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
Hi, Hendra! My guess is that you probably added a touch too much flour–sometimes they're hard to roll out and they kind of bounce back like that.
Anyway, try adding a bit less flour next time and see if that helps! I'm glad you found us and hope you stick around! 🙂
Thank You so much for the recipe. I was craving for bread stick (don't ask me why. No I am not pregnant since it is impossible for me to do so and I hope my wife isn't haha) and decided to google for recipe. I found your website and bake the bread stick over the weekend. It was a hit… everybody in the house loves it. We eat the bread stick with spaghetti marinara sauce. I have one question though… Did you guys have hard time rolling the dough? Mine was so persistent and keeps wanting to go back to its original shape.
Wow, thank you so much for this recipe. I made the dough and used it for the cheesy garlic bread sticks, cin-sugar sticks for a dessert and strombollis. The dough is so light and fuffy and full of goodness. I have found my new go to recipe for all things to do with pizza or bread sticks!
I saw these on 320 Sycamore and knew I had to make them! They look wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!
Wow these are the best. I made them last friday for my family and then again lastnight for a family dinner and everyone loved them. And it is such an easy recipe. Thanks so much for you wonderful recipes.
Emily, sorry to confuse you- it's totally my bad! Kate does mean to roll them in a cylinder shape before twisting, but I snapped these pictures the last time I made them and I completely forgot that step! The good news is that it doesn't really matter, they will still taste great either way, but I do think they look a little prettier if you roll them into a round shape before you twist them.
This is probably so simple, but I'm confused about the rolling/twisting technique. When you say roll it out like a snake do you mean into a long tube/cylinder shape and then twist? From your picture I don't think that what I'm thinking would make them look the way yours do? Any help would be appreciated, I'm making them for my sons bday party on Fri. My email is [email protected].
These look delicious. I've made different roll recipes but never breadsticks! I have two questions:
In the recipe you don't mention kneading the dough. Does this recipe not require kneading?
Also, the recipe says, "add flour and mix well." For best results, is this with a mixer, or by hand?
Thank you and many thanks also for your wonderful blog! I've tried several recipes with great success.
Thanks so much for coming back with a report!
ok, I was the one w/ the question on the breadmaker. I did it, and they were AWESOME. thanks! I used 3 1/2 cups of flour, and just put it on the dough cycle. after I followed the directions to let them rise, etc. yum, yum, yum!:)