If you ever go out to eat at Olive Garden, chances are you go there for one reason and one reason only–the breadsticks. A few months ago I decided to see what sort of copy cat recipes were out there and found this gem. My family has declared that it tastes JUST LIKE the real deal.
- 1 Cup + 2 Tbsp warm water
- 1¼ tsp active dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp sugar divided
- 3 - 3¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Garlic Butter topping
- 2 Tbsp butter
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- Add warm water, yeast and 1 tsp of the sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and stir gently.
- Allow to rest for 10 minutes (allowing the yeast to "proof")
- Add remaining sugar, 1½ cups flour, 1½ tsp salt and vegetable oil and mix on medium speed.
- Add another 1½ cups of flour and knead mixture 5-7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Add remaining flour only if needed
- Transfer dough to a large, greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Allow to rest in a warm place until double in size (1 to 1½ hours)
- Once risen, punch dough down and divide it into 12 equal parts.
- Roll each piece of dough into a 9 inch rope and transfer to a greased cookie sheet.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again for 1 hour.
- Bake the breadsticks at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
- Mix the garlic butter topping ingredients together.
- Brush butter mixture over the tops of the hot, cooked breadsticks.
- Serve warm.
The Ingredients. Please ignore the candy canes in the background–they are not a special ingredient for this recipe. I’m not sure how they ended up in this picture other than maybe they are secretly feeling a little left out since it’s not currently their culinary moment to shine.
Add warm water, yeast, and tsp of sugar to a large bowl and stir gently.
Allow it to rest (proof) for 10 minutes. Whenever it says “proof” in a recipe, I think “poof” because that’s really what you’re waiting for it to do–get poofy.
Add remaining sugar, 1 1/2 cups of flour, salt, and vegetable oil and mix on medium speed.
Add another 1 1/2 cups of flour and knead mixture for 5-7 minutes–until dough is smooth and elastic. Elastic meaning you can stretch it, but not so stretchy that you can send it catapulting across the room.
Transfer dough to a large greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
Allow to rest in a warm place until it doubles in size (1- 1 1/2 hours). This is nap time for the dough–no need to read it bedtime stories, unless you feel so inclined.
Punch dough down and divide into 12 equal parts. This is where you get to take your aggressions out. Give it a couple of good whacks and show that dough whose boss. Okay–maybe that’s too violent for some. So, for those of that are afraid of hurting the dough–just give it a little poke or massage it until it no longer looks like a blob about to take over your kitchen.
Roll each piece of dough into a 9″ rope. Transfer to a greased cookie sheet.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour.
Bake breadsticks at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Mix garlic butter ingredients together. (butter, salt, garlic powder)
Brush butter mixture over the tops of the hot, cooked breadsticks.
Serve warm.
This is especially a great time to make these since all the restaurants in our town have shut down temporarily due to Coronavirus. There is a little more time involved in making homemade breads–but I’m guessing we all have a little more time on our hands. PLUS, you can use this as part of your “homeschooling” efforts too–teaching the kids how to measure ingredients and it’s very science y with the use of yeast and rising dough, etc… AND–most importantly– it’s more comfort food. I think we all could use an extra dose of that right now.