Onion Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks/Dinner Rolls

Sometimes, I just want to impress people too much. This results in my taking on too much at once for one meal and dirtying waaay too many dishes. But I can't help myself! Case in point: the same night I made my sister chocolate angel food cake, I was also making pseudo-manicotti and decided we should have homemade breadsticks. Why homemade? Because I'm insane. But how awesome are breadsticks? Totally awesome. And how much more awesome does something become when it's homemade? Awesomeness squared. So homemade breadsticks were made.


But in addition to being insane, I'm also pretty lazy. So after dividing up the dough and making approximately a dozen breadsticks, I decided dividing and rolling out the dough was too time consuming; plus, my sister really needed to eat and then leave so she could get the cutest baby ever ready for bed. So I decided to make rolls out of the remaining dough.


And honestly, I liked them in roll form better. They were fluffy and seemed more flavorful, though I know they weren't more flavorful; there was just more fluffy bread per bite... Yeah.

Onion Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks or Dinner Rolls
(Maryellen Hays, The Taste of Home Cookboook, pg 463)

• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110F to 115F)
• 1/2 cup warm milk (110F to 115F)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 1/2 - 4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• garlic salt
• grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, saute onion in oil until tender; cool. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, 1 egg, butter, sugar, salt, 1 egg, and 1 cup flour. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. (Note, I'm not sure why it says to add the eggs separately if not beating in between additions.)

Stir in onion and enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Punch dough down, and let stand for 10 minutes. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 32 pieces. Shape each piece into an 8 inch rope. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can separate the dough into larger pieces, form into balls, and then place in a round cake pan or pie pan.

Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt and grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350F for 16-22 minutes or unti lgolden brown.