Gluten Free Ciabatta Breadsticks

Recipe

These gluten free ciabatta breadsticks are the ultimate snack or addition to a cheese board. Soft centre and crusty outside, plain or studded with cheese and olives they are absolutely delicious - no gluten required whatsoever!

This is the recipe that started it all. I had a go at creating a gluten free version of a Paul Hollywood recipe for ciabatta breadsticks filled with delicious things one day and accidentally ended up with something that was... surprisingly wonderful. I had a look for a gluten free ciabatta recipes and when I didn't really find anything I loved the look of I decided to alter a focaccia recipe to suit what I was looking for. I simplified the flours required, adding in some gluten free plain flour blend, I added more liquid because ciabatta is traditionally a very wet dough, and then I just went for it!

The original version of these breadsticks has chunks of green olive, manchego cheese and red onion in them, but you can really put whatever you fancy in them or just keep them plain. I've tried them with black olives and gruyere, and also with chunks of spicy chorizo - heaven! They make a perfect addition to a nibbles platter with dip or cheese, and if you make them a little larger they're a great vehicle for a sandwich or even the garlic bread of you dreams, too.

This ciabatta dough is pretty wet and sticky. You see the big air bubbles in the photo above? That's because of the water. Don't worry though, the way these breadsticks are shaped is pretty low maintenance, and the dough is actually quite forgiving. After the dough has its' first prove I don't actually knock the air out of it as I usually would (most of my bread recipes will tell you to knead the dough until smooth after the first prove - not this one!). I like to keep as much of the air in the dough as I can, simply pressing and stretching it out into a rectangle and then using a pizza cutter to slice it into lengths. A teeny tiny bit of shaping after you lift it into the tray will tidy it up a bit, but I actually really like the rough and ready look of these little guys.

Since the breadsticks are shaped with the air bubbles still inside the the second prove is quite short - just 15 to 20 minutes or until you can see that the dough is puffy. They'll actually puff up a lot in the oven too, and before you know it you'll have golden brown perfection! The breadsticks do need to cool a bit before you tuck in, but it's not necessary to cool them completely. Still just warm will be fine.

Whatever you choose to do with these ciabatta breadsticks I'm sure they'll become your new best friend!