Grilled Gruyere and Thyme Focaccia Breadsticks

Fresh bread is a necessity for any meal but who wants to turn on the oven in this heat?! Grilling is the perfect summer option! When you grill dough it’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, so essentially everything you want in bread. This recipe is simple and packed with flavor. Yes, it takes a bit of time since you need to let it rise but it's mostly hands-off time.

Entertaining Tips:

1. This dough takes a while to rise so it’s the pefect make ahead recipe. You can even make it the day before. Just cover it and put in the fridge when it’s done rising. Take it out 1 hour before your ready to grill it.

2. This bread goes perfectly with my flank steak. It takes no time to cook so you can add it to the grill once you put the steaks on. Grill everything at once which means less standing by the grill and more socializing.

Recipe - serves 4

Total Time: 4.5 hours

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tbsp honey

2 tsp yeast

3/4 tsp salt

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup olive oil + 2 Tbsp for drizzling

1 Tbsp chopped thyme

1 cup grated gruyere cheese

To make:

*Tip: my directions are for a stand mixer but you can absolutely make this using a spatula and your hands to knead.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add warm water, honey, and yeast. Let yeast sit to activate - this takes 5-10 minutes. You’ll know it’s active when it has a foam on top.

Using the dough hook attachment, turn mixer on medium and slowly add flour and salt to yeast mixture. Next stream in 1/4 cup of olive oil.

Use mixer to knead the dough for 5 minutes.

When kneading is complete, add chopped thyme and gruyere cheese. Knead for another 30 seconds until combined.

Leave dough in bowl and drizzle 1 Tbsp olive oil over dough. Cover with a clean towel and place bowl in a warm area of your kitchen and let rise for 3-4 hours.

Once dough is ready, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on parchment paper and press out to form a large oval about 1” thick. *Parchment paper is optional but makes the transition super easy.

Drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with flake salt.

When your ready to grill you can just flip the dough onto the pre-heated grill, and remove the parchment paper.

Grill for 2-3 minutes per side. Slice into long strips and drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with more flake salt.

Serve warm and enjoy!