Wednesday Baking | Garlic Breadsticks
These breadsticks are very high up on my kids' list of favorite breads. The recipe makes 16, and when all six of us are here for dinner, there are usually none left.
I often serve these with a pot of soup, but they can go with any number of main dishes. If you like, you can sub something else for the garlic salt, or you can just top them with butter. If you're anti-butter, another option is to brush the tops of them with a beaten egg white before baking...that will give them a glossy sheen.
A handy thing about this recipe is that you can make the dough a day ahead and put it in the fridge overnight.
Then the next day all you have to do is shape the breadsticks, let them rise, and bake them. You don't have to do things that way, though...I often make the dough the same day we want to eat the breadsticks.
Like most of the yeast recipes I post, this one starts with the dry ingredients being combined in the mixer bowl.
After you add warm water, oil, and an egg yolk (I was out of eggs, so my dough has no egg yolk!), you'll have a very soupy mixture.
A little mixing and some flour take care of that, though.
(can you tell it got cloudy and I lost my natural light??)
Here's the dough after it's been kneaded and before it goes into the fridge.
I made my dough on Monday so that it would be ready on Tuesday, a busy day (I teach all my piano students on Tuesdays).
If you let the dough rise in the fridge, you can leave in there anywhere from 4 hours to overnight. If you choose to let it rise outside of the fridge, you'll want to give it about an hour.
If you've refrigerated your dough, you'll want to let it sit out on the counter for 15-30 minutes before trying to shape it. Cold dough is a little hard to work with.
Anyways.
Once your dough is risen and ready, you'll divide it into 16 pieces.
Each of these pieces will make a breadstick, about 6-8 inches long.
Place the breadsticks onto a greased baking sheet and let them rise until doubled. This will take about 30-45 minutes, depending on how cold your house is and how cold your dough was. If you like more dense breadsticks, go for a short rising time, but if you like softer, puffier breadsticks, let them rise longer.
Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. If you like your breadsticks a little more golden, put the baking sheet on a high oven rack for the last five minutes or so.
While the breadsticks are hot, brush them with melted butter (or you can do like I do and run a stick of butter over the tops!) and sprinkle with garlic salt.
You really should serve them while they're warm.
They're not terrible when they're cold...they're just not quite as fabulous then. 😉
Garlic Breadsticks
2 to 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup warm water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (your choice)
1 egg yolk
butter and garlic salt for topping
In a large mixer bowl, combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Combine water, oil, and egg yolk, and add to dry mixture. Mix until combined, then beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in bowl. Cover and let rise for one hour, or refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight.
Turn risen dough out onto lightly floured surface and divide into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a breadstick about 6-8 inches long and place on greased baking sheet.
Cover with a wet tea towel and let rise 30-45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. Serve warm.
Great recipe. My husband will love these!
They're really good dipped in basic marinara sauce too. Yum!
Those look really good, thanks for sharing the recipe.
These look amazing! It's getting cooler, into soup season, and these will be perfect!
I have been looking for a bread stick recipe to serve with my minestrone soup! Thanks for sharing, this will be an easy recipe for me to adapt and make gluten free.
These look delicious! Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Kristen,
Where is the garlic in the breadsticks? I think it's missing in the recipe. Making them now so I'll just guess.
Kristin, sorry about that! I had it in the directions between the photos but I forgot to add that in the recipe down at the bottom. It's fixed now.
MovingonUp, I never thought of marinara sauce, but that sounds tasty!
Wow, those look amazing! What time is dinner?
Those look fabulous! I never think of making breadsticks. I always just make loaves of yeast bread, beer bread or biscuits for dinner. My kids and family would like them everynight but we end up eating too much of it! I will try the breadsticks. Thanks.
Alea - I have a daughter with Celiac disease.... would you mind sharing how you would make these breadsticks gluten-free?
Looks tasty! They would go well with corn soup or chowda, and I just happen to have a supply of corn stock in my freezer.
Alea, I was wondering the same thing as Shana about making them gluten-free. Do you have any gluten-free baking recipes on your blog?
These look so amazing. YUM! I have been reading your blog everyday for months and this is my first comment! I love your posts and recipes so much. It has given me great ideas that have done wonders for my grocery budget and my overall spending/saving too so thank you so much Kristen! I have a question about the dough rising... I have really wanted to take a chance with yeast breads since I've been a reader here, but find that I never have the time for the rising process. In this recipe you said the dough could sit in the fridge overnight... Can you do with with all yeast doughs? how long could they really stay in the fridge? Could I make it at night and bake it for dinner the next evening or is that too long? Thanks!!
PS. Your family is just adorable, I'm glad you guys had a wonderful vacation!
have you ever frozen these already shaped into breadsticks, so that they can be defrosted individually?
Hello! Delurking again. 🙂 Did your breadsticks turn out OK without the egg yolk? Did you notice if they tasted different from usual? I like to omit yolks whenever possible.
By the way, your vacation posts were fantastic. Your blog is my fave not only for the living-frugal tips, but also for the stories you share about your family. Makes it more fun to read!
Made these tonight and turned out great! I made a mistake and had to double it though to fix it. Can this dough be frozen? And at what point do you freeze it?
I think I'm going to try these with a slow rise and then bake and brush with butter and Parmesan cheese so they are like Crazy bread from Little Caesars.
Tried these and loved them!
Battra92: I brushed them with butter and added Parmesan cheese-they did remind me of the Crazy bread.
Ooh, you have two Marias posting. Chicago-situated, often-lurking Maria (me!) left post No. 17. 😉
These were so light and fluffy! I'd definitely need to add some garlic into the dough, and perhaps some Rosemary or Italian dressing seasonings. They're far too plain on their own, but still yummy!
Thanks for updating the recipe. They turned out really well when I made them. I actually added the garlic into the sticks. I cut back on the salt since I thought you had used garlic salt in the recipe. I'll be putting that salt back in. I coated them with butter and Parmesan cheese when I made them and they were very tasty. I'll be making them again this week.
These were so good! My family loved them much more than the store brand!
I made these and they were awesome! Took em to work as a treat and they were gone in seconds! No joke. I always love how people can literally bring anything to work as a a snack for treat for everyone and it makes the day so much better! Thanks for this easy recipe! 😀 I think I will also try this with some basil! YUM!
I also noticed no salt in the dough. Is this correct or an oversight?
Oh my goodness, I am so sorry! Yes, there's supposed to be 1.5 teaspoons of salt. I fixed it now.
Thanks so much for letting me know!
I’m still making your breadsticks after all these years! Two pans about to go into the oven. Thanks for a family favorite!
Oh, that's lovely to hear. Yay!