Adventures with Rye Part 10: Rye Pumpkinseed Breadsticks

As a little gift to myself for successfully completing basic training (I only cried four times!), I bought myself a few of the latest Israeli baking books (they were all on sale!). One of them is the second book by Micky Shemo, devoted to the baked goods of Shabbat and the holidays of the year. I was psyched to come across it (being a big fan of his first book, and all) and picked it up right away. I've been thumbing through it at least once a day and decided to break it in this erev Shabbat by making some breadsticks from the Tu Bishvat (the new year for the trees) chapter. I made some changes, making these decidedly un-Tu Bishvat like, but totally delicious. These breadsticks are made with rye flour and were supposed to contain raisins, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. I omitted the raisins and idiotically bought two packages of pumpkin seeds instead of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. I sprinkled sesame seeds on the shaped sticks. Even with these changes, they came out delicious, with a delicate sweetness from the rye and seeds. I was expecting these to be crunchier instead of bready, but still I liked them and happily munched them until they were gone. Reheat them as necessary to get rid of any staleness and freeze for longer storage. These are heading off to Yeastspotting!

Rye Pumpkinseed Breadsticks

adapted from a Micky Shemo recipe

Dough:

scant tbsp instant yeast

2 tbsp light brown sugar

3/4 cup water

1 cup rye flour

3/4 cup white flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

Topping:

sesame seeds

pumpkin seeds

Place the yeast, sugar and water into the bowl of your mixer bowl.

Add the flours,

and using the paddle attachment, mix for a couple of minutes on low until the ingredients come together.

Add the salt and mix another minute.

Add the pumpkin seeds and mix until incorporated.

Scrape the dough into a greased bowl. Grease the top, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Here was my dough the next day, nice and puffy.

Scale the dough into ten pieces, and roll into thin "sticks".

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Brush the sticks with water and sprinkle on the remaining seeds.

Cover and allow to proof for 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425.

Bake until deeply golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool completely before storing.