Love those crispy rustic breadsticks featured on the Great British Baking Show? Here’s an EASY Grissini Breadstick Recipe you can modify endlessly with different flavors.
How to Shape Grissini
Plus don’t miss the part where I walk you through how to make and shape grissini.
Crispy Breadsticks from the Great British Baking Show
These are the crispy breadsticks from the Great British Baking Show, Collection 2, Episode 2 on netflix. We’re working through that collections now, and this is our bake for the week over on the GBBO Bake-Along Group. Love to bake, JOIN US!
Grissini
What are Grissini, exactly? They are an Italian Bread Stick. Yeasted, proofed and then baked into crispy sticks. Exactly what you’ve always thought you shouldn’t do to yeast dough. Perfect for nibbling on, these snappy snacking breadsticks are fun to have on hand.
They’re really fun to make because while they need to be roughly the same size they will inherently be various shapes because of the way they’re twisted up.
I’d always assumed they were quasi bland and usually stale but when you make them for yourself, they’re fresh and crispy! And people truly enjoy eating them.
If you want to add some flavor you can easily add that when you’re rolling it out. You could knead in herbs, toasted seeds, shredded cheese, or things like chopped garlic or olives. Be sure you add dry things because the more moisture you add the less crispy things can get.
Grissini Breadstick Recipe
This is one super easy Grissini recipe too. No special ingredients, no special tools, no special instructions. The one trickiest part is rolling them imperfectly. You have to make sure they’re all about the same size so they finish baking they’re all crispy, no soft breadsticks allowed!
And once you read my “how to shape grissini” directions and put them into practice you’ll be almost a pro.
How to Shape Grissini Breadsticks
There’s no BIG trick to making and shaping grissini, but there is a way to keep them from stretching out and getting too thin. You want them close to the same size as that makes sure they’re all crispy.
These Italian breadsticks need to be crispy!
- line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper
- lightly grease a clean counter
- pat out the dough in a rectangle, shoot for about 14 inches by 8 inches
- do NOT pat it out to the full size of a baking pan
- cut dough in 4 equal rectangles roughly 3 1/2 by 8 inches
- use the pizza cutter to cut one of the rectangles in 6 equal strips, 8 inches long
- gently lift each strip, stretch it out to about the length of the baking, and lay it on the prepared baking sheet
- pick up one end and give it a twist, then twist the other end
- repeat with remaining strips
- cut and twist each remaining rectangle
- don’t cut them all at once, or they’ll end up sticking together, and the dough will stretch out ridiculously long
- make sure none of the strips touch each other on the pan
Are these Italian Stick Bread?
YES. Lol, I was digging around and people DO refer to them as Italian Stick Bread. That name makes me laugh but it also suits the breadsticks perfectly. So if I had little ones I sure bet they’d call it Italian Stick Bread.
And then we all would.
Love this recipe and want MORE GBBO Recipes?
Maybe you should try some other GBBO recipes, such as:
- Paul Hollywood’s Naan Bread Recipe
- Cottage Loaf Recipe
- Bedfordshire Clangers (my impetus for the bake-along)
- Puits d’ Amour
Grissini Breadsticks
Love the GBBO? Make Rustic Grissini Breadsticks from bread week. These beautiful breadsticks are easy to make and even easier to eat. They add a crispy crunchy element to any meal or snack time.
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour, divided
- 1 Tablespoon of yeast or one yeast packet
- 3/4 cup of warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- put 1/2 cup of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer
- sprinkle the yeast over it
- add the water and the sugar
- stir with a spoon and mix everything together
- let it rest for 5 minutes to get the yeast bubbling a bit
- add the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, oil, and the salt
- put the dough hook in and run it on low until everything is incorporated
- machine knead the dough for 5 minutes
- put in a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover well, put in a warm place and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size
- when you're ready to bake pre-heat the oven to 450˚ and line 3 large 11X17 baking sheets with parchment paper, if your sheets are well seasoned there's no need to line them
- lightly oil your work surface, you don't want this dough to stick
- pat the dough out to about an 8X14 inch rectangle
- cut it in 4 equal rectangles, 8X3 1/2
- cut each rectangle in 6 equal strips 8 inches long
- gently lift each strip to the prepared baking sheets, lay it down, and gently pull and twist it to about 10-14 inches long being careful to not stretch them too thin
- repeat with remaining rectangles
- let them rest of 10 minutes or so then put the first two trays in the hot oven
- bake for 5 minutes, and then switch the trays around, bake another 5-10 minutes
- watch in the last 5 minutes so you don't burn any thin ones
- once they're done bake the last tray
- remove the baked grissini to a cooling rack so they don't get soft on the baking trays
Nutrition Information
Yield
24Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 59Total Fat 2gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 0mgSodium 89mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 2g
This nutrition information was calculated using a computer program, results may vary.
