Get Fit With Anna!: Sesame Seed Bread Sticks (Gluten/Grain/Egg/Dairy Free)

realsustenance.com
by BRITTANY on FEBRUARY 3, 2013

Crisp, crunchy and perfect for dipping in marinara sauce, soups and stews these Sesame Seed Bread Sticks are fun to make and taste amazing.

Have fun with this recipe! I used black sesame seeds since that was all I had on hand- but of course golden will work. Additionally feel free to leave them out all together and add other spices of your choice to the dough. Once baked these bread sticks are nice and sturdy and will travel well. They would make a great snack for days you are on the go.

Sesame Seed Bread Sticks

2 packed cups of blanched almond flour (see substitution notes below)
1/2 cup Starch (Potato or Tapioca).
3 Tbs Whole Psyllium Husk
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
11-12 Tablespoons of Water
Sesame Seeds (black or golden) to roll bread sticks in.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixture or food processor combine the Blanched Almond Flour, Starch Baking Powder and Salt. In a separate small bowl combine 8 tbs of water + the psyllium. Mix briefly until it starts to thicken. Add to your bowl. Begin mixing to create a dough- pour in the remaining 4-5 tablespoons of water. Mix until you end up with a dough that holds really well together. (I like to knead the dough with my hands for a moment to make sure its really holding together). *Start with the 11 tablespoons of water- add the last one if you feel your dough is still too dry and is not sticking together.
Press the mound of dough (using your hands or a rolling pin) into a 10 inch long by 4-5 inches wide rectangle. Make this rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Then using a sharp knife cut the dough into 1/2 inch wide lengthwise bread stick pieces.
Take each piece, gently press in the edges (to make it a round bread stick vs. a squared shape one) and gently roll each piece back and fourth using both of your hands in sesame seeds on a flat surface. (I like to do this in rimmed cookie sheet). If the dough breaks at all- just piece it back together. (NOTE: the longer this dough sits out the drier it will become. It functions best if you make the bread sticks right away- if your dough does happen to start to dry out- feel free to add a tiny bit more water.)
Place each bread stick carefully onto a clean baking sheet and place into the oven. Bake roughly 1 hour. Halfway through your baking time drizzle or gently brush a little oil onto all of the bread sticks (careful not to do this too liberally or you may knock off a bunch of your sesame seeds)
You will know your bread sticks are done when they are crisp all the way through. How much water you used and how large you made each piece will affect how long the baking time needs to be. They can be left in the oven for almost up to 2 hours.. so don’t fret if you need more than the 60 minutes. Just remove them from the oven when they are crisp. As a general rule- the smaller bread sticks take less time to bake.

Store in a bag or container at room temperature.

Recipe Notes and Substitutions

Instead of blanched almond flour feel free to use another homemade nut or seed flour. Sunflower seed flour reacts to baking soda and powder and turns green if you surpass a certain amount of baking powder per cup of flour. (I don’t know what this exact amount is and will be toying with this in the future.) This is something to be aware of if you try using homemade sunflower seed flour, If your not a risk taker- then try using less baking powder in the recipe than I have called for. For the best results use a mild tasting nut or seed flour.
To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simply run the nut or seed in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.) If you flour is course, then be aware that your cookies are going to spread more and not turn out as good.
Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in this recipe. Only use other Nut/Seed flours.
Whole Psyllium Husk is a fiber supplement that can be found at most grocery and drug stores. Make sure to look for “Whole Psyllium Husk” and not powder. The powder behaves different in recipes. The psyllium acts as the sticky glue that helps to hold this dough together. It also plays a big role in giving them their delicious finished flavor and texture. I do not have any suggestions for removing it- please as always feel free to experiment and leave us a comment so others can learn what you did.
PLEASE follow these guidelines if you would like the recipe to work! Making other changes will give you different results. Experiment at your own risk.