Grissini– Olive Oil Breadsticks

Hmm. What to do with that leftover prosciutto? Better wrap it around some Italian breadsticks (grissini). Grissini are infused with olive oil, but since the oil infuses just as nicely when drizzled over the unbaked sticks as when mixed into the dough, you have a variety of choices of which pre-mixed dough to use– you don’t have to use an olive oil dough (even our olive oil dough will need additional oil). This batch was made with a basic peasant dough (page 94), but as below, it works nicely with any of the listed ones.

All page numbers refer to my book, The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (on Amazon and other booksellers).

Makes a generous handful of grissini

Use any of these pre-mixed doughs: Boule (page 53), European Peasant (page 94), Olive Oil (page 214), Light Whole Wheat (page 131), or Italian Semolina (page 143)

1/2 pound (orange-size portion) of any pre-mixed dough listed above

Olive oil for drizzling, preferably extra-virgin, dispensed from a small-tipped squeeze bottle

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. A baking stone is optional, but if you’re using one, allow for a 20 minute preheat, otherwise 5 minutes is adequate.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, or simply grease it well with olive oil.

2. Take a small piece of dough and gently roll it into a ball. Gradually stretch and roll the ball on a lightly floured wooden board until you achieve sticks with a diameter of about 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Lay them out on the prepared cookie sheet with an inch or so between each stick.

3. Generously drizzle a stream of olive oil over each stick.

4. Bake near the center of the oven for approximately 6 to 10 minutes. Grissini are done when they are nicely browned and beginning to crisp (they will firm up when they cool). Serve plain as an hors d’oeuvre or with one half wrapped with a prosciutto strip.

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25 thoughts to “Grissini– Olive Oil Breadsticks”

  1. Paul: Our book is available nationally at Borders, Barnes and Noble, and lots of local independents. You can also get it on Amazon.com and just about any other online seller.

  2. Can you make the boule master recipe with entirely 100% whole wheat flour to use in this recipe? If so, would vital wheat gluten need to be added?

  3. Hi Debbie, On page 76 of the book we have a recipe for 100% whole wheat bread that works beautifully as a boule. It won’t have the same crackling crust as the one made with the master recipe but it is delicious with a little sweetness from the honey and nutritious. You can also substitute white whole wheat flour from King Arthur in our master recipe and get a wonderful loaf. Again the crust is not quite as thin and crispy but it is very close and has a wonderful flavor.

  4. First, I was given a copy of your basic boule recipe by my sister, who (since I’m the baker in the family) wanted me to try your method and let her know what I thought. I’m having a grand time with it. I made your pan d’epi for Easter, and it was great fun — not as defined as yours, since my dough seems softer than yours, but still crusty and delicious. I am waiting for five copies of your book to arrive so I can share the fun with my sister, brother and some friends, so you know I am enthusiastic!

    I just used the last of my third batch of boule to make these grissini for lunch. They took a fair amount longer than 10 minutes to start to turn golden and the tops never did get browned. My oven seems to be hot enough, but I am wondering if I might have used too much olive oil and that kept the color from turning. They were still delightful, just not pretty and browned. Any thoughts?

  5. Hi Diana,

    Wow, I’m so glad you are enjoying all the bread! How exciting that your whole family will be baking with you.

    Yes, you are exactly right, too much olive oil will prohibit the grissini from browning. It seems like the oil would fry them and make them brown easier, but we’ve3 found it to be exactly the opposite. Try using very little oil or brushing it on after they come out of the oven!

    Thanks, Zoë

  6. I have a question about the method for the breadsticks. If using refrigerated dough, do you let the dough rise in a ball before you roll them into sticks? Or do you let the sticks rise, after they are made?

    Also, could I roll the bread out into a rectangle, and cut them into strips with a pizza cutter?

    Oh, and one more thing… Thank you for such an AWESOME book. We are having so much fun with this! We made your cinnamon rolls on a stick Christmas morning… they were great.

  7. Nope, just roll it out right away, cut them, and bake them. Immediately. It’s a very fast recipe. Pizza cutter’s great, that’s how we’ll do them in the next book, more officially. Thanks for the kind words Susie! Jeff

    1. MK: We have some video of a french loaf being formed… same idea, search on “Pittsburgh” in our search window and you’ll get to it, let us know if that doesn’t work. Jeff

  8. I’m going to make these tonight for our Central PA Brewers club meeting tomorrow nite. But I am going to enhance them a bit by rolling them in several things…fresh rosemary and chopped fresh garlic, and some sprinkled with kosher salt, and finally some in a few chopped up olives and parmesan cheese. I’ll let you know how they come out! Great ideas from this site. Thank you!

  9. They came out great Jeff! But I did one thing different…I brushed them with eggwash, they came out crispier and shinier. Love them! Every recipe of ABin5 I try comes out fabulous! thank you!

    1. Glad those are working– I would have guessed that the egg might burn but I bet it doesn’t because it bakes fast. Jeff

  10. I used the whole egg. I got the idea because I use a beaten whole egg to give my challah a nice shine and it acts like a glue to keep the seeds on top.

  11. Hi. I am from Sydney/Australia and would like to know were can I buy this book from.

    I tried your bread recipie, and it was fantastic!

    Many Thanks
    Angela

    1. Angela: Check on-line sellers, just google “Healthy Bread in Five” “on-line” “Australia”. Hope you can find it! Jeff

  12. I made these last week with a standard boule (sort of… whole spelt), and we devoured them. I put truffle oil and garlic on some, romano, olives, sesame seeds, sea salt… YUM! But we were yearning for a little more crunch.

    Today, I used an experimental batch I’d made with whole spelt & some rye, and parmesan & peppercorns (trying to make my old favorite Zingerman’s parmesan peppercorn bread). Rolled the sticks much thinner, glazed with egg and Celtic Grey Salt, and cooked 15 minutes. I LOVE them!

  13. Just a general question. I have been using the weight measurements from HBin5 and find that the dough is a lot drier than when I was using cup measurements. Why is that? I am using the same measuring and mixing technique as before, the only change is weighing instead of measuring the dough.

    1. Lisa: It’s possible that the way you’re measuring isn’t exactly like how we do it, see https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1801. Or your flour products are a little different than what we worked with. Try re-calibrating our weights table in HBin5 on page 36. If you’re getting 4 ounces per cup of WW flour, rather than 4 1/2 as we get, just adjust the weight in the recipe based on the corrected figure.

      That hopefully should do it… Jeff

  14. I’m looking to make a more “American” garlic breadstick (think olive garden but better) that rises and is soft. I’ve looked through the site and the book (2013 edition) and don’t see this as an option. Wondering how long to rise, bake, etc. I’ll do some experimenting with these master recipes, but would love a post on this!

    1. I have something like this in my pizza book which is hard to find now, on page 248 (https://artisanbreadinfive.com/pizza), but libraries have it– maybe used bookstores (that recipe uses cheese which you don’t need for what you describe). I’d go with the olive oil dough (page 214 of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (easy to get on Amazon and other booksellers). Drop some roasted garlic into the mixing liquid, do a quarter-inch thick roll-out, then cut wide strips, and twist them before putting on a prepared cookie sheet. This bakes at 375F for about 20 minutes for a soft stick, hotter for crispier.

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