Grissini is the perfect party food. You can serve it both as appetizers or as snacks, perhaps with a dip.
There is only one problem with Grissin. They disappear quicker than a toupee in a hurricane which means you have to do plenty of them. And rolling 30 Grissinis can be a bit tedious.
Better to stretch them instead.
Keep on reading, and I will tell you exactly how to do it. I will also give you some tasty suggestions for toppings.
But aren’t Grissinin supposed to be baked with fresh or instant yeast? Most recipes say so, don’t they? Perhaps, but they have been baked in Italy since at least the 16th century, and I can assure you that there was neither fresh nor instant yeast available at that time. Baking with sourdough starter will make them more traditional and give more taste. And it will also give you an opportunity to brag a bit for your guests. Sourdough Grissini sounds fancier, I promise. Just make sure your starter is active and lively.
You just pat out the dough into a rectangular shape and cut it into strips with a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. Now you just have to grab the strips at each end and stretch them out to the length of 35 cm / 13 inches and place them on a parchment paper. Brush the strips with egg yolk or olive oil and sprinkle some seed and/or flake salt. Fennel is my favorite choice. The hint of licorice gives an interesting taste combination to all sort of bread. Grissini is no exception. Flax or sesame seed is also very tasty. Or just leave them natural.
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Let them rest for an hour and bake them for 15 minutes or until well brown and crisp.
Now you should have some 30 traditional, tasty, and crowd pleasing Bread sticks.
Just don’t forget that it’s impossible to make too many of them. It has never happened. So if you’re thinking about doing two batches, just go for it.
Sourdough Grissini
Ingredients
- 250 gram water
- 150 gram mature sourdough starter
- 500 gram Wheat flour (Bread flour or all pourpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon suger
- 1 tablespoon softened butter
- topping of your taste (fennel, flax, sesame seed etc.)
- egg yolk or olive oil for brushing
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients, except oil or egg yolk and toppings, and knead until all flour is hydrated. I find it easiest to knead by hand.
- Let the dough rest for at least 3 hours.
- Pat out the dough into a plat rectangular shape with your hands.
- Cut the dough into strips with a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
- Brush the strips with olive oil or egg yolk and sprinkle with preferred topping.
- Let the dough strips ferment for 1 hour. Preheat your oven to 480ºF / 250ºC.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Let cool on wire rack.
41 Comments
Can’t wait to try these! Thank you for posting.
Glad you liked it, Jennifer.
Thanks for sharing it with us
You are most welcome, Fernando.
I can’t wait to give this recipe a try. I’ve never been a fan of the stale, store-bought version… but this sour dough version sounds FANTASTIC!
Sourdough and some interesting topping make the trick, Ann. Some flake salt alone lifts them to another level.
You can always refresh stale items in the oven for several minutes. That works for cereal, chips, even popcorn.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I’m so happy I’ve found your blog too! Best wishes and happy baking
I’m glad you liked it, Judy. Thanks for your kind and encouraging words.
What kind of flour? White bread? Whole wheat? Thanks!
I used wheat flour. The sourdough starter, however, is a mixture between wheat and whole rye flour.
I had the same question and made this with whole wheat flower. i’m suure it will be a flop because it is so dense and stiff it was nearly impossible to mix and kneed. se exactly what do you mean when you say wheat flower. do you mean all porpode flower, bread flower, or whole wheat flower? Ill post again iif this doesn’t get out in the trash.
Hi Nicholas,
I have tried with both all porpuse and bread flour with good result. If using whole wheat it may help to use amore lively sourdoughstarter and let it proof a little longer.
looks great! Just one question: are these baked in a pan or on a stone? Thank you Joyce
I baked mine on a plate, but I think it will work on a stone as well.
I used 100% whole wwheet flower and unfortunately not only was it difficult to work with but the whole wheat flower taste was overbearing. It was a shame because the recipe is great using either bread flower or all purpose flower. I tried both. In conclusion, do not use whole wheat flower in this recipe. Thomas I suggest you change the recipe to clarify that wheat flower is not whole wheat flower.
Thanks for your input, Nicholas.
I have updated the recipe regarding the type of flour.
This recipe is great!!! I split the dough into thirds; flavoring each third differently. One third was just the flake sea salt, one third za’atar and the last third I mixed into the dough grated truffled sheep’s milk and then brushed them with truffle oil. All 3 were amazing but the za’atar was my favorite. Thank you so much for this recipe, I will be making it again and again.
I’m so glad you liked it, Joyce. Sheep’s milk with truffle oil you say? I just have to try that. It sounds incredibly delicious.
hello! thank you for he recipe. I have a question, you add butter to the dough. will it make grissini less crispy? thank you?
Hello Elena.
No, I don’t think so. I think it’s more important to make them even in size. Otherwise, they will be baked unevenly.
thank you Tomas.
Have you ever mixed toppings in with the dough? I was thinking of mixing za’atar in with dough and sprinkling with flakey sea salt.
No, I have never done that. But it sounds like a great idea. Something I have to try. I have sprinkled with flaky sea salt, though. It’s a hit.
Thanks for the recipe.
Can I use unfed starter?
Maybe, I don’t know. It’s worth trying. It works with the sourdough crackers I wrote about.
Thanks and happy baking!
These are delicious! I fed my starter before going to bed, left it out and in the morning made the dough. After resting it was very easy to press out and cut. The hardest part of making these is waiting for them to be cooled enough to eat! Crispy but tender, a very satisfying crunchy appetizer! Thank you?
I haven’t baked Grissinis for quite a while now. I don’t know why. As you said, they are delicious.
I’m glad you liked the recipe, Kelly.
thanks – just trying
I have many kinds of wheat flour; bread flour, AP flour, whole wheat (both red and white), spelt, Einkorn, etc. Which type of wheat flour works best for you? Thank you! This looks like a great recipe.
Hi Carol,
For your first try I would go for AP flour or bread flour. Spelt sounds good as well. I’m not sure about whole wheat, but why not? It may be worth a try.
A question – before I cut into strips with a pizza cutter, how thick to so the dough be? Do I use a roller?
About 5 mm thick. In inch, that would be about 1/5 I think. You can use a roller if you want. Or, you can just flatten the dough whit your hands.
Has this recipe been converted to cups, I am terrible at grams. Thank you.
Unfortunately not.
But perhaps this page can be helpful.
Easy and delicious! Thank you for sharing!
I’m glad you liked it, Anh
These are so good! Used bread flour, less 4 T or 40 grams each malto meal, and 10 grain cereal to add a little whole grain. After rise of three hrs, put in frig overnight. It rose some more but didn’t over proof. Divided into 3 balls about 294 gr each for plain, fennel seed, and some butter rub, for 10 pieces each. Rested for 1 hr before baking at 425 degree oven for about 18 minutes. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe and tips!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe, Mary. And thanks for all the inspiration you give us. Butter rub sounds interesting.
Found this recipe yesterday while I was looking for a sourdough breadstick recipe. Those Olive Garden things were not what I was looking for. THIS was what I was looking for. I made them plain. Burnt a few that I cut too thin, but the rest, perfection! Tested them out on my daughter, who said they need salt (they don’t, she just likes salt), but she thought they were really good. So, thank you for putting together a perfect Italian sourdough breadstick recipe!