Make soft, tender breadsticks at home with basic pantry ingredients.
Tender, chewy breadsticks are brushed with garlic butter and spinkled with parmesan for the perfect addition to any meal.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: These breadsticks are buttery and lightly garlicky, with a golden crust and tender center. Every bite is full of melt-in-your-mouth goodness.
- Skill Level: This is the perfect beginner-friendly yeast dough recipe that is easy to follow and forgiving.
- Serving: Tastes great with pasta, pizza, salads, and soup.
- Freezing: Bake ‘em and freeze ‘em for up to 6 months for instant breadstick goodness that tastes great with any meal.
Easy Breadstick Ingredients
- Dough: Making dough for breadsticks is super easy! For best results, be sure the yeast isn’t expired, and whisk the flour before measuring it. You can use your favorite gluten-free flour blend for this recipe, too, just follow the conversions on the package.
- Cheese: Parmesan cheese adds salty flavor and makes a crispy topping. Swap it for your favorite shredded cheese and place the baking sheet under the broiler for about 30 seconds to ensure the cheese is lightly browned and melted.
Favorite Variations
Customize breadsticks to match the menu!
Doing a shrimp boil? Add some Cajun spice to the melted butter in Step 7. Or add in a teaspoon of garlic powder. Make a hearty lasagna soup with Italian seasoning breadsticks for sopping up all that juicy broth. Try a fun everything bagel seasoning that the kids will love.
How to Make Breadsticks
- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl (see recipe below) and stir in water and oil.
- Slowly add remaining flour to create a ball that isn’t sticky, and let the dough rise.
- Divide the dough and shape into logs. Cover and let rise again.
- Brush with melted butter and garlic before baking until golden brown.
- Top with butter and sprinkle with parmesan.
Best Way to Store Breadsticks
- Store breadsticks at room temperature in a zippered bag at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freeze them on a sheet pan before transferring them to a zippered bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Leftover cheesy breadsticks can be baked into rustic croutons for homemade panzanella salad, or to top a comforting bowl of tomato bisque. Simply cut breadsticks into bite-sized pieces and bake at 350°F until fully dried.
Delish Dips for Breadsticks
Did you make this Breadsticks recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ – 3 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast 1 packet
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup warm water (120-130°F)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine 1 cup of flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt.
- Stir in the warm water and olive oil.
- Gradually add the remaining 1 ½ cups flour, mixing until the dough isn't sticky and forms into a ball. You may need to add up to an additional ½ cup of flour.
- Transfer dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface divide dough into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a log about 7 inches long. Transfer to a parchment-lined pan and lightly cover with a dish towel.
- Preheat oven to 400°F while letting the dough rise (about 15 minutes).
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter. In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and garlic. Brush over breadsticks.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until breadsticks are golden. Remove from oven.
- Melt the remaining butter and brush over the breadsticks. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve warm.
Notes
- Keep breadsticks fresh by storing them in a zippered bag at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- For longer storage, freeze them on a baking sheet first, then move to a zippered bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Hi can I replace the flour with whole wheat flour?
I’ve only made the recipe as written Zuzu so can’t say for sure how it’d change them. Let us know how they turn out if you try it with whole wheat flour!
I made these tonight to pair with Turkish lentil soup for a simple dinner – they were, light, fluffy, slightly crisp on top with just enough fresh garlic flavour. I might like a 1/4 tsp more salt in the dough, personal preference, but they were certainly good just as written! Will be hanging onto this recipe. Thanks Holly!
Holly :)
Made these today to go with chili. Well first batch I made was too much flour. I knew before I even cooked them, they were falling apart (I do spoon my flour into my measuring cup). Second batch I used 2.5c of flour. Let rise then baked for 16 min. I found them to be very dense. Could have used some kneading maybe. I found this recipe not to be accurate and I was not pleased with the end result and the wasted 3c of flour.
Sorry to hear that these didn’t turn out for you Stef. We’ve made them many times, and not found them to be dry or dense with the correct amount of flour.
Just curious when do you add the cheeses
It is topped with cheese in step 7.
The cheesy garlic bread sticks were not very good. Too much flour and not enough moisture. When the doughnut came together, about one fourth of it was dry, crumbly flakes in the bottom of the bowl. Bread sticks were dry and a little tasteless. I will, however, give this recipe one more try.
