We love sourdough in all its forms. Somedays you want something super easy, and these sourdough bread sticks don't have any complicated shaping steps.
What a fun way to fancy up a meal! Bread is such an inexpensive way to "go the extra mile" with a simple meal and make it feel a little extra special. Family and friends always appreciate when I do something extra with bread (although no one is complaining when I serve just plain fresh bread!!).
Mac loves to make focaccia bread as an easy side dish, and nothing is easier than a no-knead baguette. Our family does much better when we make our baked goods from scratch. Happy bellies!
Why You Need This Recipe
- It makes a lot, and if you really needed to, you could double it. Perfect for crowds (or just leftovers).
- The toppings are a perfect way to sort of disguise sourdough, if you are serving someone who is thinking it'll be too sour for their taste.
- The kids will love helping with the cutting and topping - it's perfect for little hands to do.
Key Ingredients
Sourdough Starter - Active starter, you don't want to use discard.
Flour - Regular all-purpose is all we need here.
Milk - Any type of milk works, whether it's left from butter churning, from your own cow, or even non-dairy.
Butter - I like unsalted for baking but it doesn't really make a difference.
Honey - Just a touch of sweetness to help feed the yeast.
Ranch Dip Mix - Another pantry staple, I keep spice blends on hand because they are so economical and I control the ingredients.
Cheese - Select a hard cheese. We love making our own aged cheeses, but store-bought is fine. Highly recommend shredding your own!
How to Make Ranch Breadsticks
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Mix the preferment the night before the dinner you want to serve these.
Step 2: Melt butter, honey, and salt, then stir in the milk.
Step 3: Add preferment to the milk mixture; then start to slowly add the flour.
Step 4: Add remaining flour and knead until you have a smooth dough.
Step 5: Set dough aside to proof and ferment, which can be overnight to 24 hours, to whatever works for your schedule!
Step 6: Once doubled, get out your toppings.
Step 7: Gently push or roll the dough into a lined baking sheet. Then, use a knife or bench scraper to cut the dough rectangle into 24 equal pieces.
Step 8: Spread the softened or melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle with the ranch seasoning and Parmesan cheese.
Step 9: Bake until golden and the cheese has melted. Dig in!
Tips and Tricks
- It is SO easy to cut these right on the pan. No need for complicated dividing and shaping.
- Always keep ranch dressing mix on hand. It's great to mix up from bulk spices to keep in a jar.
- The longer you let the dough "sour" the easier on the stomach it will be.
Variations
No ranch dressing mix on hand? Try a sprinkle of Italian Seasoning.
Use any hard cheese, such as asiago, if you don't have Parmesan on hand. These are less likely to burn and they don't bubble and move as they cook.
What to Serve with Bread Sticks
Our family now loves to dip pizza crusts in ranch dressing, and what are these breadsticks if not like the edge of a pizza?? I love to dip these in ranch, and of course serving them alongside wild game stew will allow you to sop up every last drop. And while you're making ranch you may as well make Caesar dressing as well, and serve up a nice salad.
FAQs
I love to take my master sourdough recipe and turn it into all sorts of options. If you have a favorite sandwich loaf from yeast dough, feel free to test it out in different applications like rolls or these bread sticks. Let us know how it goes!
I prefer to stick to hard cheeses here, as they keep their shape and just gain some color when cooked. They aren't melting and moving all the over the place. If you want your cheese to "stick" then use Parmesan or Asiago. Mozzarella might work as well, but don't use too much - just a sprinkle.
These are amazing warm from the oven, but no one in my house gets mad about leftover bread! You can also wrap well once totally cooled and pop in the freezer. If storing for the next day, just pop them in a bag or container. But the key for any sort of bread storage is to make sure they are totally cooled through or they will make condensation in the container and turn the bread soggy.
photos by Kiara Colebank
More Sourdough Recipes
Much like these bread sticks, these all start from the same soft sourdough master recipe!
Hey friends, don't forget to follow me over on Instagram, cause if you like me here, I post there a LOT! I'm also on YouTube with tutorials and Facebook for all sorts of things.
If you like this recipe, I’d love if you reviewed it so others can find it easier. Sharing this recipe on Facebook or Pinterest is another way you can help us out at no cost to you. Thanks, xo Kate
Sourdough Bread Sticks
Ingredients
Pre-Ferment
- ½ cup sourdough starter it needs to have doubled, but can be falling and needing to be fed, it does not need to be at 'optimal bread baking state'
- ½ cup warm water
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
Dough
- Pre-ferment from above
- 1 tablespoon butter, coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey sub 1 tablespoon honey for 1 tablespoon maple syrup or 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 ¼ -2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
Topping
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons ranch dressing mix
- ¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Pre-ferment
- Mix the pre-ferment of sourdough starter, flour, and water up 8-24 hours before you want to bake. The longer beforehand, the more sour your end product will be. If I plan to mix the dough in the morning, I make it before bed. Cover with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and let sit on the counter.
To Make the Dough
- Melt butter, honey, and salt on low in a saucepan. When it's melted and combined, turn off the heat, add your milk, and stir to combine. With a thermometer or your finger, test the temperature of the mixture. By thermometer, it should be no more than 105°F.
- Add the warm liquid to your mixer (or bowl you plan to mix the dough in) and add your pre-ferment.
- Stir to combine; it's not going to combine super wet until you start adding flour.
- Add your flour, starting on the low end, and mix the dough, adding more flour as needed just until it's combined, but not a cohesive, nice dough.
- Let sit 15-30 minutes, then knead the dough.
- This dough takes more kneading than most- my mixer kneads on low for 10 minutes, so if kneading by hand, you're going to knead about 10-15 minutes.
- If the dough sticks to the bowl or your hands, add a little more flour, but try not to add too much. It's not a stiff dough, it's on the softer side. Try wetting your hands/counter for kneading if it's sticking and you've already added a lot more flour.
Bake in One Day Method
- Cover your dough with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and let rise 2-3 hours until it looks like it's kind of doubled (don't overthink it, as long as it's 1.5'd its original size).
Overnight Method
- Cover your dough with plastic wrap or a plastic bag and let sit overnight. It will be gigantic and beautiful in the morning.
To Shape
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Add dough to the pan. Use your hands or a rolling pin to gently roll the dough to fill the pan.
- Use a knife or bench scraper to cut the dough sheet in half the long ways, then cut into 12 sections crosswise, so you have 24 bread sticks.
- Melt butter for topping, and brush over pan. Sprinkle ranch dressing mix evenly over top, followed by shredded Parmesan.
- Let rise until about 1.5x, about 2-3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Bake for 15 minutes, flip around and bake another 10 minutes.
- Gently and carefully pull bread sticks apart and serve!
Notes
- Feel free to use other cheeses.
- No ranch dressing on hand? Try Italian seasoning.
- Dip in whatever you like!
Laura
My children's favorite snack!
Jan Campbell
This is the most wonderful recipe. If we weren't full-time RVers I would probably be making the dough 3x. My first bake was for bread sticks, (yummy) and today I've started my pre-ferment for cinnamon rolls tomorrow.
So happy that I found your recipe and thanks again.
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Love that you are making it even though you are full tie RVers!