Pizzeria Breadsticks
These breadsticks are reminiscent of your favorite breadsticks growing up. Heavily seasoned, crispy, buttery edges and soft crumb.
I don’t know about you, but growing up I was a Book-It kid. If you’re not familiar, it’s a kids program through the school that if you read a certain number of books each month you could get a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. So you’re telling me if I read books (which I already loved books before this program) I get to also get stickers and free pizza?? What is there not to love here? Making these breadsticks I learned the program still exists as well. I wonder if there’s a grown up one because I’m eligible.
Anyways, so what do you order when you get your free pizza? Breadsticks of course. I ate a lot of Pizza Hut breadsticks, and have always kind of thought they were the best. Don’t get me wrong, I love the soft ones too from other places (my sister’s FAVORITE restaurant growing up was Olive Garden) but Pizza Hut’s were always top tier to me. So I wanted to create a breadsticks recipe that was similar style to theirs.
Baking Notes & Tips
I baked these in a 9×13 cake pan but you also could use a baking sheet. I wanted to make sure that my baking dish had high sides so the sides of the bread would get crisp. If you only have a glass 9×13, I would choose a baking sheet over a casserole dish. Glass is not great for baking as it takes longer to heat up than metal and retains heat far longer leading to overbaked edges and underdone centers.
I first tested these with true parmesan and grated it from the block, however on my second test I used the Kraft kind you find on the shelf. Although it’s not really parmesan (the word Parmesan isn’t regulated in the US the same way it is abroad, and this cheese isn’t allowed to be called Parmesan in Europe), it’s much closer to what you’d find in the packets and shakers at a pizza joint. So I tried that and it definitely tasted much closer to the OG. If you’re a parmesan purist, feel free to use the good stuff, I would just use a microplane to grate it.
When rolling out the dough, if the dough shrinks back as you try to stretch it to fit the pan, cover the pan for 5-10 minutes to let the dough relax and then continue, this should help.
This recipe could easily be transformed into a cheesy bread recipe. I would take the breadsticks out with about 5 minutes left on their bake time, add mozzarella (or a blend of mozzarella, parmesan, provolone) and sprinkle generously over the bread. You could also add the spices from this mix on top of the cheese, that’s optional though. Then finish baking.
Other bread recipes you might love if these breadsticks are up your alley:
Pizza Star Bread | Cheesy Skillet Focaccia | Cheese Stuffed Pretzel Buns | Gouda & Prosciutto Rolls
Pizzeria Breadsticks Key Ingredients
- Bread flour – Bread flour is always going to give your bread more chew, and a little loftier rise.
- Butter – There is some olive oil in this recipe as well, but I wanted to use butter for greasing the pan and brushing the dough especially to get that crisp buttery edge that I remembered.
- Spices – Honestly, this may be the key to these breadsticks. The topping is so good. Now, my sister told me Pizza Hut will sell you the spice mix but I did not confirm that on my own as I don’t have a Pizza Hut near me, and she told me that fact several years ago. It couldn’t hurt to call and ask though! But regardless, this blend is equally tasty and similar.
Ingredients
Breadsticks
- 330 g Bread flour 2¾ cup
- 7 g Instant yeast 2 tsp
- 10 g Sea salt 2 tsp
- 9 g Granulated sugar 2 tsp
- 28 g Unsalted butter 2 tbsp, melted
- 12 g Olive oil 1 tbsp
- 210 g Water ¾ cup + 2 tbsp, warm
- 42 g Unsalted butter 3 tbsp, melted
Topping
- Pam cooking spray
- 15 g Parmesan cheese 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- ¾ tsp Onion powder
- ½ tsp Basil
- ½ tsp Oregano
- ½ tsp Granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp Sea salt
- pinch Pepper
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached, add all the ingredients for the bread dough.330 g Bread flour | 7 g Instant yeast | 10 g Sea salt | 9 g Granulated sugar | 28 g Unsalted butter | 12 g Olive oil | 210 g Water
- Mix on low until the dough comes together and then knead dough until smooth and stretchy (10-15 minutes).
- Remove the dough from your bowl and shape into a ball. Lightly grease the inside of the bowl and place the dough back in. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
- Line a 9×13 pan with parchment. Brush the bottom and edges with about 1 tbsp of melted butter.42 g Unsalted butter
- Punch down your dough and place into the buttered pan. Using your hands or a small rolling pin, roll out the dough to fill the bottom of the pan.
- Cut your dough using a bench scraper or pizza cutter into 8-10 strips across the short side of the pan (about 1 inch wide each) and then (optionally) cut one cut lengthwise on the long side making each breadstick into two to total 16-20 breadsticks.
- Brush the top of your dough with another tbsp of butter. Cover and let proof for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F while your dough rises.
- Mix together your spices and parmesan cheese in a small bowl and stir until evenly combined.15 g Parmesan cheese | 1 tsp Garlic powder | ¾ tsp Onion powder | ½ tsp Basil | ½ tsp Oregano | ½ tsp Granulated sugar | pinch Pepper | ¼ tsp Sea salt
- When the breadsticks are ready to go in the oven, brush the dough with the remaining butter (you may need to melt it again), then lightly sprinkle 1-2 pinches of the spice mix over the breadsticks.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes on the center rack of your oven, until just starting to lightly brown.
- Remove the breadsticks, spray them generously with Pam cooking spray, then sprinkle the rest of the spice mix over the bread and place back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes.Pam cooking spray
- Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