When measuring the flour, did you lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup? Scooping the flour using a measuring cup can add extra flour causing a dry dough. You can find information on measuring flour here. I hope that helps!
I made these tonight, and they were a huge hit! I was looking for a quick but delicious supper idea, when I stumbled upon this recipe. These breadsticks were prepared, baked and on the table within 45 minutes. I added basil to the butter mixture and they turned out perfect! So soft and cheesy! Thank you for the great recipe!
So happy these were a hit for you Simone!
Made these tonight as the recipe is written. Loved them! Will make again but would like to try the cheese in the center as I reviewer posted they had done. Awesome recipe, a little messy but was still easy and fast to make!
Haven’t tried any of your recipes yet but I’m looking forward to doing so
Can’t wait for you to try them Panek!
The best recipe i’ve ever come across!! I baked these for my family and all enjoyed it! I used a bit more of garlic seasonings and then it tasted perfect! Thank you!!
So happy to hear that Jessica! I am glad your family enjoyed them.
Really yummy! Second time I’m making them in less than 24 hours! In the oven as I’m typing. :)
Thanks for a great, easy and delicious recipe!
This is the recipe I have been looking for! Thank you! I never made cheese sticks before and I was hungry for it. I did the wrong recipe ( doesn’t call for yeast) sooo.. I will try this one! I am sure it is all good.. cross my fingers!
My entire family absolutely loved these bread sticks! I added finger length thick mozzarella sticks in the middle of the dough. Was absolutely delicious
Thank you for the recipe!
Jenn
That sounds like a great addition Jenn! Glad it was a hit!
Great, fast breadsticks. I highly recommend this recipe. However, it takes around 45 mins, not 30 as stated in the recipe. 15 mins prep, 15 mins RISE TIME, 15 mins bake time. I also will increase the salt by 1/4 tsp more next time I make it.
Glad you enjoyed the breadsticks! Sorry about the time, I’ve updated the recipe to include the rise time!
Hi Holly,
I live in Australia and was wondering if you can help me. We only get normal dry yeast in 7g satchets, so would using these for the dough would I need to change any of the times and measurements to make your lovely breadsticks? We also use metric so what would the measurements be for all the ingredients please? Many thanks Tania.
Hi Tania. Please use enough packets of dry yeast to make 1 Tablespoon. I am unable to provide ingredients in grams however you can find conversions here.
Miss Holly…these breadsticks turned out AWESOME! This was the first recipe of yours that I have tried and they turned out really well. Just a little word of advice though. To have these little beauties rise to heaven, I did 1 Cup of warm water instead of hot. I didn’t want the hot water to kill the yeast. But other than that they were very tasty. I can’t wait to try some of the other recipes of yours I emailed to myself. Thanks for sharing ! It wouldn’t let me mark any stars, but I give you 5 stars
So glad you enjoyed these!
Thank you for the tip, I agree it should be warm water and not hot to keep from killing the yeast. I have updated the recipe.
Very easy to make just have to watch for the yeast temp. I added jalapenos and cheese to the mixture. Thank you!
You’re welcome Bertha. Glad you enjoyed it!
What can you use if you don’t have parchment paper???
Good day. Holly. Thanks for sharing. It was a pleasure prepping these breadsticks. However my batch of twelve, in my opinion turned dense and more doughy than I had expected them. I would have had preferred them more fluffy and airy in consistency.
How would you convert this recipe to a bread machine recipe? Reduce the amount of water by maybe an 1/8th of a cup?
I haven’t tried this recipe in a bread machine so I can’t say for sure. You may like to refer to the manual.
My dough didn’t rise any high your your pic ! The breadsticks expanded more horizontally but didn’t rise upward ! The taste was very good though. Why ?
There are many possible reasons, it’s hard to say exactly why. Was your yeast new and fresh? If the water was a little bit too hot, or the room was too cold that could also affect the rise on the dough.
Garlic inhibits the growth of yeast, so users having trouble with the rise might be adding it too early or adding too much.
If in doubt, add the garlic after baking. Maybe before baking, brush with some butter, then brush with garlic butter for the last 5 min of baking.