Easy Homemade Breadsticks (and Pizza Dough)

I kind of think these easy homemade breadsticks have actual magical powers. Seriously. These bad boys have helped me make instantaneous friends at church functions when I’m the new girl and made sad people happy. They’re easy to whip up and even easier to customize. Garlic bread seasoning? Yes. Cinnamon sugar twists? Yes. There’s nothing that’s not great on a warm twisty breadstick. This is also fantastic as homemade pizza dough! If you’ve got a backyard pizza oven, you should also check out my Neapolitan Style Crust, which is my go-to for home pizza ovens.

dipping breadstick in marinaara

I use this basic recipe for so many things–pocket sandwiches (like Hot Pockets, only not gross), breakfast pocket sandwiches, pizza crust, pizza on the grill, pizza pockets, whatever. One major advantage is that this dough is very, very forgiving. If you’re just getting started, we recommend, checking out these tips on how to work with yeast dough, but this is a great dough to start with if you’re a yeast dough virgin or if you’ve had bad experiences working with yeast in the past.

how to make them

To get started, you’ll need some yeast, sugar, and warm water. The water needs to be about 105-115 degrees F, which you can measure with a thermometer if you want, but I always say water hot enough that would feel like a hot shower but not so hot you wouldn’t want to wash your hair or your face in it. If it’s not warm enough, the yeast won’t activate and if it’s too hot, the yeast will die. The sugar feeds the yeast.

warm water, yeast, and sugar for breadsticks from our best bites

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water,

adding water to bowl for breadsticks from our best bites

sugar, and yeast.

adding sugar and yeast to breadsticks from our best bites

Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

bubbly yeast for breadsticks from our best bites

Add salt

adding salt breadsticks from our best bites

and stir. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour

adding flour to breadsticks from our best bites

and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl

dough pulling away from side of the bowl

and it barely sticks to your finger.

dough barely sticking to finger in breadsticks from our best bites

Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

before

dough before rising for breadsticks from our best bites

after

risen dough for breadsticks from our best bites

While the dough is rising, line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Remove from bowl and place on a surface sprayed with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.

breadstick dough strips

Roll out each piece of dough into a snake about 18″ long, then drape the middle of the “snake” over your forefinger

draping dough over finger for breadsticks from our best bites

and twist the dough.

twisting dough for breadsticks from our best bites

Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Try to space them evenly, but it’s okay if they’re close; pulling apart hot bread is one of life’s greatest pleasures!

dough for breadsticks from our best bites

Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes.

When there’s about 15 minutes to go, preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 12-15 minutes (it will depend on your oven) or until golden on top.

baked breadsticks from our best bites

Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks (just put a ziploc bag on your hand, grab some softened butter, and have at it) and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning

sprinkling garlic bread seasoning on breadsticks from Our Best Bites

or the powdery Parmesan cheese in a can and garlic salt (or you could sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. I did that once. It was awesome). If you’d like, you can serve with marinara for dipping.

dipping breadstick in marinaara

They’re amazing hot, but I’m not gonna lie, they’re also pretty amazing at 11 pm when your kids are in bed and you’re pondering the meaning of life in the dark in the kitchen.

breadsticks from our best bites
homemade breadsticks from our best bites

Breadsticks

5 from 8 votes
These easy homemade breadsticks are guaranteed to help you win friends and influence people! This is also a really great beginner's recipe when getting started with yeast doughs.
Servings0

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cup warm 105-115 degrees water
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon yeast
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3-4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • Butter
  • Garlic Bread Seasoning

Instructions

  • In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.
  • Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.
  • Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. While the dough is rising, line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
  • Remove from bowl and place on a surface sprayed with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.
  • Roll out each piece of dough into a snake about 18″ long, then drape the middle of the “snake” over your forefinger and twist the dough. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Try to space them evenly, but it’s okay if they’re close; pulling apart hot bread is one of life’s greatest pleasures!
  • Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes.
  • When there’s about 15 minutes to go, preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 12-15 minutes (it will depend on your oven) or until golden brown. Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks (just put a ziploc bag on your hand, grab some softened butter, and have at it) and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning or the powdery Parmesan cheese in a can and garlic salt.

Notes

Serving suggestions:

Author: Our Best Bites
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
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Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. I don't remember how I came across a link to your blog but have made a handfull of your recipes and think you both are amazing!! Everything I've made has turned out de-lish. I read your 'about me''s and nearly cried recognizing I was not the only Western Girl living a transplant life here in Louisiana, ha ha. I recently posted this breadstick recipe on my blog (along with many praises to your site) hope that's okay 🙂

  2. These are great!!! I think what made them so wonderful was the garlic bread seasoning (which I also used your recipe for!!). Thank you!!!

    I hope you don't mind, but I posted about them on my blog!
    http://tinyurl.com/kkwxtw

  3. I had to update… So, I finished the stix and if you want to know if I thought they were delicious, all I can tell you is I just ate four of them…almost at once I think. Will definitely be making these again, but next time I might take Lisa's suggestion of sprinkling some Mozz over the raw dough…that sounds dangerous!!

