Simple Sourdough Breadsticks (No Yeast!)

Name: Simple Sourdough Breadsticks (No yeast!)
Prep time: 600 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 100 g Sourdough Starter (Active and Bubble); 300 g Water (Lukewarm); 15 g Sugar; 500 g Bread Flour; 10 g Salt

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Simple sourdough breadsticks are impressive to make and so delicious to serve with your favorite dinner! They are chewy, soft, and have a crispy crust!

A hand is grabbing a sourdough breadstick.

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These breadsticks are the perfect recipe to use up some of that sourdough starter in your refrigerator. No need to knead the dough or break out any heavy equipment, these breadsticks are delicious and so easy to make!

Everyone loves a sourdough bread roll or a crusty loaf of sourdough bread, but a breadstick is perfect for dips, soups, or as an afternoon snack!

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What is Sourdough?
Ingredients You'll Need
The Best Flour For Sourdough Breadsticks
Equipment To Gather
How To Make Sourdough Breadsticks
Sample Baking Schedule
Tips and Tricks
Variations
What To Serve with Sourdough Breadsticks
Storage Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Sourdough Recipes
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What is Sourdough?

Sourdough bread is a bread made from natural yeast, flour, water, and salt. There is no commercial yeast, only naturally occurring yeast from the environment. Sourdough bread requires a "starter" to rise the bread. A starter is filled with good bacteria and natural yeast that gives the bread that traditional sour taste. Unlike commercial yeast, sourdough starters take a much longer time to make the bread rise, so a sour flavor develops as the water, flour, and wild yeast ferment.

These sourdough breadsticks are made with sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast. If you are new to keeping a sourdough starter, make sure to check out this post about keeping a sourdough starter alive.

Ingredients You'll Need

An overhead shot of the ingredients for sourdough breadsticks

Sourdough starter. It should be active and bubbly, fed at least twice before baking with it.
Flour. Bread flour is best to make bread, but all purpose flour can be used as well.
Sugar. To feed the wild yeast in the sourdough starter.
Water. To add hydration to the breadsticks.
Salt. This keeps the yeast in check and adds flavor to the breadsticks.

The Best Flour For Sourdough Breadsticks

The best type of flour to use for bread is bread flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content, and high protein means more gluten in your bread loaf.

If you don't have bread flour handy, all purpose flour can be substituted. You won't build up as much gluten as you would with bread flour, but the difference won't be very noticeable.

Whole wheat flour can be used in sourdough bread as well, but you don't want to use all whole wheat flour. That can turn the bread very tough and it would have a bitter flavor. I like to use 50% bread flour and 50% whole wheat flour.

Equipment To Gather

How To Make Sourdough Breadsticks

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the water and starter. Add the flour, sugar, and salt. Mix until the dough comes together. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour.

The water and sourdough starter are mixed together

The rest of the ingredients are added to the bowl

After one hour, fold the dough onto itself so it forms a smooth dough. Cover the dough again and let it rise for 8-10 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

Lynn's Tip! If you kitchen is cooler, it will take longer for the dough to rise. If you kitchen is warmer, your dough will take less time to rise. Just keep an eye on it.

The dough is ready to rest and rise for 8-10 hours.

The sourdough breadsticks dough has doubles in size.

After the dough has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 12 pieces and roll the dough into breadstick shapes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Place the breadsticks on the baking sheet and cover it again with a damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Brush the breadsticks with water and sprinkle sesame seeds onto the dough. Bake for 25 minutes or until the breadsticks are golden brown and crisp. Serve immediately.

Three pieces of dough are cut on a wooden cutting board

The sourdough breadsticks are on a baking sheet.

Sample Baking Schedule

Day before- Feed and refresh your sourdough starter
8am- Mix together ingredients.
9am (Bulk Rise)- Fold the dough over itself. Cover and let it rise.
4pm- Shape the breadsticks on a baking sheet.
5pm- Bake the breadsticks for 30 minutes

Tips and Tricks

Sourdough breadsticks are best served immediately out of the oven. As they cool they get chewier.
To check if your starter is ready to bake with, place a tablespoon of starter into water. If the starter floats, it is ready to bake with. If it sinks, feed it again, and make the breadsticks the next day.
When making breadsticks, it is most important to weigh out the ingredients. That is the best way to get the most accurate measurements.
The breadsticks are done when they are golden brown and just a little crispy.
Parchment paper or a silicone mat will make sure that the breadsticks do not stick to the baking sheet.

three sourdough breadsticks are in a mason jar with other breadsticks around them.

Variations

Change up the seasoning! Make these breadsticks plain, with sesame seeds, with poppy seeds, or with everything bagel seasoning.
Make them garlic bread! After the breadsticks are baked, spread melted butter and garlic powder over the breadsticks.
Stuff them! Add mozzarella to the inside of the breadsticks and roll the dough around the mozzarella. Bake them for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

What To Serve with Sourdough Breadsticks

These breadsticks are perfect for soups, stews, or perfect to dip in your favorite party dip!

Storage Tips

To make the dough in advance. Once the dough has risen, you can keep it in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before you would like to bake it. Make sure the kitchen towel stay damp so you don't form a skin over the dough.

How to store the breadsticks. Cool the breadsticks to room temperature and then keep it in an airtight container or a gallon sized Ziploc bag on the counter. It will stay fresh up to 4 days.

Lynn's Tip! Do not store homemade bread or homemade breadsticks in the refrigerator. It will go stale quickly and it will also promote the growth of mold.

How to freeze the breadsticks. Once the breadsticks have cooled completely, place it in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. It can be frozen up to 3 months. To defrost the breadsticks, place it on the counter until it thaws completely.

Four sourdough breadsticks are in a mason jar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use measuring cups instead of a kitchen scale?

It's not recommended. A kitchen scale provides the most accurate measurements for bread, and accuracy is super important when making bread. Kitchen scales can easily be found on Amazon and are not very expensive. Keep one in your kitchen cabinet for days like this. You will be surprised how often you use it!

Can I make these without sourdough starter?

Yes! You can use commercial yeast and remove the sourdough starter completely. That would speed up the time too and you would only need to let the dough rise for 2 hours.

How do I make these extra crispy?

To make these sourdough breadsticks extra crispy, make them thinner and longer. Watch when you bake them so you do not burn them. To make them fluffier, you can make them shorter and they will be thicker, perfect for dipping in soup!

More Sourdough Recipes

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