Västerbotten Sticks with Sea Salt

Here's how:

• 1

  Dissolve the yeast in the water.

• 2

  Add the remaining ingredients, except for the unsalted butter and the grated Västerbotten cheese.

• 3

  Mix for 2 minutes on low speed and 3 minutes on high speed. Double the time if you're kneading by hand. The dough shouldn't be completely mixed, since we'll be rolling butter into it.

• 4

  Place the dough on a floured work surface and shape it into a round. Make a cross-shaped cut on top of the dough and let it rest, covered with plastic wrap, for 15 minutes.

• 5

  Spread the unsalted butter on a sheet of parchment paper, about 15×15 cm.

• 6

  Roll out the dough to the size of an A4 sheet of paper, place the butter along one edge of the dough, and fold the rest of the dough over it. The butter should now be enclosed in the dough.

• 7

  Now carefully roll out the dough until it’s slightly larger than an A4 sheet of paper. Brush off any flour from the top, brush it with a little water, and sprinkle on 1/3 of the cheese.

• 8

  Fold both short sides in until they meet in the middle, and then fold the edge of one short side over to the other. Now we've made a four-fold.

• 9

  Place the dough in the refrigerator and cover it with plastic wrap for about 5 minutes. This allows the tension in the dough to release, making it easier to roll out the next batch.

• 10

  We take out the dough and repeat the rolling and folding process with the cheese. We have now made 2 four-fold rolls.

• 11

  Let the dough rest for another 5 minutes in the fridge; don't forget to cover it with plastic wrap.

• 12

  Take out the dough and make one final four-fold, with cheese in between.

• 13

  Let the dough rest in the fridge for 5 minutes before rolling it out—don't forget to cover it with plastic wrap.

• 14

  Now we're going to roll out the dough to 15 cm wide and 1 cm thick—it will be quite long. If you're short on space, you can divide the dough into two parts.

• 15

  Cut the dough into 1-cm-wide strips, twist them slightly, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

   

• 16

  Let the dough rise for 60 minutes.

   

• 17

  Brush with a beaten egg and gently sprinkle a little sea salt on the sticks.

• 18

  Bake at 200 °C for about 12 minutes, or until the sticks are dry and have turned a nice golden color.