A great way to use up your sourdough discard is to make lovely Sourdough Grissini! Delicious with a hint of honey, lots of seeds and a perfectly sharp snap, these sourdough breadsticks are a great simple mid-afternoon snack! Furthermore, you can add them next to your crudités to be used as a scoop for hummus and other dips.
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What is Grissini?
Grissini are thin crisp long breadsticks, that originate in Italy. Traditionally made with pizza dough, they are baked at a lower temperature for much longer until they are fully dried out and snap when broken in half.
You can flavour your Sourdough Discard Grissini with whatever your heart desires. We love them with a variety of seeds, like pumpkin, sesame, nigella or poppy seeds (small seeds stick and stay on better though). You can use herbs, and spices, or have them plain with just a sprinkle of sea salt. For a sweet version, roll them in some cinnamon and sugar mixture, just keep in mind that they will brown quicker due to sugar, so you may need to roll them out thinner so they cook quicker, before the sugar has a chance to burn.

For ideas on how to store and serve your Sourdough Discard Breadsticks in style, have a look at these:
Sourdough Grissini Recipe
To start, in a large bowl mix sourdough starter (unfed, discard), olive oil, runny honey and flour. Knead for approx. 5 minutes. The dough should be soft but not too sticky. If you find it hard to work with, add a teaspoon of flour.


Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a greased bowl. Leave the dough to rest in a warm spot for 3-4 hours. It should rise a little bit but don’t expect it to double.
When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 140°C Fan. Line a large baking tray with parchment.
Tip the dough onto a well-floured surface and roll it out to a rectangle about 4mm thick. Flour the surface of the dough as required to make sure the rolling pin doesn’t stick.
Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl and get a pastry brush ready. Spread the seeds on a large plate.

Cut the rolled out dough into long thin (approx 1cm) strips. Then twist them slightly to get a corkscrew look, if you like. This next part is tricky and you need to work quickly. Carefully lift the strips onto a plate with seeds. Don’t linger as your dough will stretch out too much and may break. Brush the strip with olive oil. Then roll in the seeds to cover. You may want to press the seeds down slightly for them to stick.



Transfer the sourdough breadsticks onto a lined baking sheet. Once all the breadsticks are seeded, sprinkle them with coarse sea salt and place them in a preheated oven, on a lower shelf, to bake for 30-35 minutes. Cooking time will depend on how thick your sticks are. You want them to dry out completely, and have a good snap, but don’t let them burn.


Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can! Strong bread flour is traditionally used for breadsticks, but using flour with lower gluten content will not affect the final result much in this particular recipe.
Smaller seeds stick better to the surface of the dough, so choose linseeds, sesame seeds, nigella seeds and hemp seeds, or ideally a mixture of them.
How To Serve Sourdough Grissini?
Serve your Sourdough Discard Breadsticks at parties as part of a buffer. These sourdough breadsticks are delicious with hummus or cream cheese laced with sweet chilli sauce.
Alternatively, just eat them as a snack as and when you’re hungry! Perfect snack for movie nights too!
Other Sourdough Discard Recipes
For other sourdough discard ideas, head straight to our Sourdough Discard Section. Recipes there include but are not limited to:
Recipe Card

Sourdough Grissini
Equipment
Ingredients
- 100 g sourdough discard 100% hydration
- 55 g strong bread flour
- 10 ml olive oil
- 1 tablespoon runny honey
- 3 tablespoon mixed seeds smalled seeds stick better
- coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Mix together sourdough starter, oil, honey and flour. Knead for approx 5 minutes until the dough is less sticky and comes into a cohesive ball of dough.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl and place somewhere warm to prove for 3-4 hours. The dough should rise by about a third.
- When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 140°C Fan. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
- Tip the dough onto a well-floured surface and roll it out to a rectangle about 4mm thick. Flour the surface of the dough as required to make sure the rolling pin doesn't stick.
- Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl and get a pastry brush ready. Spread the seeds on a large plate.
- Cut the rolled out dough into long thin (approx 1cm) strips. Then twist them slightly to get a corkscrew look, if you like. Carefully lift the strips onto a plate with seed and brush with olive oil. Then roll in the seeds to cover. You may want to press the seeds down slightly for them to stick.
- Transfer onto a lined baking sheet. Once all the breadsticks are seeded, sprinkle them with coarse sea salt and place in a preheated oven, on a lower shelf, to bake for 30-35 minutes. Cooking time will depend on how thick your sticks are. You want them to dry out completely, and have a good snap, but don't let them burn.
- Perfect for snacking or dipping into hummus!
Nutrition

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