The place to be for bread on Sundays in South Philly was Sarcone’s Bakery on South Ninth Street—a fifth-generation Italian bakery that is still as great today as when I was a kid. Our family’s Sunday supper table wasn’t complete without their sesame seed bread that my grandmother would pick up and tote home in a paper bag. If I was with her, that bread never made it home intact—it was just too good to resist eating off the heel (or more) before we’d reach the door. My mother would have some things to say about it that I can’t repeat. The slider bun recipe (page 225) makes terrific Sarcone’s Bakery–inspired breadsticks, just eliminate the garlic and the second rise.
MAKES 18 BREADSTICKS
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp molasses
11/8 tsp active dry yeast
21/4 cups [315 g] all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 egg white, beaten
1/4 cup [35 g] toasted sesame seeds
Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Brush the inside of a medium mixing bowl with olive oil and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine 1 cup [240 ml] of warm water, the olive oil, molasses, and yeast. Mix on low speed to incorporate. Slowly add the flour and salt and mix at low speed first, so that the flour doesn’t fly everywhere, then increase to medium speed, mixing until it comes together as a sticky dough mixture, 2 minutes. Transfer the dough ball to the prepared bowl and double wrap it all around like a tight package (so tight that you can bounce a quarter off the top) and set in a warm place or at room temperature until the dough is doubled in size and becomes soft and elastic, about 1 hour.
Midway through the 1 hour rise, preheat the oven to 400°F [200°C]. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to a 1/4 in [6 mm] thick rectangle or oblong shape roughly 9 in by 13 in [23 cm by 33 cm] in size. The beauty of an oblong shape is that the sticks on the end are shorter than the ones in the middle—a little something for everyone. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into about 18 breadsticks that are about the width of your pointer finger (just eyeball the width as best you can so that they bake evenly). Be sure to separate the sticks a bit so that they don’t stick together when they expand in the oven.
Use a pastry brush or a flat rubber spatula to lightly brush the tops of the breadsticks with the egg wash and sprinkle the sesame seeds over them to coat them completely.
Bake until golden brown and crispy, 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
