These sweet aniseed breadsticks were one of my favorites back in my childhood.
If I’m right, they are actually from Spain but, as so many other things, we adopted it from our European immigrants and make this sweet bread a classic at any bakery (specially in the Northeast of Argentina).
For this recipe, you’ll need:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup organic sugar
2 tsp aniseed
3/4 cup water
4 tbsp unsalted butter (I use Kerrygold, made from grass-fed cows, the most similar to the Argentinian butter)
1/4 tsp salt
1 large organic egg
In a small sauce pan bring to a low heat the water with the aniseed. Don’t let it boil, it has to be just a little bit warm.
In a mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar, dry yeast. Stir Gently.
Attach the mixing hook to your kitchen-aid and pour the warm water with the aniseed slowly into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
Add the egg and the butter. Feel free to add a little bit more of flour if the dough needs it (in this case I added about 1/8 cup more). Once the dough is sticky but uniform, cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen cloth and let it rest for 1 hour.
After its resting time, put the dough over a floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes.
Cut pieces of the dough and shape them into little sticks. if you turn them two or three times, you’ll get the shape of traditional breadsticks.
Put them on a non-stick cookie pan or use parchment paper below. As you see in the picture, I used both methods. I prefer the parchment paper because it’s less messy afterwards.
Cover them with plastic wrap and let it rest for unless 30 minutes.
Take out the plastic wrap and bake them at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
Optional and delicious: You can glaze them with a light syrup made with 3 tbsp of sugar for 1/2 cup water and 1 tsp of aniseed.
Let it cool for 15 minutes before serving these sweet breadsticks.
They go perfect with a latte or capuccino!
Enjoy!