 cup of all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

UNQUOTE

A table I found from another website
http://www.eatbydate.com/substitutions/flour-substitutes/

Cheese Breadsticks

I noticed whenever we were at hotel buffets, the boy is always so contented with the breadsticks. However it's uncommon anywhere else. Hence I thought of baking some for the boy, those crunchy kind. He loves bread but loves it even more if it's crunchy.

The ever so reliable food-4tots.com has a recipe, in fact for both the crunchy and soft kind. Although crunchy kind is just plain breadsticks, no worries, just add cheese into the recipe.

The link: http://food-4tots.com/2012/01/11/simple-breadsticks/2/

Below recipe is pretty much the same as the link with some (very) slight adjustments by me, indicated with * with italic font.

Recipe for Simple/ *Cheese Breadsticks
Source: Adapted and modified from 一学就会做匹萨-美食讲堂系列 - 白锦霞 ( (*as per food-4tots.com)

Ingredients:
250g high gluten flour (or bread flour)
130-150g water (note 1 and 2)
2g instant yeast
4g salt
12g extra light olive oil
*100g grated cheese (I used Coon Extra Tasty)

Methods:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast with water (130g).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour and make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture into it and mix well. Then follow by salt. Add the remaining water little by little. It’s not necessary to use all the water. Knead until a dough is formed.
3. Add in olive oil and continue kneading until the oil is fully absorbed into the dough. It’s fine if  the dough is wet and sticky at the initial stage. Continue kneading until the dough is less sticky and more manageable.
4. *Add in almost all the grated cheese (remaining to be sprinkled later) is added into the dough and knead till well mixed.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and smooth. (note 3).
6. Test the dough to see whether it is well kneaded by doing a membrane test (refer to this cheese breadsticks post). Take out a small piece of dough, gently stretch it outwards at all the directions to form a thin layer of “membrane”. If your dough has not reached this stage, continue kneading.
7. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and proof for 20 minutes at room temperature.
8. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and shape into balls. Place them into a large container/ tray, cover with cling wrap and proof in the fridge for another one hour.  (note 4)
9. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Let it sit in the room temperature for 5 minutes. Work on one dough at a time.
10. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangular shape with 0.2-0.3cm thickness. Roll from center towards outside at four different directions. Make sure the dough has equal thinness. You may need to roll it several times to achieve this thickness. Sprinkle some flour (on the surface and the rolling pin) as and when required to avoid dough from sticking.
11. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil. (*Sprinkle the remaining of the grated cheese) Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into small strips (about 8-10cm long x 1cm width each). Hold both ends and twist the strip. (*My dough is kind of elastic and not able to stay in the twisted form. In the end I'd resorted to rolling them and to ensure that the grated cheese remained on the dough)
12. Place on a lighted greased baking tray. Cover with clip wrap and proof for another 15 minutes.
13. Bake at a preheated oven at 180°C for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown (note 5). Then leave it the oven (without heat) for another 2 minutes. (*actually I totally forgotten to leave it in the oven, without heat for another 2 min, but the result is still good)

Notes:

1. If the weather is hot, just use normal tap water. If the weather is cold, then use luke warm water (45°C). (*I used about 2/3 of tap water and 1/3 of hot water)
2. Start with 130g and slow add the remaining during kneading. You may not need to finish all.
3. The following videos will demonstrate how to knead dough with hands.
• - The Kitchn
• - Carol 自在生活 (even if you don’t understand Chinese, you must watch video no. 6 and 7 to learn the technique of “smashing”甩打. It helps to improve the texture of the dough.)
4. Proofing the dough in fridge helps to improve the crunchiness of the breadsticks.
5. The baking temperature and time should be used as a reference. You can reduce the heat after 5 minutes.
6. You may need to bake these breadsticks in 3 batches.
7. Instead of strips, you can roll the dough into long strips. For this, you need to divide the dough into 10g dough at step (8). Roll into 25cm long strip (refer to photo (h) at this cheese breadsticks post). If you can’t get the required length at first attempt, set it aside and work on other strips. You may need to roll it 2-3 times to achieve this length as the strips will shrink slightly. Brush the long strips with olive oil. Cover with cling wrap and proof for 15 minutes. Then continue with step (12).

This dough is suitable for making thin crust pizza. You can follow step (1) to (8) in this recipe and refer to this thin crust pizza post and this homemade pizza post for the remaining steps.

On the cheese breadsticks post, the blogger had also included other video on the kneading technique. So I had used the membrane method as well as the 2 fingers poke test (to make sure the 2 fingers poke remains at the dough) to ensure that the dough is done with kneading.

My results and most importantly, the boy eats non-stop:

 Source: Adapted and modified from 一学就会做匹萨—美食讲堂系列 – 白锦霞 - See more at: http://food-4tots.com/2012/01/11/simple-breadsticks/2/#sthash.ElSArZP6.dpuf

