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. My friend Natalie, who used to work as my secretary (when I was an apartment manager; I’m not cool enough to actually have a personal secretary), loved these breadsticks; I’m pretty sure she only put up with the mind-numbing inanity of the world of apartment managing because there was a reasonable guarantee that she would get breadsticks on a semi-regular basis.
I can’t take all the credit. Or any of it, really. This is my friend Lisa’s recipe. But I use it for everything–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.
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.
before
after
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 on top.
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 (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.
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
Description
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!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup warm (105–115 degrees) water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3–4 1/2 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:
- Omit garlic bread seasoning and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar; dip in cream cheese frosting
- Serve alongside homemade pizza sauce for dipping
Questions & Reviews
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 🙂
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
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!!
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 😉
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?
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!
Tried ’em. Loved ’em. Will make ’em again. I love the cinnamon sugar suggestion! The garlic seasoning you suggested was good, too. Thanks!
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!
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…..
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! 🙂
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!
These are awesome! I made them this weekend when my in-laws came over and they went FAST!
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.
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! 🙂
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.
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.
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!
These look so good! They look like Pizza Factory Breadsticks! I can’t wait to try this recipe out!
Hey, Bethany! 🙂 I’m glad you found us! And yeah, those lemon bars are pure evil. Evil, evil Sara.
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)
I tried these last night and they were wonderful. Thanks for the recipe!
your blog is just lovely. one I’m sure I’ll check in on!
thanks for sharing all you do!
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.
Erin, feel free to shamelessly plug your blog anytime! 🙂 You’re awesome! 🙂
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.
I usually only comment on my wife’s stuff, apprently she’s made these before, but they look way good…
Lisa rocks! I’ll be forever in her debt for her breadstick and pizza dough recipe. I use it all the time!
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!
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!
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!
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!