This is one of the easier restaurant recipes to make.  So easy, it’s something you could probably do several times a week, regardless of what you’re serving.

The real Outback Steakhouse Bushman Bread does NOT contain food coloring or instant coffee. If the recipe you’ve been using calls for these items, throw it away. You’ll also notice this recipe uses real molasses and rye flour. That’s what gives you that distinct rich flavor others are trying to recreate.

If you want to try this with your bread machine, simply add the ingredients in the order the manufacturer suggests. Put your bread machine on “dough” and when it’s complete, form into loafs by hand and let rise. This goes very well with the Outback Steakhouse Potato Soup and the Outback Steakhouse Chopped Blue Cheese Salad.

Ingredients

• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 cups rye flour
• 2 1/2 -3 cups bread flour
• Shortening for greasing the pan
• 1/2 cup cornmeal

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Soften yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
3. Stir in the sugar and let stand 6 minutes or until it’s bubbly.
4. In large mixing bowl combine the yeast/water combo above along with 1 cup warm water with molasses, salt, oil and rye flour.
5. Mix this until it makes a nice smooth batter.
6. Work in the bread flour until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. It should be very pliable and elastic.
7. Knead the dough for a few minutes and then let it rise in a greased bowl until it’s doubled.
8. Punch the dough down and shape into 2 large round loaves
9. Placed the loaves a few inches apart on a greased and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet. Sprinkle a bit of the cornmeal over the top of the loaves as well.
10. Let loaves rise in a warm place until doubled.
11. Bake loaves at 375 for about 30 minutes or until the crust makes hollow sound when tapped.
12. This bread is supposed to freeze very well.

There appears to be a bit of a controversy about the inclusion of oregano in the recipe. Many have said true Olive Garden™ bread sticks don’t have any oregano. Keep this in mind when you make these up for your family. Crumble up the oregano very fine and don’t over do it on each stick. If you want to see if you can tell the difference, just skip the oregano on a couple of the bread sticks. After all, it’s your taste buds you’re looking to satisfy.

Recipe:

• 1 Loaf frozen bread dough, thawed and brought to room tempurature
• Pam vegetable spray
• Garlic Powder to taste
• Dried oregano leaf, rubbed to a fine powder

Once the dough has been resting at room tempurature, spray a small amount of Pam on your finger tips and begin to knead the dough but don’t over do it.

Take the dough and roll out small little cigar shaped sticks. You should be able to get 8 to 10 sticks from each frozen package of dough.

Spray a cookie sheet with a light coating of Pam vegetable spray.

Lay the bread sticks out on the cookie sheet approximately 3 inches apart.

Let the dough rise in a nice warm area until they’ve doubled in size. This should take between 1 1/2 and 2 hours.

Lightly spray the tops of each loaf with more Pam vegetable spray and sprinkle with some garlic powder and the fine oregano powder.

Bake at 375 degree for approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool on the sheets or a cooling rack and serve warm.

These can save in the refrigerator and be heated again in the microwave, so don’t be afraid to double the batch.

Recipe:

• 2 cups Bisquick or Pioneer
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Mix the bisquick or Pioneer mix with the cheese until evenly distributed.
• Slowly add the milk and gently mix.
• Spoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes
• Immediately brush on the melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder