Pizza Crust/Breadstick Recipe

One of my menus this month features breadsticks so I searched around until I found some pizza dough and breadstick recipes. I ended up combing several recipes in order to get what I wanted. The ingredient list and most of the directions come from Passionate Homemaking. Here's the recipe, including my changes.

2 T. yeast
3 1/2 cups water, divided (110 degrees)
3 T. acid medium (yogurt, kefir, lemon juice, whey, apple cider vinegar)
1 t. honey
1/4 cup honey
1 T. salt
8-10 cups whole wheat flour (or combination with kamut)

Soaking:
Combine 8 cups flour, 3 cups water, substituting some of the water with 3 T. acid medium, and 1/4 cup honey. Allow to soak for 12-24 hours.

Kneading:
After soaking, activate yeast in a small container with the remaining 1/2 cup warm water and 1 t. honey. Allow to foam up for about 5 minutes. Add the proofed yeast to the soaked flour, along with the salt. Mix well and let rest (autolyse) for 15 minutes. Knead for 5-10 minutes, adding additional flour as needed. Transfer to a greased bowl, turning to coat. Let rise until double.

Dough ready to rise.

Baking:
For Pizza:  Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Divide into four sections. Roll each into desired shape. (Roll on parchment paper, turning 1/8 of a turn once every roll, only rolling away from your body.) Pre-bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven and top with desired toppings. Bake for an additional 10-165 minutes, watching to make sure edges and cheese don't burn.

For Breadsticks:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dough will be slightly sticky so you'll need to flour your hands as you roll. Divide into portions slightly larger than a ping-pong ball (I ended up with 7, but some of mine were a bit long). Shape each onto a ball; roll each into a 9-inch rope. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes or until doubled. Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Brush with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt.

 Shaped and rising

Baked, buttered and salted! Yum!

Freezing:
Mix dough completely as instructed and then divide into four portions. Freeze the dough in individual Ziploc bags. You do not need to pre-bake. When you are ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator several hours, bring to room temperature and then roll out and assemble as desired.