  4. Wow…these look awesome!! Just stumbled across your site from a random link to the stuffed pizza rolls, and I gotta say, you've got a LOT of quality recipes!! I'm waiting for the oven to heat up to put in the breadsticks I just twisted up myself, mmmMMM!! I followed your dough recipe to the T and everything went as planned. Just wanted to say thanks…from a new reader…and what appears to be the only guy reading this site, lol 😉

  5. I used this recipe for pizza crust and it was great! Now I’m making breadsticks and realized that there’s no kneading involved. Is that right?

  6. These are great! I used the recipe to make coiled bread sticks for my son’s birthday party; they were called a “basket of coiled snakes”. A huge hit!

  7. Tried ’em. Loved ’em. Will make ’em again. I love the cinnamon sugar suggestion! The garlic seasoning you suggested was good, too. Thanks!

  8. I was perfectly happy with my old breadsticks until I tasted these. They are AWESOME! Especially with the Garlic Bread Seasoning. I made them with half whole-wheat flour this last time and, although not quite as light and fluffy, they were still very good. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!

  9. I made these tonight along with guiltless alfredo. Thank you so much! My hubby loved it. I used bread flour and instant yeast and they turned out great. Next time I will have to try them with the seasonings…..

  10. Veaters (I’m guessing that’s not your first name! 🙂 )–

    Yeast can be tricky! I can’t say for sure what the problem was, but I’ve noticed that yeasty taste sometimes when I’m initially activating the yeast with the water and let it go a little (or a lot… 😉 ) too long. Is your yeast fresh? That could explain the problems rising and the yeasty taste, too.

    I’ve mentioned it before, but I really like to use bread machine yeast because it’s less moody than regular yeast and it puffs up better with less effort on my part.

    Anyway, hope that helped! If you try them again, let us know how they worked out! 🙂

  11. I love your blog! I made these tonight and the seasoning was SUPER good, but I must have done something wrong with the yeast or something because they didn’t rise nearly as big as yours did, and they tasted a bit yeasty as well. Any ideas about what I might have done wrong? I’d love to hear!

  12. OK, I must have done it right, because they turned out amazing. I have told most of the moms in our playgroup about this site. The food is wonderful. Keep up the good work and recipes. Is there a way to request something or a recipie? If so I have been looking for YEARS for a good Sourdough starter… I would love to know any secrets.

  13. Hi, Leah! Hopefully I’ll answer all your questions. I just use regular, all-purpose flour and you’ll want a *total* of 3.5-4.5 c. of flour. I just say a metal or glass bowl because they retain heat better, so you’ll get a better rise, but with this dough, you can use just about anything because it’s so forgiving. Hope that helps! 🙂

  14. A few questions. Are you using Bread Flour? Is there a good reason not to let the dough rise in a metal bowl and also do you mean to add 3-4 more cups of flour in the recipe for a total of 4.5 to 5.5 cups? All the recipes I have tried have been great. Thanks for the wonderful site.

  15. Yum, these were so good and incredibly easy to make. The seasoning was really good, too. I usually just do garlic salt and parmesean cheese, but I really like the added herbs.

  16. So, I made these breadsticks tonight and boy, were they delicious! I used wheat flour (that was all I had) and they turned out heavenly. Huge hit.

    Taco Chicken last night, breadsticks tonight, and I think I’ll do the tomato soup tomorrow night!

    I’m lovin’ your recipes!

  17. These look so good! They look like Pizza Factory Breadsticks! I can’t wait to try this recipe out!

  18. Hey, Bethany! 🙂 I’m glad you found us! And yeah, those lemon bars are pure evil. Evil, evil Sara.

  19. I found your blog from a babycenter post and I LOVE it. I already tried the creamy lemon bars and they were delicious. I didn’t put two and two together until today and realize that this is lemonade… cool.
    thanks for the good recipes.
    -bethany (betnotbe)

  20. looks so yummy! i tried out a breadstick recipe not that long ago and it did NOT turn out very yummy. i’m excited to try this one.

  21. Wow, it is great to be famous. And yes, these breadsticks are truly the best. They are a sure-fire way to impress people. And it is really yummy to sprinkle shredded Mozzarella over the dough before you cut them into strips. Then you twist them up with the cheese. It doesn’t get any better than that.

  22. I usually only comment on my wife’s stuff, apprently she’s made these before, but they look way good…

  23. Lisa rocks! I’ll be forever in her debt for her breadstick and pizza dough recipe. I use it all the time!

  24. Erin, you’re so cute. Thanks for the shout-out! Kate and I both love Marcy so any friend of hers is a friend of ours! Your family is darling by the way!

  25. I’m not one to generally shamelessly plug my own blog, but I was just raving about The Daily Bite on my blog when I came over and saw your poll and had to laugh out loud (I know you through a friend). If you want to check out my rave, it’s here: http://www.thewimmerfamily.blogspot.com

    I’m totally going to make these breadsticks, by the way!

  26. Mmmm…I love these breadsticks. Sometimes, before I twist them up, I spread on the butter and sprinkle on seasonings so it’s all twisted up and cooked into the middle too. I really must try them with cinnamon sugar too, that sounds so yummy!

    1. You can also try adding the Garlic powder and / or parmesan (or any of your favorite flavor of cheese) into the bowl before you add the last cup or two of flour, for a more evenly distributed flavor. Or try Mozzarella, for a Fantastic cheese filled pizza crust or Garlic Knots! Possibilities are endless if you just use your imagination!