Cinnamon Twist Breadsticks with Maple Glaze

By srumbel

Fall is such a wonderful time to bake and these fabulous Cinnamon Twist Breadsticks with Maple Glaze are divine, my friends. Simply divine. They are a “twist” (pun intended) on my Cinnamon Roll recipe, but take much less time to make (and cleanup after!) than their Cinnamon Roll counterpart. That is something to be happy about, yes? You can make these twists in under 50 minutes and did I mention that they are out of this world delicious?
from jamiecooksitup.net

Ingredients

• DOUGH:
• 1 1/2 C warm water
• 3 Tb sugar
• 1 Tb yeast (I use active dry)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tb butter, softened
• 3 1/2 - 4 C flour
• FILLING:
• 1/2 C melted butter, divided
• 3/4 C brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• MAPLE GLAZE:
• 2 Tb melted butter
• 1 Tb milk
• 1 C powdered sugar
• 1 Tb maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• dash salt

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees.
2. Pour 1 1/2 C warm water into your stand mixer. Add 3 Tb sugar and 1 Tb yeast (I use active dry). Mix for 30 seconds or so and then let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
It will start to bubble up nicely for you.
3. Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tb softened butter and 2 C flour. Turn the mixer on and add more flour (about 1/2 cup at a time) until you have added 3 1/2-4 C total.
Watch to see when the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. When it does so, you have enough flour. :) Mix on medium speed for 4 minutes.
4. Melt 1/2 C of butter in the microwave. Pour half of it into a large cookie sheet (mine is 12x17). Spread it evenly over the pan.
5. Remove the dough from the mixer and allow it to rest on the buttered pan for 5 minutes. Now, listen here. Please don't skip this step. You will have a very hard time getting the dough to spread over the pan if you try to manipulate it without letting it rest. Just leave it for 5 short minutes. Take a break, read your favorite book, sit and stare at the wall...whatever you need to do. Let the old girl rest.
6. Pressing from the center of the dough, spread it out evenly over the pan with your fingers.
7. Cover it with the remaining melted butter. Sprinkle 3/4 C brown sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon over the top.
8. Using a pizza wheel, slice the dough into 1 inch strips. Leaving the dough in the pan, take the bottom of each strip and fold it over the top of itself.
Twist it together into a long rope shape. Continue on with the rest of the strips. Don't they look lovely! Since you will be shaping them into twists inside the pan, you won't have as much messy cleanup. Bonus, yes?
9. Pop the pan into the oven and allow the dough to rise for 10-15 minutes or until the bread has almost doubled in size.
10. Turn the oven to 350 degrees. Leave the pan in the oven while the temperature rises.
11. Bake until golden brown along the top and bottom. Should take about 15 minutes, depending on how fast your oven takes to heat fully.
12. While the breadsticks bake whisk together 2 Tb melted butter, 1 Tb milk, 1 C powdered sugar, 1 Tb maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt. Dip the warm breadsticks into the maple glaze or drizzle it over the top.

Yield: 12 servings