RECIPE FOR SIMPLE BREADSTICKS
Source: Adapted and modified from 一学就会做匹萨—美食讲堂系列 – 白锦霞
Ingredients:
250g high gluten flour (or bread flour)
130-150g water (note 1 and 2)
2g instant yeast
4g salt
12g extra light olive oil
Methods:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast with water (130g).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour and make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture into it and mix well. Then follow by salt. Add the remaining water little by little. It’s not necessary to use all the water. Knead until a dough is formed.
3. Add in olive oil and continue kneading until the oil is fully absorbed into the dough. It’s fine if  the dough is wet and sticky at the initial stage. Continue kneading until the dough is less sticky and more manageable.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and smooth. (note 3).
5. Test the dough to see whether it is well kneaded by doing a membrane test (refer to this cheese breadsticks post). Take out a small piece of dough, gently stretch it outwards at all the directions to form a thin layer of “membrane”. If your dough has not reached this stage, continue kneading.
6. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and proof for 20 minutes at room temperature.
7. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and shape into balls. Place them into a large container/ tray, cover with cling wrap and proof in the fridge for another one hour.  (note 4)
8. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Let it sit in the room temperature for 5 minutes. Work on one dough at a time.
9. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangular shape with 0.2-0.3cm thickness. Roll from center towards outside at four different directions. Make sure the dough has equal thinness. You may need to roll it several times to achieve this thickness. Sprinkle some flour (on the surface and the rolling pin) as and when required to avoid dough from sticking.
10. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into small strips (about 8-10cm long x 1cm width each). Hold both ends and twist the strip.
11. Place on a lighted greased baking tray. Cover with clip wrap and proof for another 15 minutes.
12. Bake at a preheated oven at 180°C for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown (note 5). Then leave it the oven (without heat) for another 2 minutes.

Notes:

1. If the weather is hot, just use normal tap water. If the weather is cold, then use luke warm water (45°C).
2. Start with 130g and slow add the remaining during kneading. You may not need to finish all.
3. The following videos will demonstrate how to knead dough with hands.
   • - The Kitchn
   • - Carol 自在生活 (even if you don’t understand Chinese, you must watch video no. 6 and 7 to learn the technique of “smashing”甩打. It helps to improve the texture of the dough.)
4. Proofing the dough in fridge helps to improve the crunchiness of the breadsticks.
5. The baking temperature and time should be used as a reference. You can reduce the heat after 5 minutes.
6. You may need to bake these breadsticks in 3 batches.
7. Instead of strips, you can roll the dough into long strips. For this, you need to divide the dough into 10g dough at step (8). Roll into 25cm long strip (refer to photo (h) at this cheese breadsticks post). If you can’t get the required length at first attempt, set it aside and work on other strips. You may need to roll it 2-3 times to achieve this length as the strips will shrink slightly. Brush the long strips with olive oil. Cover with cling wrap and proof for 15 minutes. Then continue with step (12).
8. This dough is suitable for making thin crust pizza. You can follow step (1) to (8) in this recipe and refer to this thin crust pizza post and this homemade pizza post for the remaining steps

- See more at: http://food-4tots.com/2012/01/11/simple-breadsticks/2/#sthash.l5QVuMYE.dpuf

RECIPE FOR SIMPLE BREADSTICKS
Source: Adapted and modified from 一学就会做匹萨—美食讲堂系列 – 白锦霞
Ingredients:
250g high gluten flour (or bread flour)
130-150g water (note 1 and 2)
2g instant yeast
4g salt
12g extra light olive oil
Methods:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast with water (130g).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour and make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture into it and mix well. Then follow by salt. Add the remaining water little by little. It’s not necessary to use all the water. Knead until a dough is formed.
3. Add in olive oil and continue kneading until the oil is fully absorbed into the dough. It’s fine if  the dough is wet and sticky at the initial stage. Continue kneading until the dough is less sticky and more manageable.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and smooth. (note 3).
5. Test the dough to see whether it is well kneaded by doing a membrane test (refer to this cheese breadsticks post). Take out a small piece of dough, gently stretch it outwards at all the directions to form a thin layer of “membrane”. If your dough has not reached this stage, continue kneading.
6. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and proof for 20 minutes at room temperature.
7. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and shape into balls. Place them into a large container/ tray, cover with cling wrap and proof in the fridge for another one hour.  (note 4)
8. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Let it sit in the room temperature for 5 minutes. Work on one dough at a time.
9. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangular shape with 0.2-0.3cm thickness. Roll from center towards outside at four different directions. Make sure the dough has equal thinness. You may need to roll it several times to achieve this thickness. Sprinkle some flour (on the surface and the rolling pin) as and when required to avoid dough from sticking.
10. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into small strips (about 8-10cm long x 1cm width each). Hold both ends and twist the strip.
11. Place on a lighted greased baking tray. Cover with clip wrap and proof for another 15 minutes.
12. Bake at a preheated oven at 180°C for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown (note 5). Then leave it the oven (without heat) for another 2 minutes.

Notes:

1. If the weather is hot, just use normal tap water. If the weather is cold, then use luke warm water (45°C).
2. Start with 130g and slow add the remaining during kneading. You may not need to finish all.
3. The following videos will demonstrate how to knead dough with hands.
   • - The Kitchn
   • - Carol 自在生活 (even if you don’t understand Chinese, you must watch video no. 6 and 7 to learn the technique of “smashing”甩打. It helps to improve the texture of the dough.)
4. Proofing the dough in fridge helps to improve the crunchiness of the breadsticks.
5. The baking temperature and time should be used as a reference. You can reduce the heat after 5 minutes.
6. You may need to bake these breadsticks in 3 batches.
7. Instead of strips, you can roll the dough into long strips. For this, you need to divide the dough into 10g dough at step (8). Roll into 25cm long strip (refer to photo (h) at this cheese breadsticks post). If you can’t get the required length at first attempt, set it aside and work on other strips. You may need to roll it 2-3 times to achieve this length as the strips will shrink slightly. Brush the long strips with olive oil. Cover with cling wrap and proof for 15 minutes. Then continue with step (12).
8. This dough is suitable for making thin crust pizza. You can follow step (1) to (8) in this recipe and refer to this thin crust pizza post and this homemade pizza post for the remaining steps

- See more at: http://food-4tots.com/2012/01/11/simple-breadsticks/2/#sthash.l5QVuMYE.dpuf