OMG! These Olive Garden Bread Roll knock offs are so soft and garlicky and yummy! I will be making these again and again!
They are supposed to be bread sticks but mine turned out a bit shorter and wider so I am calling them rolls. I am fine with the wider version because I can use them for sandwiches- kinda mini-subs, too!
I served these as part of my Casual Italian Buffet along with my Tuscan Sausage Tortellini Soup.
They were a real hit! And we also had a lot of fun yelling 'Howaaaard! Are we at the OLIVE GAAARDEN??' If you watch Big Bang Theory you will be able to hear that voice in your head!
I am not a fan of kneading dough so I cleverly made the dough in my bread machine. You add the liquid, the dry ingredients and yeast on top. The dough cycle does all the kneading and takes it through the first rise. Then I took it out and shaped the bread sticks okay.... rolls by hand. For bread sticks you roll them into a 9" log. My logs were about 6" long. You can pick the shape that suits your purposes best. Then you let the second rise happen on the baking tray covered with a towel.
For those that are not daunted by the hand knead I will put the instructions for hand kneading as well!
The piece de resistance on these is brushing them with the melted butter and garlic powder when they are warm out of the oven. That is the step that keeps me coming back for more. You could omit this step if you wanted them to be more neutral for something like submarine sandwiches.
Homemade breads do not contain any preservatives so they are best the day they are made. They are okay the second day but I usually pop any leftovers in my freezer to ensure maximum freshness. You may be wondering how many freezers I have at this point since I seem to always be 'popping' things in and out of them! Answer: 1 chest freezer and 2 fridge freezers. I do love me a good freezer!
Enjoy!
Copy Cat Olive Garden Bread Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup + 2 Tbsps warm water
- 1 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 Tbsps sugar divided 1 teaspoon +5 tsps
- 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tbsps vegetable oil
Garlic Butter Topping
- 2 Tbsps butter melted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
Bread Machine
- Combine the water, vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and salt and remaining sugar and stir to distribute evenly.
- Add ingredients to bread machine in order specified by your bread machine instructions. For mine it is the liquid first, the dry ingredients, and top with the yeast.
- Set the machine to the dough cycle.
- When dough cycle is finished remove the dough to a bowl and punch it down.
Hand Kneading
- Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar to the warm water. Stir it and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix 1 ½ cups flour, remaining sugar, salt and mix thoroughly. Add the yeast mixture and the vegetable oil and mix.
- Add 1 ½ cups more flour and knead for about 7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but it will be slightly sticky. Add the remaining ¼ cup of flour as needed.
- Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rest until it doubles in size. This will be 1 to 1 ½ hours. Once risen punch punch the dough down.
Both Methods
- Cover bottom of you baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Flour your hands and a work surface and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough into a 9" log for bread sticks or a 6" log for buns.
- Arrange the dough rolls evenly spaced on the parchment paper of the baking tray. Cover loosely with a clean towel and let the dough rise again for about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Spray the tops of the dough rolls with cooking spray (optional) if you want a nice brown crust.
- Bake 10-12 minutes til golden brown.
Topping
- While the rolls are baking melt the butter for topping, mix with salt and garlic. Brush the tops of the rolls when they come out of the oven. Allow to cool slightly.
- These are delicious served warm. Store any leftovers in an airtight container or freeze.
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