To help usher in spooky season (or maybe you just like snakes), here is a slithering snack to satisfy your taste buds.
Ingredients
- 13.8 oz tube refrigerated pizza crust dough
(if you prefer to make breadsticks from scratch, follow this recipe) - Olive oil or other cooking oil for brushing
- Horsehair brush, silicone brush or new paintbrush
- 8 wooden chopsticks or wood/metal kebab skewers
- Green food coloring
Optional embellishments
- ✨ Be creative and use what you have!✨
- Orange/red bell pepper, carrot or red licorice for tongue
- Black olives for eyes
- Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, Italian seasoning, shredded or Parmesan cheese for scales
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. If you decide to include embellishments, now would be a good time to prep them. For the eyes, I cut black olives into small pieces. For the forked tongue, I sliced narrow pieces of orange bell pepper and cut halfway through the center. Best done by an adult.
2. Unroll the refrigerated pizza dough from the tube (mine got torn). Cut the dough into 8 strips on the long side.
3. Roll each strip into a rope using the palms of your hands. For the “head,” leave one end slightly wider. For the “tail,” taper the other end to a more narrow point.
4. Grease chopsticks or kebab skewers with oil. (I dipped the sticks inside the oil bottle one at a time and wiped off the excess with my fingers as I removed them.) Starting with the head, carefully wrap each snake in a spiral around the sticks. (This takes some finesse, so practice makes progress!) Place on a lightly greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving room between each snake for expansion in the oven. You may need to use two pans.
5. Bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix three tablespoons of water with food coloring. You can experiment with drops and vibrancy. I used 8 drops.
6. After 10 minutes, take the sheet out of the oven and brush the snakes with the green water mixture. If you are adding toppings, I recommend first lightly brushing the snakes with oil as well. (I sprinkled with sesame seeds but I think a little salt and Italian seasoning would enhance flavor and appearance.)
7. Bake for 7-11 more minutes, until edges are golden brown. Cool for 3 minutes before carefully removing the snakes. (Helpful tip: twist the stick 360° to loosen it from the snake breadstick. Then, continue to slowly twist as you pull the snake away from the stick.)
8. While still warm, use a toothpick or the pointy end of a chopstick/skewer to poke holes for the eyes and mouth. Then, gently push your edible embellishments into the holes. (I used black olives for the eyes and orange bell peppers for the tongue.)
9. Serve snake breadsticks by themselves or with the sauce of your choice!
