These garlic butter breadsticks are easy to make from scratch with pizza dough, and come out so buttery and flavorful! Serve alongside your favorite homemade pizza or as a side to salads, casseroles, pastas, and more!
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are my own.
Bread is the best, right?
And breadsticks? Even better! They're easy to make and even easier to pop in your mouth. Add garlic and butter, and this is a dream come true.
As you'll find with a lot of my recipes, you don't need to be too exact here. You can use slightly more or less bread dough, and adjust the butter and garlic to your tastes.
The best garlic breadsticks
This recipe for garlic breadsticks is easy to make from homemade or store bought pizza dough. I used my wheat pizza dough, with a little less wheat flour and more all-purpose flour for that classic breadstick flavor.
They come out crisp and buttery on the bottom and soft and pillowy on top. While you can shape these any way you like, I prefer to take the easy way by stretching the dough and slicing into sticks. Let me show you how its done!
Ingredients
- Pizza dough, homemade or store bought
- Salted butter
- Garlic, pressed or minced
- Freshly chopped parsley or Italian seasoning, optional
- Salt, optional
How to make garlic breadsticks from pizza dough
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- Stretch pizza dough into a rectangle that is about ½ inch thick and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut it once down the middle the long way, then cut horizontally into sticks.
- In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat.
- Remove butter from the heat and stir in the garlic.
- Brush the garlic butter evenly over the pizza dough. You can let it pool around the edges or save some to brush on after baking.
- Top with freshly chopped parsley, Italian seasoning, additional salt, Parmesan cheese, and/or crushed red pepper flakes if desired.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown.
- After baking, use the same brush to pick up any pooled butter and brush it over the top, or brush on any reserved butter.
Top tips
How to proof dough
Proofing dough is the process of letting it rise before baking. It allows air to fill the dough, making it light and fluffy. Under-proofed breadsticks will be small and dense.
I like to proof my dough by placing it in an oiled bowl and covering it with plastic wrap. Turn your oven on to preheat for just 2 minutes, allowing it to get warm but not hot.
Make sure your oven is off, then place the bowl with the dough in the oven to proof until doubled in size. If you prefer, you can let your bowl rest at room temperature, but it may take longer if you live in a colder climate (like me!).
You could also let your dough rise in the refrigerator slowly, likely overnight.
How to knead dough
Kneading dough gives it more elasticity because it helps develop the gluten in your flour. If you don't knead your dough it will turn out dense and tough.
I recommend watching this tutorial on how to knead bread dough by Baker Bettie and give it a try! It can be hard work if you aren't used to it, but its also kind of fun and relaxing.
What to dip breadsticks in
- Additional garlic butter
- Pizza sauce
- Marinara
- Pesto
- Chili oil
- Olive oil bread dip
- Your other favorite dipping sauce
How to store
Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. You can reheat breadsticks in the microwave, but I prefer to place them in a 400ºF oven for about 5 minutes until they are hot and crisp on the bottom.
Tips for customizing garlic butter breadsticks
- Use vegan butter to make these vegan
- For a stronger garlic flavor, brush the garlic butter on after baking instead of before
- Swap the fresh garlic for garlic powder (¼ teaspoon = 1 clove)
- Add ½ teaspoon garlic powder to the pizza dough for even more flavor
- Shape the dough into traditional breadsticks instead of cutting them
- Make cheesy breadsticks by topping with a few handfuls of freshly shredded cheese, such as mozzarella or provolone, before baking
FAQ
Healthy means something different to everyone. Breadsticks consist of bread dough, butter, and garlic. I would consider this an indulgence, and not a healthy recipe, but considering they are homemade with whole food ingredients they could be considered a healthier side dish in moderation.
This recipe is based almost entirely on gluten, so I'm not sure a 1:1 gluten free flour would work here. I recommend trying these gluten free breadsticks instead.
After baking your breadsticks may have absorbed all of the butter and appear dry. They'll still be soft and fluffy with lots of butter flavor, but if you prefer you can brush them with additional butter after taking them out of the oven.
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Garlic Butter Breadsticks
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough, homemade or store bought
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- Freshly chopped parsley or Italian seasoning, optional
- Salt, optional
- Parmesan cheese, optional
- Crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- Stretch pizza dough into a rectangle that is about ½ inch thick and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut it once down the middle the long way, then cut horizontally into sticks.
- In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat.
- Remove butter from the heat and stir in the garlic.
- Brush the garlic butter evenly over the pizza dough. You can let it pool around the edges or save some to brush on after baking.
- Top with freshly chopped parsley, Italian seasoning, additional salt, Parmesan cheese, and/or crushed red pepper flakes if desired.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown.
- After baking, use the same brush to pick up any pooled butter and brush it over the top, or brush on any reserved butter.
Notes
To make homemade pizza dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add 1 cup of warm (90-100ºF) water, then sprinkle with one package of rapid rise instant yeast and ½ tablespoon granulated sugar. Stir with a spoon to combine. Allow to sit 5 minutes. The yeast should turn frothy. If it doesn't start again with fresh yeast.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ½ tablespoon of granulated sugar, and 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt and mix using the dough hook.
- Add ½ cup whole wheat flour and mix again until incorporated.
- Add 2-2 ½ cups all purpose flour a little at a time until the desired consistency is reached. The dough should pull away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. It may still be a little tacky, but should not completely stick to your fingers, nor should it crumble or break into pieces.
- Allow the mixer to knead the dough for 8 minutes, or transfer the dough to a floured counter or board and knead by hand before forming into a tight ball.
Place the dough ball in a large oiled bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Place the bowl in a warm spot until doubled in size. Depending on the temperature this could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 ½ hours. - Once risen, remove the plastic wrap and punch the dough lightly with a fist to deflate before proceeding with the recipe.
Leave a Reply