These soft Olive garden breadsticks breadsticks are perfect with a bowl of soup or pasta! Pillow-y soft, easy to make, and even better than Olive Garden! Bundle of bread sticks wrapped in a napkin.
Homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks: these bake up so pillow-y soft! It’s been a while since we last chatted. We had a death in the family and I’ve just been feeling like I need to spend time with my kiddos. But they’re in school most of the day, so it’s time for me to get back to baking. Then we had dinner at Olive Garden, and my kiddos fell in love with the breadsticks there. They really are out of this world!
But I know as well as you do that homemade is always better! I started developing the recipe for these soft Italian bread sticks weeks ago. After a lot of testing, tweaking, and re-testing, I finally think they are the best they can possibly be. They’re so incredibly light and soft, like a pillow!
They have a great yeasty flavor and they’re drenched in the yummiest garlic butter. Serve these alongside of a garden salad, a hot bowl of soup, or a big plate of your favorite pasta dinner. Image of soft garlic breadsticks with marinara sauce in the background and a text overlay. HOW TO MAKE OLIVE GARDEN BREADSTICKS AT HOME To make these soft, fluffy breadsticks, start by placing a little sugar in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Make sure the water is warm, but not hot.
It should be about the temperature of a baby’s bath. Sprinkle the yeast all over the surface of the water, and let it proof. After about 5 minutes, it should be fully dissolved and it should look kinda foamy. This is how you know your yeast is alive and growing. If it doesn’t look foamy, your yeast is probably dead and you should start over. Make sure to check the expiration date on your yeast packet!
Once the yeast has proofed, add in the bread flour. Bread flour works best for this recipe because it will help the breadsticks to rise really high and fluffy. But if you don’t keep bread flour on hand, you can substitute with regular all-purpose flour. Work in the bread flour, olive oil, and salt until a dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into 16 equal portions. I like to use a kitchen scale to weigh out each portion- this way they’ll look consistent and bake evenly.
Shape each ball of dough into a long rope, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mist a sheet of plastic wrap liberally with non-stick spray, and lay it loosely over the unbaked breadsticks. They will need another 30 minutes to rise. After 30 minutes, preheat your oven and brush the breakdsticks lightly with egg wash.