Parmesan Bread Sticks

I thought it'd be fun to make some bread sticks to go along with a pasta dish.  These were a little more time consuming than I thought but would be good for a weekend dinner / snack.  You can also change up with you put inside (garlic; spices; etc...).  We did butter and Parmesan inside and on a few I sprinkled some Italian Seasoning toward the end of cooking.  I liked the ones with the seasoning better.  These are kid friendly and even are fun to make with the kiddo's!  I found the recipe via foodgawker here.

My assistant for the day:

Here she is "painting" the butter on the dough:

We twisted some and left others as is:

Here they are all done:

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups warm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
3-1/2 c all purpose flour (I ended up needing more to get the dough to the right consistency...so, keep the flour bag handy)
1 tsp salt

For what to brush on top:
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Italian Seasoning (optional)

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix the water, sugar and yeast together and let sit for about 10 minutes
In a large bowl, add flour and salt.  Pour the yeast water in the bowl and mix gently until thoroughly combined.  I don't have a standing mixer but if you do, use the dough hook.  I just used a spatula.  Let the dough rise for 15 minutes.
Roll the dough out onto a floured surface into the shape of a square.  Brush the top with melted butter and then sprinkle the Parmesan on top.
Fold the dough in half & cut into 15-20 strips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Twist each strip and place on ungreased cookie tray.  Let the twists sit another 15 minutes.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  If desired, add Italian Seasoning about 5 minutes before the sticks are done baking.