Last updated on April 23rd, 2019 at 03:06 pm
Cheese Sticks (Saratele) – these cheesy and delicious breadsticks are a great snack we usually make during the holidays but can be enjoyed throughout the year.
It’s the 11th day of our Tasty Treats and if you’ve done it along with me, I hope you’ve enjoyed the challenge. Today I bring you one of my mother in law’s recipe for cheese sticks or “saratele” as we call them in Romanian. I shared this recipe with you exactly 5 years ago but since it’s one of my favorite recipes ever, I’m reposting it with new pictures, updated recipe and a video. I’ve been eating these all my life but I’ve only learned to make them back in 2006 when my mother in law gave me her recipe. I was super excited when she did because she’s been making these for decades so I felt really honoured that she shared this with me.
I’m so glad that I married a Romanian man because we have this tradition in common. But even if you didn’t grow up with these holiday dishes you can still enjoy them. Especially these cheese sticks, who doesn’t love a good cheese stick? Although we usually make these during the holidays, they really are good year round for any occasion.
There isn’t a Christmas that goes by that I don’t make these. They are fairly easy to make and boy do they go fast. Everybody loves them, and trust me they go very well with beer. I always double the recipe because they never last long enough to actually enjoy them on Christmas day. Since I double the recipe I am pretty much in the kitchen baking all day long, but hey it’s a labor of love.
You’ll notice the recipe calls for margarine, but I hardly ever use margarine so I’ve also tried it with butter. I have to say the margarine version is better, so I’ll leave that up to you. My mother in law says to refrigerate the dough overnight, so I do but I’m not sure why, just keep in mind that the dough will not rise in the fridge and that’s fine, the sticks will rise a bit as you bake them. I also sprinkle them with cheese over the top like Asiago cheese or Parmesan cheese, but sometimes I’ll also sprinkle some caraway seeds, gives them a really nice flavor.
I hope you guys try them and let me know how they turned out because I really think you will love them!
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Cheese Sticks (Saratele)
Ingredients
- 8 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 6 oz margarine
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg for egg wash
- 1 cups gruyere cheese shredded
Instructions
- To the bowl of your mixer add the ricotta cheese, yogurt, margarine, egg, yeast, salt and beat using the paddle attachment of your mixer over medium until well incorporated. Add 1/2 of the flour, continue mixing until well incorporated then add the remaining flour, switch to the hook attachment and continue mixing until the dough comes off the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cut the dough into 2 pieces. Sprinkle some flour over your work surface and roll out one of the dough pieces into a rectangle so that it's about 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut them into long strips and place them onto the prepared baking sheets. You can poke holes into each stick using the end of a skewer, but this step is optional.
- Brush the sticks with the egg wash then sprinkle with the shredded gruyere cheese.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. While the sticks are baking repeat with remaining piece of dough.
Watch How To Make It
Notes
Please note that I have doubled the recipe in the video.
Butter can also be used in place of margarine.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
This recipe yields about 6 dozen sticks and nutritional information is based on about 4 sticks per serving.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
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Nutrition
Maggie says
December 13, 2018 at 4:37 pmHow many eggs does the dough have 1 or 2? The recipe says one but the video shows 2 ?. Thank you I cant wait to make them. It brings back memories from choldhood ..
Nicole Beaulieu says
December 14, 2018 at 3:41 pmThe video has the recipe doubled 🙂
Adina says
December 22, 2016 at 2:44 amSaratele!! I haven’t made some in years, thank you for the reminder, now I am really craving them. My recipe (from my aunt) is completely different, but she uses margarine too. Absolutely delicious! But I would love to try your mother-in-law’s version as well, the ricotta sounds interesting and the pictures are mouth watering. Craciun Fericit!
Joanna Cismaru says
December 22, 2016 at 8:39 amOh I’m pretty sure all recipes are different, you know how they did recipes, it was all in their heads. 🙂 Happy holidays to you too!
Nagi@RecipeTinEats says
December 21, 2016 at 7:20 pmJo! This recipe looks INSANE!!! I may have to shuffle my entire Christmas baking schedule just to fit this in! 😉 WOOF from Dozer!
Joanna Cismaru says
December 21, 2016 at 7:23 pmYou need to, and you have to double the recipe like me, there can never be enough!
David says
December 21, 2016 at 3:02 pmI assume the yeast is added along with the flour? The recipe, as written, doesn’t state when to add the yeast.
Joanna Cismaru says
December 21, 2016 at 3:51 pmAre you sure? I see it there! Just kidding, thanks for catching that. Recipe has been updated.
Simona says
May 24, 2014 at 7:08 pmHi Jo. These look great. I am saving the recipe to try. I am so glad I found your site. I was born in Romania too but grew up in the US since I was 3. My dad tells me of a version of these they used to make with untura (lard) when he was growing up. I would love to make it for him. Do you think I could replace the margarine with the lard or is that a different recipe all together? Mii de multumiri!
jo says
May 25, 2014 at 3:39 amHi Simona,
I think you could, they might turn up even flakier, but I’m not 100% since I never really cooked with lard, just what I remember. Let me know how they turn out if you try it with lard.
Phô mai que says
July 2, 2013 at 10:15 amCheese sticks are always my favorite. There are frying and baking versions. But we usually go with the frying one.
Anyway, your pictures look so yummy! ^^
Dee says
April 14, 2012 at 4:26 amI do a lot of baking bread and these sound very scrumptious..Thankyou! I am always looking for new recipes and am so glad to have found your site!
jo says
April 14, 2012 at 4:32 amThanks Dee, I’m glad you like my recipes. These cheese sticks truly are one of my favorite. 🙂
Peggy says
December 30, 2011 at 12:53 pmWondered why you roll the dough into a large triangle? I can’t visualize how to cut the strips the same size that way.
jo says
December 30, 2011 at 2:01 pmSorry, not a triangle, just roll out the dough into a big square or rectangle. In either case it doesn’t have to be perfect, the sticks are not the same size, they can really be any size you want.
Juli A says
December 27, 2011 at 4:32 pmI used your fabulous looking bread sticks recipe to go with my hearty winter soup inspiration for my winter tailgating party – http://blog.inspirationbug.com/2011/12/26/party-winter-tailgating-party/ Thanks for sharing!
jo says
December 27, 2011 at 4:44 pmHi Juli,
I’m glad you enjoyed the cheese sticks.
Happy Holidays.
mofs0507 says
December 26, 2011 at 5:09 pmWow…, my mouth is watering. I am definitely going to make these!
One question though. The recipe calls for egg yolk (for the dough), but it seems like you have the whole egg in the photo. So it’s ok to use the full egg??
jo says
December 26, 2011 at 8:48 pmYes it’s ok, I used the whole egg. Good luck.
Deeps @ Naughty Curry says
December 26, 2011 at 2:04 pmlooks so easy, im gonna try these (jus coz i looove cheese) 🙂
Jesica @ Pencil Kitchen says
December 26, 2011 at 6:09 amI absolutely love bread sticks like these! they’re my favourite out of a pizza set!