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.
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.
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
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:
- Omit garlic bread seasoning and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar; dip in cream cheese frosting
- Serve alongside homemade pizza sauce for dipping
Questions & Reviews
We love this pizza dough! The last time I made it though, I followed the directions on how to have the dough not stick to your finger before letting it rise for the 1st time… So when I went to get it out of the bowl and roll out for pizza, the dough was so sticky!!! The non stick spray on the counter and rolling pin did nothing to help. I had to put flour down. Made a big mess. What did I do wrong this time?
They are delicious!
This recipe is awesome. I have made it 3 times now in the past few weeks and it keeps getting better as I get more experience! This is now our recipe for pizza crust!!
Holy cow, this recipe is great! It’s so simple I have it memorized now (I’ve made it four times in the almost-three weeks since I discovered it). And it makes the best homemade pizza and breadsticks (homemade or otherwise) that I’ve had. The youth in my ward loved the breadsticks!
Oh yeah—and I’m thinking of using it for homemade hot dog and hamburger buns. I’ll let you know how it all comes out.
If my wife ever found out that I got on your website to make somthing from a recipe, pizza crest in this case, she’d rub it in my face for ever, since I always cook without a recipe after having worked at some restrurants. She always uses your recipes and I have to admit, they are good. And this one turned out good too. Hope she doesn’t find out, since I’m at home with the kids while she’s at work. HA! HA! Super Thanks!
making these right now, cant wait for it to finish to see how it turns out!
I am a Demarle at Home Representative and I was doing a party and used this recipe for my pizza crust that I made and I put 1-2TBS of Johnny’s Garlic Spread Seasoning in my crust and it made an amazing pizza crust. I sell Silpats and the pans that go under them to cook more evenly.
Made these tonight along with the Italian sausage & tortellini soup- amazing!!! They turned out perfect, and the recipe was easy as well. This will be my new go-to! The garlic bread seasoning is absolute perfection!!!
These are AMAZING, as is everything else I’ve ever made from your blog. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi! So, I have made these several times, and they only turn out 50% of the time!! I don’t know what the deal is, or what I’m doing wrong. When they turn out, they are UH-MAZING! But when they don’t…. yuck. SO, part of the problem I’ve had is, they won’t rise after I have formed them into breadsticks and they’re on the pan. Do you have any idea what I might be doing wrong??
That’s so weird! So does the yeast bubble up like it’s supposed to in the sugar water? Or does it stay kind of flat? How fresh is your yeast? Are you using bread machine yeast (I find that to be the most consistent and easiest to work with)? Keep me posted and hopefully we can figure this out. 🙂