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
These were super yummy. Thanks for sharing.
I have tried a lot of recipes for pizza dough and this is by far the best.
Fist time I have made breadsticks though and they were Out of this World! this is my new go-to recipe.
I finally tried it both ways, butter and garlic before and after cooking, we def prefer before! The Garlic roasts and browns looking pretty and tasting great! I used Lawry's garlic salt with parsley.
And the previous poster, I made the dough, let it rise once, then put it in the fridge over night, the next day around noon it had risen nicely in the fridge, I rolled it out and had it ready for the pan in less than 10 min then just let it rise the 30 minutes while I cleaned up and heated the oven. It worked nicely!
Hey, I'd love to try these out but I was wondering how well the dough keeps in the fridge? There's no way I could make them all at once unless I had people over and it's always easier to make doughs and such a head of time for quick prepares. Thanks a lot!
So – after making the pizza rolls I decided to try using this dough for cinnamon rolls. When I rolled it out I spread it with butter and sprinkled (generously) with brown sugar and cinnamon sugar. Then I rolled it up jelly-roll style and cut off about 2 inch slices which I put in a baking dish spiral side up. I sprinkled a little more brown sugar on top and then baked for 15 minutes. They were yummy!!! Thanks!
Wow! These are the best homemade breadsticks I have ever had! I normally don't care for homemade and just make Hubby stop at fazoli's on his way home from work :o) But I did mess these up in a good way, I put on a full stick of melted butter then the Garlic salt with parsley before I cooked them, when I was waiting for them to rise I checked back on here and saw my error. but they came out awesome with a nice crisp of butter on the bottom just like Fazoli's and Olive Garden! Definitely doing it that way everytime!
I just wanted to let you know that I totally believe that your dough DOES have magical powers. My husband actually said (as he wolfed down his 4th slice of pizza) that it was one of the greatest moments of his life! And he's like one of the pickiest eaters I know. I am so in love with this dough I could marry it (I know- too much, right? But that is how much I love this recipe).
And your blog is seriously the best out there. Keep it up!
Hi, Katie! Here's the link to the hot sandwiches:
https://fit-over50.news/2009/07/kids-week-homemade-hot-pockets.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Okay, I must just be completely blind, but I can't find the directions anywhere on the site for turning these into hot sandwiches. Can you point me in the right direction?
Thank You Kate for the tips! My wife begs for more so I will make some more this weekend with less flour and let you know what is the outcome.
I am also planning to make the chicken-bacon stuffed pizza rolls once I get the dough sorted out :D.