High altitude tested, soft, fluffy and buttery garlic bread sticks, with an easy homemade pizza sauce for dipping. Soft garlic bread sticks are fun to make, and delicious eaten along side pizza, spaghetti or a salad.
You might also love these recipes for roasted garlic naan, soft flour tortillas, and crispy pan pizza.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Soft for Days. These truly stayed soft for days after baking, not going stale in a day like some yeast breads tend to do.
Quick and Easy. From start to finish, these soft garlic bread sticks take about 2 1/2 hours, with just one rising needed for the dough.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. That said, most of my yeast dough recipes for rolls, buns and bread can be made at any altitude without adjusting the ingredients. The main difference will simply be on how long it takes your dough to rise, since dough tends to rise faster at higher elevations.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Butter. Unsalted butter adds moisture, richness and flavor to the bread sticks. You’ll also be brushing garlic butter over the bread sticks for even more flavor.
- Milk or Water. You can use either water or milk to moisten the dough and bring it together.
- Yeast. The yeast is the leavening agent which makes the bread sticks puff up.
- Sugar. Adds sweetness and helps to activate the yeast.
- Bread Flour. Bread flour has a higher percentage of protein than all-purpose flour, giving yeast breads a chewier texture. For today’s high altitude brioche buns, I used High Altitude Hungarian Flour, which is a high protein bread flour. You can find it on the baking aisle at King Soopers throughout Colorado and a few other mid-western states.
- Salt. Flavor.
- Spices. Garlic powder, onion powder and dried Italian seasoning adds loads of flavor to the bread sticks.
Instructions
Make the Tangzhong
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the water, milk and flour. Cook over medium heat for several minutes, whisking constantly, until it thickens into a paste.
- Remove from the heat, scrape the tangzhong into a small bowl, and set aside until needed.
Make the Dough
- In the same saucepan you used to make the tangzhong (no need to wash the pan first), melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the milk or water, and warm the mixture just until it reaches between 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from the heat. Stir in the yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let sit for a few minutes until it starts to get bubbly.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour with the remainder of the sugar, the warm yeast mixture, the cooled tangzhong, salt, garlic powder and onion powder.
- With the dough hook, knead the dough for 10 minutes.. The dough should be soft and smooth, and will wrap around the dough hook, but may still stick to the bottom of the bowl. Don’t be tempted to add more flour, though, or the bread sticks will be dense.
- Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. This could take anywhere from 45-90 minutes, depending on the freshness/brand of yeast, and how warm your kitchen is.If your oven has a bread proof setting, you can use that. Otherwise, preheat your oven to the lowest setting, turn it off, then set the dough inside to rise.
Shape the Bread Sticks
- Get two baking sheets ready by lining them with parchment paper. Then make the garlic butter, by stirring together the melted butter with the salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and lightly flour the top of the dough, too. Gently press the air out of the dough, then roll the dough out into a rectangle, measuring approximately 14×18 inches.
- Brush the dough with half the garlic butter, then fold the dough in half. Use a rolling wheel pastry cutter to cut the dough into 12 strips. Twist each strip a few times, then place the twisted bread sticks on the baking sheets, 6 on each baking sheet. Brush the rest of the garlic butter over the bread sticks.
- Cover the pans loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside to rest for about 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven.
Bake the Bread Sticks
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
- Bake the bread sticks for about 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until golden brown and baked through.
- Let cool for a few minutes on the pan, then serve warm with the pizza sauce.
Pizza Sauce
- To make the pizza sauce, simply whisk together all the ingredients until combined. Taste and adjust the salt/spices as desired.
- You can gently warm the sauce on the stove over medium low heat, stirring it frequently so it doesn’t splatter.
- Freeze leftover pizza sauce for up to 3-6 months. I like to make a big batch of the sauce, then divide it between half pint jam jars to freeze it for pizza nights at home.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is tangzhong?
Tangzhong or tang zhong is a simple roux or paste made of water, milk and flour. The tangzhong method is quick and easy. Just cook the ingredients in a saucepan for a minute or two until the mixture thickens into a paste. When this paste is added to yeast dough, it plays a very important role in improving the texture of the dough and the baked bread.
- It helps the starches in the flour absorb more liquid, which in turn makes the dough less sticky and easier to knead and shape into buns.
- It can help the bread rise higher and fluffier as it bakes.
- The baked bread, rolls or buns will stay soft and fresh for longer.
How long do soft garlic bread sticks stay fresh?
These bread sticks will stay soft and fresh for up to 2-3 days, stored in an airtight container.
Can I add cheese?
Yes. When you brush the dough with the garlic butter, you can sprinkle it with grated mozzarella cheese before folding the dough and cutting and twisting the bread sticks.
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High Altitude Soft Garlic Bread Sticks
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook
- Small Saucepan
- Medium-Sized Bowl
- 2 Baking Sheets + Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 3 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- 2 tbsp bread flour
Dough
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk or water
- 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry or instant/rapid rise yeast
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar, divided
- 3 cups bread flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
Garlic Butter
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ – ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp dried Italian seasoning
Pizza Sauce
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
Instructions
Make the Tangzhong
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the water, milk and flour. Cook over medium heat for several minutes, whisking constantly, until it thickens into a paste.
- Remove from the heat, scrape the tangzhong into a small bowl, and set aside until needed.
Make the Dough
- In the same saucepan you used to make the tangzhong (no need to wash the pan first), melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the milk or water, and warm the mixture just until it reaches between 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from the heat. Stir in the yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let sit for a few minutes until it starts to get bubbly.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour with the remainder of the sugar, the warm yeast mixture, the cooled tangzhong, salt, garlic powder and onion powder.
- With the dough hook, knead the dough for 10 minutes.. The dough should be soft and smooth, and will wrap around the dough hook, but may still stick to the bottom of the bowl. Don't be tempted to add more flour, though, or the bread sticks will be dense.
- Scrape the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. This could take anywhere from 45-90 minutes, depending on the freshness/brand of yeast, and how warm your kitchen is.If your oven has a bread proof setting, you can use that. Otherwise, preheat your oven to the lowest setting, turn it off, then set the dough inside to rise.
Shape the Bread Sticks
- Get two baking sheets ready by lining them with parchment paper. Then make the garlic butter, by stirring together the melted butter with the salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and lightly flour the top of the dough, too. Gently press the air out of the dough, then roll the dough out into a rectangle, measuring approximately 14×18 inches.
- Brush the dough with half the garlic butter, then fold the dough in half. Use a rolling wheel pastry cutter to cut the dough into 12 strips. Twist each strip a few times, then place the twisted bread sticks on the baking sheets, 6 on each baking sheet. Brush the rest of the garlic butter over the bread sticks.
- Cover the pans loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside to rest for about 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven.
Bake the Bread Sticks
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
- Bake the bread sticks for about 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until golden brown and baked through.
- Let cool for a few minutes on the pan, then serve warm with the pizza sauce.
Pizza Sauce
- To make the pizza sauce, simply whisk together all the ingredients until combined. Taste and adjust the salt/spices as desired.
- You can gently warm the sauce on the stove over medium low heat, stirring it frequently so it doesn't splatter.
- Freeze leftover pizza sauce for up to 3-6 months. I like to make a big batch of the sauce, then divide it between half pint jam jars to freeze it for pizza nights at home.
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