Easy Garlic Breadsticks
These easy-to-make soft garlic breadsticks are addictive! Made with quick-yeasted dough and smothered with real butter-garlic topping, youāll enjoy homemade breadsticks in just an hour.
HOW TO MAKE EASY GARLIC BREADSTICKS
These garlic breadsticks are made with a quick-yeasted dough, generously brushed with garlic-butter topping, right after baking. What I love about breadsticks is that they are fantastic for sharing with family and friends. Perfect as a stand-alone snack or a side dish to pasta, salad, pizza, pork, or chicken. Garlic breadsticks make ideal party appetizers, pair them with your favorite marinara sauce or sour cream tartar sauce and watch them disappear.
GARLIC BREADSTICKS INGREDIENTS
I made garlic breadsticks with an easy, quick bread dough recipe and garlic butter topping.
- Bread Dough
- Flour – all-purpose, or combination of all-purpose and bread flour is fine, too.
- Dry Yeast
- Warm Water
- Honey
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- Garlic-Butter Topping/Marinade
- Garlic Cloves
- Butter (not margarine)
- Olive Oil
- Water
- Salt
BUTTER GARLIC TOPPING
To prepare butter garlic topping/marinade, I use butter, pressed garlic cloves, olive oil, and salt. I cook pressed garlic in a butter-water mixture (steps 1-8). Boiling garlic tones down its assertiveness and makes it creamier and less intense. This easy topping can be prepared ahead and reheated before brushing the breadsticks.
PREPARE QUICK YEAST DOUGH
When working with yeast, it’s important to use warm water (100C/38C). Hot water will kill the yeast. Whisk active dry yeast, honey, flour and water and let it sit for 5 minutes, until foamy (steps 1-5).
Into the bowl with a foamy yeast sponge, pour flour and olive oil, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. If the mixture is too dry, add one tablespoon of warm water. Then you can either knead by hand or use a stand mixer to do the work for you.
Knead the dough using a hook attachment until it pulls away from the bowl, about 7 minutes (steps 1-4). Dump it onto a work surface and knead it by hand for 20-30 seconds to form a ball (steps 5-8).
FIRST PROOF
Grease the bowl and place the dough into a bowl. Cover with a food wrap and let it sit for 10 minutes in a warm, draft-free spot.
Here is a tip for those who need help finding a draft-free spot in your house. There are numerous ways to create a draft-free spot to proof the bread dough. The oven method is my favorite because it uses warmth and moisture, which does wonders for yeast dough.
- How to Create Warm Moist and Draft-Free Spot
- Bring 3 cups of water to boil.
- Place the small pot with boiling water into the cold oven – the oven is not on (step 1). You can place the pot on the bottom of your oven. Or pour water into a shallow container to make it fit better.
- Place the bowl with the yeast dough into the oven (step 2). You can place it on the same rack as pot with water or above it, if there is space.
- Close the oven door and let the magic happen (step 3).
SHAPE BREADSTICKS
After 10 minutes, the dough will be relaxed and increased in size. Great! Invert it onto a parchment and press it down with your fingers to deflate it (steps 1-3). Roll it out to a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick (step 4). Cut it up into strips. I like to use my pizza cutter; it does a great job (steps 5-7). Cover the dough and let it rise for 40 minutes in a warm, draft-free spot.
SECOND PROOF
Why not pop it back into the oven?! Remember the 1st proof; you can use the same proofing method for the 2nd proof, too. Take the sheet with puffed-up dough out of the oven at the 30-minute mark, place it on the counter, keep it covered with a kitchen towel, and preheat the oven to 400F/200C-205C.
BAKE BREADSTICKS
Before you put breadsticks into the preheated oven to bake, spray them generously with room-temperature water (steps 1-2). Spraying dough with water is nothing new; it aids in the formation of steam in the oven and helps delay the crust’s hardening, keeping the crust soft and fluffy, just like you like! And also it aids in caramelization – browning of the bread, and it makes baked bread shiny. I use spray and ice cube/water steam methods to make the best hot dog buns.
BRUSH BREADSTICKS WITH BUTTER-GARLIC TOPPING
It takes about 12-15 minutes to bake the breadsticks. Brush them generously with warm garlic butter topping immediately while the bread is hot.
HOW TO EAT/SERVE BREADSTICKS
Breadsticks are best eaten warm or lukewarm. You can reheat them in the oven at 350F/180C for several minutes if needed.
- How do you serve breadsticks?
- Perfect finger food to share with friends and family: serve them plain or with your favorite dip.
- Dip them in your favorite dipping sauce: try marinara, cream cheese dip, sour cream tartar sauce, ranch dressing or hummus.
- They make a great side dish to pasta, pizza, and even pork and chicken.
- Make cheese breadsticks: top them with shredded melting cheese like mozzarella 5 minutes before they are baked. So good! Enjoy right away.
- Serve them them with homemade cheese fondue (via Well Plated).
