2 Days before Baking

Feed your sourdough starter. I use a ratio of 50g starter that I top up with 125g water and 125ml water, then stir. It should feel like a very thick pancake batter, maybe even a bit stiffer.

1 Day Before Baking

Or Early Morning If You Want To Bake In The Evening

Prepare the Wet Ingredients

• In a blender, combine the cottage cheese and about 100g of the water. Blend until completely smooth.

• Add the protein powder and blend again until fully incorporated.

• In a large jug, add the sourdough starter, the remaining 170g of water, and the cottage cheese and protein blend. Mix briefly with a dough whisk or fork. (Don’t blend the sourdough starter. It likes a little gentler treatment).

Mix the Dry Ingredients

• In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the flour and salt.

Combine The Wet With The Dry

• • Pour your sourdough-protein mix into the flour and just briefly and very roughly combine, to give the flour a chance to absorb most of the water before adding oil.

• • Using your stand mixer on the lowest speed, start adding the oil in a stream.

• • Knead until you have a smooth dough that’s coming away from the sides of the bowl. It will be slightly sticky.

• • Leave to rest, covered, for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Stretch & Folds

• • Over the next 2 hours, perform 3 sets of stretch and folds.

• • Using wet hands, for each set, gently stretch a side of the dough up and over the center, then rotate the bowl and repeat on all four sides. This builds strength in the dough.

• • Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes between each set.

• • After the final fold, cover the container and place it in the refrigerator for an overnight fermentation (8-12 hours).

• • Alternatively, if you started early in the morning and have a warm room to ferment your dough, you can leave it until doubled in size and bake the bread sticks in the evening.

The Day Of Baking

In the morning of the next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for about 1-2 hours to take the chill off. If your dough hasn’t doubled in size yet, leave it to finish its fermentation now.

Prep the Toppings

• • While the dough is warming up, prepare your nut and seed mix.

• • Pulse the pistachios, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds in a food processor until they are broken into smaller chunks.

• • Transfer to a shallow container (I used a large roasting tin) and mix with the white and black sesame seeds, hemp hearts, flaky salt, and za’atar.

Prep the Date Syrup Dip

• • In a separate large container (big enough to dip your sticks), mix the water and date syrup together until the syrup has dissolved.

Shape the Bread Sticks

• • Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

• • Divide it into 16 equal portions, each weighing about 120g.

• • Take each dough ball and flatten it slightly.

• • Roll it into a long, thin snake.

• • Cut the snake in half, twist the two halves together, and pinch the ends to seal them.

Coat and Proof

• • Dip each twisted breadstick into the sweet water dip.

• • Then roll it in the seed mix to coat all sides evenly.

• • Arrange the coated breadsticks on a baking sheet, leaving about 2-3 cm of space between them.

• • Cover the sheet loosely and let them proof in a warm spot until they are puffy and have doubled in size.

• • This final proof may take longer than with a yeasted dough, likely 2-3 hours, if the dough is still cool.

Bake

• • Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C.

• • Once the breadsticks have fully proofed, bake them for 25-35 minutes, or until they are a deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

• • Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature with your favorite toppings, dips, or just as they are as snack.
I love mine with a nice hot coffee for breakfast. Maybe dipped into any leftover seed and nut mix, whisked into a little good quality olive oil.