Makes 28
Ingredients
275g wholemeal spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp fast-action dried yeast
½-1 tsp (depending how much heat you like) chilli flakes
1 tsp fine sea salt
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Sprinkle three large baking sheets with some flour and set aside.
2. Put the flour, yeast, chilli flakes and salt in a large bowl and toss everything together. Make a hole in the centre of the mix and pour in 225ml warm water. Using a wooden spoon, combine everything well until the mixture starts to come together. Then get your (clean) hands in and squidge it all together to form a ball.
3. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 min if doing by hand, or 5 min if using an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
4. Cut the dough in half and leave one half aside, covered with a clean tea towel, so that it does not develop a hard crust. Dust a large square of baking parchment with more flour and roll the dough out to a rectangle about 28cm x 21cm. I like to use the parchment to prevent the dough from sticking to my surface. If the dough is super springy and difficult to roll out, leave it for a couple of minutes to relax a little. Cut the rectangle into 14 strips, each about 1.5cm wide.
5. Arrange the strips spaced apart on the baking sheets. They sometimes get a little floppy and stretch, but that is fine.
6. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough. You may have to leave one tray aside while you bake the other two, in which case cover with a clean tea towel to avoid drying out.
7. Bake in the oven for 12-15 min, swapping the trays around halfway through. Check that any skinny bits of the breadsticks are not burning, whipping them out if so. Once cooked, the breadsticks should be crisp and golden brown.
Your chilli breadsticks are now ready to eat! You can make some dips for breadsticks or even purchase them from your local market. Alternatively, you could enjoy them with a nice cup of soup; it could be a great appetizer for when you have people over for a dinner party as well.
So far as storage is concerned, you want to keep them in an airtight container so that it lasts for up to 4-5 days on the shelf. And if you want to make it last even longer, you should wrap it fresh in some foil to retain the moisture, and then put it into your freezer.