GARLIC BREADSTICKS BAKING SUCCUESS TIPS
- Baked dough that is tough and dense: this can be a result of overworked dough, or your dough needs to be proofed for a little longer. Knead dough until it’s smooth and pulls away from the sides of your stand mixer, about 7 minutes. I recommend using the oven method to proof the quick yeast dough.
- Flat breadsticks: if your breadsticks bake flat it’s probably because you haven’t allowed bread to rise properly. If your kitchen is cold and you are letting the bread rise in a cool area, it will take longer for the dough to rise.
- Lack of flavor? You can amend the lack of flavor by adding pressed garlic to the dough. Use herbs in the topping if you’d like. Use salt sparingly as it can be overpowering.
- What’s the fastest way to shape breadsticks? You can use a pizza cutter to cut the rolled-out dough into strips. It’s quick and effective.
- Can I reheat cold breadsticks? Reheat breadsticks in the preheated oven at 350F/180C for 5-8 minutes.
- Can I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic? Yes, you can. Melt 4 tablespoons butter, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir in a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and generous pinch of table salt. Use 1/4 teaspoon of dry herbs if desired. Italian seasoning works great.
TRY DELICIOUS BREAD RECIPES
- Peach Slab Bread
- Best Hot Dog Buns
- Cinnamon Monkey Bread (via Baked By An Introvert)
- Blueberry Babka
Garlic Breadsticks.
Ingredients
Yeast Dough
- 1 ā cup warm water (320 grams)
- 1 tbsp honey or 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast (3 teaspoons)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups All-purpose flour (560 grams) (bread flour, or half all-purpose and half-bread flour)
- 1 tsp salt
Garlic Topping
- 3 tbsp butter (45grams)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large garlic cloves, pressed
- 4 tbsp water
- generous pinch of salt
Instructions
Yeast Dough
- In a mixing bowl, stir warm water (1ā cups, 320 grams) and honey (1 tablespoon). Whisk in dry yeast (1 tablespoon) and one tablespoon of flour. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy on the top.
- Into the bowl with the yeast sponge, pour flour (4 cups, 560 grams), olive oil (2 tablespoons), and salt (1 teaspoon). Stir to combine. If the mixture appears very dry, add a little more warm water (1 to 2 tablespoons).
- Secure the mixing bowl onto the stand mixer, use a hook attachment, and knead the dough until it comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5-7 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of flour.
- Dump the dough onto a flour-dusted work surface. Knead the dough by hand for 30 seconds to one minute until the dough comes into a ball. Place the dough into a bowl greased with olive oil, cover with a plastic wrap, and sit in a warm, draft-free spot for 10 minutes. See notes on how to create a warm and moist draft-free spot.
- Invert the dough onto parchment paper. Press it down to inflate it and roll it into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the rolled dough into about 3/4 inch wide strips with a pizza cutter and then cut them in half. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot for 40 minutes.
- At 30 minutes mark, preheat the oven to 400F (200-205C).
Bake Breadsticks
- Slide parchment paper with risen breadsticks onto a baking sheet, and spray generously with room-temperature water. Bake until golden yellow, about 15 minutes. Mist baked hot breadsticks with water and immediately them generously with warm garlic marinade. Enjoy right away.
Garlic Topping
- Into a small pot, add butter ( 3 tablespoons, 45 grams), water ( 4 tablespoons), olive oil (1 tablespoon), salt (a generous pinch), and three large pressed garlic cloves. Stirring, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes.
Notes
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- How to Create Warm Moist and Draft-Free Spot Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Place the pot into the oven (the oven is not on). Place the bowl with the yeast dough into the oven. If you have space, you can place it on the same rack as the pot with boiling water or under. Close the oven door and let the magic happen.
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- What’s the fastest way to shape breadsticks? You can use a pizza cutter to cut the rolled-out dough into strips. It’s quick and effective.
- Can I reheat cold breadsticks? Reheat breadsticks in the preheated oven at 350F/180C for 5-8 minutes.
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- Can I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic? Yes. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter, add one tablespoon of olive oil, and stir in heaped 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and a generous pinch of table salt. Use 1/4 teaspoon of dry herbs if desired. Italian seasoning works are great.
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Can you make this with sourdough starter, and if so, would that replace the yeast?
Hi Patti,
I haven’t tried it with the sourdough started. If I did, I’d use about 20% to 25 % starter to flour, so 20% for this recipe, it would be about 112-115 grams. And we need to adjust the flour depending on the starter ratio.
If it’s 50:50, you can deduct about 55-60 grams from the flour in the recipe and 55-60 grams from the water amount, and I’d leave out the yeast.
I estimate about 4-5 hours for the first rise (bulk fermentation), and then you need to shape and proof it again before baking, estimating 2-4 in a warm spot until light, airy and jiggly.
I hope this helps. Thanks. Hani
Can I make this in a bread machine using the ‘dough setting’?
Hi Kristie,
I don’t see why not. Keep me posted on how it goes.
Hani