never-fail bread(stick)

I tried many recipes for bread that's soft in the inside, but nice and crunchy on the outside. This recipe works well with bread sticks or burger buns/hot dog buns. It's so simple, you don't have to buy bread sticks anymore! 

Ingredients: 

Milk or half & half - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Butter - 2 TBS

White sugar - 3 TBS
Active dry yeast - 1 envelope (.25 ounce or 2 and 1/2 tsp)

Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Bread flour or all-purpose flour - 5 1/2 cups

[Brushing & Topping]
Egg - 1
Water - 1 TBS

Italian seasoning [optional]
Sesame seeds [optional for burger buns or hot dog buns]
Garlic salt or fresh minced garlic with butter

Prep:

1. In a saucepan, warm up milk, water (1 cup) and 2 TBS of butter until butter melts. Let it cool down a bit so it's not too hot (little bit more than lukewarm). 
2. In a large bowl (Kitchenaid bowl if you are using it), add sugar, yeast, salt and flour. Slowly, add in the milk/water solution as you knead the bread (or use Kitchenaid kneading hook). 
3. Let it knead for 8 minutes with electric ones or 10 minutes with hands.
4. Take the dough out, oil the bowl and return the dough. Cover with wet cloth and put in a warm place for about an hour (until it gets big! about twice the size) *See TIPS

Cook:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Separate the dough twelve parts for hamburger buns, or 24 parts for bread sticks. Shape any way you want. Let it rise for another 15 minutes.
3. Mix egg and water (1 TBS) and brush the top of the bread. Sprinkle whatever toppings you want on top after brushing. 
4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top. 
5. Leave them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before serving. 

Braiding the bread sticks

for this, we put cheese, Italian seasoning

Serve:

1. Serve warm, but not right out of the oven. 

TIPS

• If you want sweeter bread, add more sugar
• If you can't wait for an hour, you can use the dough right away after kneading. Shape them and let it rise for 15-20 minutes.