Olive oil and rosemary breadsticks, crispy and golden. Perfect as a substitute for bread, these breadsticks are an excellent base to accompany appetizers based on cheeses and cured meats, they are lactose-free, vegan and vegetarian. They are also a great snack, ideal to enrich the holiday menu and delicious to take to the office or school for a snack.

I have wanted to make homemade olive oil breadsticks for a while: my children love them and sometimes they eat the packaged ones, which unfortunately are often rich in hydrogenated fats or of dubious origin. Making rosemary breadsticks at home is easy and allows us to obtain a crispy, fragrant and genuine product thanks to the use of extra virgin olive oil and fresh rosemary.

In this recipe I’ll explain how to get homemade breadsticks that are crispy and genuine, without preservatives, with a perfect rise and a soft, workable dough. Ideal for an aperitif, these artisan olive oil and rosemary breadsticks are a healthy and tasty alternative to industrial products, so follow the preparation step by step and bring to the table the irresistible aroma of the oven and Mediterranean herbs. If you want, make some crispy flatbread too.
Let’s go to the kitchen and discover how to make olive oil breadsticks, but before getting your hands on the dough I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).

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Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very inexpensive
Rest time: 2 Hours
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All seasons

Ingredients for making olive oil breadsticks

4 cups type 0 flour
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2.5 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp sugar
to taste rosemary
1 cup water
1.25 tsp active dry yeast (or 12 g fresh)

Tools

Baking sheet
Oven
Stand mixer

Preparation of olive oil breadsticks

Pour the flour into a bowl, add the water and the sugar, then add the yeast and dissolve it. Mix and then add the salt, fresh or dried rosemary and the oil.
Turn the dough out onto the work surface and knead for at least 10 minutes, until you obtain a smooth, homogeneous and well-developed dough. Alternatively, use a stand mixer and knead with the machine until you achieve the same result but with less effort.
Shape the well-kneaded dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Once it has doubled (not before), roll the dough out with a rolling pin and cut it into strips about 1/4 inch thick and at least 3/8 inch wide. Brush the strips with olive oil and move them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Let them rise again in a warm place for about 10–15 minutes, then bake in a fan-assisted oven at 356°F until they reach the desired golden color; this may take 10–15 minutes.
When they have reached the right color, turn them over and bake the other side.
Do this for all the breadsticks.
Turn off the oven and put the breadsticks back inside to dry; if, when the oven is cold, they are still soft, preheat the oven to 212°F, turn it off and continue drying. Repeat until you obtain the desired crunchiness.