Easy Garlic And Herb Breadsticks Recipe

Bread baking may be a craft as old as time itself, but that doesn't make it any less intimidating to some bakers. Maybe you've tried a few sourdough loaves at home, or perhaps you're totally new to bread baking in general. Either way, this easy garlic and herb breadsticks recipe by Alexander Roberts is a great starting point, and a little bit of prep work and time (under an hour) will leave you with a plate of warm, herbaceous breadsticks. Pair them with a batch of quick homemade tomato sauce, which you can whip up while the dough rises.

A stand mixer will make things much easier here since the dough has a high hydration (read: it's a bit sticky), so Roberts definitely recommends using one. Typically, higher hydration doughs for things like breadsticks and cinnamon rolls yield a softer, fluffier final product and are easiest to knead with an electric mixer. Roberts' other main tip, given the higher hydration, is to use bread flour with a higher protein content, which will make a strong, elastic dough that can hold its shape throughout the baking process.

The ingredients for these garlic and herb breadsticks are simple: the dough is made up of bread flour, instant yeast, olive oil, salt, sugar, and water. You'll infuse the dough with fresh parsley and minced garlic cloves. A little Italian seasoning and butter will take these over the top, even rivaling your favorite Italian restaurant's bread basket. Nothing beats a warm breadstick or roll straight from the oven!

Adaptations are OK here. If you don't have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour in its place, but you'll want to decrease the water in the recipe to ¾ cup, as all-purpose flour absorbs much less liquid than bread flour and will become overly sticky if too much water is used. If you'd like a vegan breadstick, just swap in a plant-based butter product instead of the dairy butter; everything else in this recipe is vegan.

Add warm water, instant yeast, olive oil, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Add bread flour, kosher salt, Italian seasoning, parsley, and garlic.

Mix on medium-low speed for 7-8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Cover the mixing bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a 6x12-inch rectangle.

Use a pizza cutter to cut the rectangle in half.

Cut each half into 5 strips.

Fold each strip in half.

Twist the strips several times to create a twisted breadstick.

Divide strips between the 2 baking sheets and let rise for 15 minutes, until puffy.

Bake breadsticks for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Brush breadsticks with melted butter and top with flaky sea salt. Serve warm.

A little Italian seasoning can really go a long way, and various recipes can benefit from adding the versatile blend of dried herbs: breads (like this recipe), but also pasta sauces, meatballs, and marinades. You can easily recreate the herb blend at home. Prefer to use fresh? Typically, a good ratio for interchanging fresh herbs with dried herbs is 1 to 3, meaning 3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary can be replaced with 1 tablespoon of dried. When it comes to Italian seasoning, it classically contains dried oregano, rosemary, thyme, and parsley. Some varieties may have other herbs in the mix, like mint, sage, or marjoram.

To make your own Italian seasoning with dried herbs, try mixing up the following ingredients in a small bowl until combined: 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, and 1 tablespoon dried parsley. If you have dried thyme and it suits your preference, add a tablespoon to the mix. Once the seasoning mixture is made, you can keep it in an airtight jar like any other spice, but try to use it within 1-2 months for peak flavor.

A lot of us have excellent single-use appliances filling our kitchen cabinets that perform their one task very well, even if it's only sometimes. Bread machines definitely fall under this category. While our recipe developer Alexander Roberts doesn't believe bread machines are worthy of cabinet space, he says you can still use one for this recipe and produce great results. "If you really want to make this recipe in a bread machine, simply add all of the ingredients to the bread machine in the order indicated in the recipe. Knead for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is elastic and no longer sticking to the sides of the machine." Roberts says a tablespoon or 2 of flour can be added after the initial mixing process if the dough is still very sticky.

And what about handmade dough? "I wouldn't make this recipe by hand, but if you really wanted to, you could try doing folds instead of kneading on the counter," says Roberts. "Wetter doughs are much easier to knead with the 'no knead' folding process." Combine all of the ingredients by hand until no flour streaks remain. Every 15 minutes over the next hour, fold the dough onto itself four times and let it rest again, like you would with sourdough bread. After an hour and several folds, the dough will be less sticky and ready to use.