This recipe for soft and tender gluten free Weight Watchers breadsticks is made with gluten free flour, baking powder, salt, and Greek yogurt, but tastes like yeast bread.
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Why we love these gluten free Weight Watchers breadsticks
I guess Weight Watchers is now WW? Whether you care about the “program” or not, you have to try these soft gluten free Weight Watchers breadsticks. It's my third recipe in the “2-ingredient dough” style, and at this point it's just a great super quick backpocket recipe to have. Weight Watchers who?
If you haven't heard of this dough, it's called “2-ingredient” dough because it was originally developed to be made with self-rising flour (which is just all purpose flour + baking powder + salt) and 0% fat (nonfat) Greek-style plain yogurt. The plain Greek yogurt creates an amazing yeasty-tasting tang, and magically tender bread of many kinds.
I started out with “2-ingredient” gluten free bagels and had to tweak the conventional recipe quite a bit to get it to work properly gluten free. Ever since then, my family and I have been hooked. I even made those bagels for my kids' friends, and they just thought they were eating “regular” mini bagels.
Next came WW-style gluten free pizza, and I quickly learned that the recipe had to be rebalanced for that endeavor because you needed a drier, less puffy dough. But when I tried using that pizza recipe to make these breadsticks, it was dry and hard as a rock.
Tips for working with this “2-ingredient” dough
This dough is quite easy to work with, and happily quite difficult to ruin. Even when you're working with conventional gluten-containing flour to make a similar recipe to this, you'll see on other blogs that the raw dough isn't smooth.
During shaping, the dough does tend to separate a bit from itself, creating cracks. I recommend kneading the dough to integrate it well after mixing, and then pinching the cracks together if they do form during shaping. Then, continue rolling and shaping it.
You really don't need a lot of additional flour to shape these rolls, though. If you do add way too much flour during shaping, you will end up with tough bread. That's always the case when working with bread dough.
As you might have guessed, the garlic butter you see me brushing on top isn't really Weight Watchers-friendly. But only 2 melted tablespoons are plenty to cover all 8 breadsticks.
Add some garlic salt and you'll swear you were eating my yeasted Olive Garden-style gluten free soft breadsticks. Those are the stuff that dreams are made of! ?
Ingredients and substitutions
As with the other “2-ingredient bread” dough WW-style recipes, there are so few ingredients this recipe that substitutions can make a big difference (and often not for the better). But here's what I know (or am willing to guess):
Dairy-free: I haven't tried this recipe with nondairy plain yogurt, such as So Delicious brand, but I have tried the other 2-ingredient WW-style bread recipes on the blog with it and was successful.
Take a look at the ingredients and substitutions section of my recipe for Weight Watchers Gluten Free bagel recipe for all the information I have about making these sort of recipes with nondairy (non-Greek-style) plain yogurt.
The butter in this recipe is truly optional and can either be replaced with Earth Balance buttery sticks (melted) or just omitted entirely.
Egg-free: When I was developing this recipe, I originally tried it without egg whites (and used water help bring the dough together). Even though egg whites are typically drying in baking, the breadsticks were significantly drier when I used water instead of eggs—because I had to bake the rolls longer before they were baked through.
When I added the egg whites, the bread had more lift (egg whites add a lot of structure), and baked more quickly, resulting in a much better texture. You can try replacing the egg whites with aquafaba (the liquid in the bottom of a can of chickpeas), but I would not replace them with water. If you decide to try, please report back about how it went!
WW Points: Each of these rolls has a bit over 3 SmartPoints each, as I calculated it using Better Batter gluten free flour ingredients—if you omit the melted butter (sorry! WW hates fat). That's about 1 point more than the bagels.
If you're just sort of eating WW-style, or you just love the idea of a yeast-free gluten free breadstick, add the butter. It makes everything better.
Sugar: I like to add a tiny bit of granulated sugar to this recipe. It does not make the breadsticks taste sweet. It just cuts the tang of the yogurt taste a bit and balances everything. It is truly optional.
Gluten Free Weight Watchers Breadsticks
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend plus more for sprinkling (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) granulated sugar (optional)
- 1 ½ cups (340 g) nonfat Greek-style plain yogurt (Fage brand seems to work best)
- 2 (50 g) egg whites
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter melted (optional)
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and optional sugar, and whisk to combine.
- Add the yogurt and egg whites, and mix until the dough begins to hold together.
- Knead the dough with clean hands to bring together fully.
- Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead it with clean hands until it’s a bit smoother.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions (each a bit more than 3 ounces in weight) and roll each into a ball between your cupped palms and/or by rolling on the lightly floured surface.
- Using the fingers of both hands, begin to roll the round into a cylinder by pressing outward from the center (see the video in the post for a visual), tapering the dough toward each end.
- During shaping, pinch together any portion of the dough that appears to have separated or cracked, and then continue shaping. Place the shaped pieces of dough about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Place the optional melted butter and the optional garlic salt in a small bowl and mix to combine. Use a pastry brush to brush each of the breadsticks with the optional mixture.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the breadsticks are puffed, firm to a light touch, and lightly golden brown all over, about 25 minutes.
- Allow the breadsticks to cool briefly on the baking sheet before serving warm.
- Leftovers can be sliced and stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days (to maintain moisture, add a moistened paper towel to the bag) or sealed in a freezer-safe container for longer storage.
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Vivian Howard says
Usually you specify in your recipes when an ingredient should be at room temperature, which I understand is most always. Given that, I am uncertain as to whether or not the yogurt should be at room temp. Also, I’ve never seen or heard of Fage yogurt!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Vivian, you’re right! In this case, the temperature honestly doesn’t matter. There’s a first time for everything, right? ?Fage is just a brand of Greek-style yogurt. It’s somehow less chalky than the others even at 0% fat.
Heather Stillman says
Could I use self raising gf flour instead of plain and baking powder?
Nicole Hunn says
The original iteration of this recipe is made with self-rising flour, Heather, which is why it’s called “2-ingredient bread,” but I’ve never tried it with the self-rising flour. I’m not 100% sure that the proportions are exactly the same, but I think it’s worth a try if you have self-rising gluten free flour. Let us know how it goes!
Patrick Bradley says
Good morning, I’ve been learning to cook with GF as my wife was diagnosed wheat intolerant, bread stick were extremely heavy and dense, followed receipt to the tee what did I do wrong, it was the same with your bread dough, heavy and dense, no air in there at all, baking powder in date, help thanks Patrick
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Patrick, I’m afraid I really don’t know. My first guess would be that you used a different all purpose gluten free flour than one of those that I recommend and/or baked by volume, not weight, so you overmeasured your flour. The recipe works when made as written!
Nicky Russell says
Just made these and they look lovely..just waiting for them to cool. My dough seemed quite a bit wetter than yours, maybe my eggs were larger? How long do you think they will freeze for?
I am counting calories so I didn’t brush with butter/garlic and I calculated them at approximately 150 calories each.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Nicky, the type of yogurt you used might be responsible for that, if perhaps the Greek yogurt you used isn’t that thick. That’s why I recommend Fage. It definitely works best! You can freeze them for at least a month, longer if you seal them fully. Freezer burn is caused by trapped air in the package.
jennine McWilliams says
Hi, wonderful job! could l include the egg yolks with out changing the dough result? cheers
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Jennine, no you can’t include the egg yolks. You must use only the whites for the recipe to work as written.
Michelle says
Good afternoon!
I am currently in Montana at 7500 feet
What changes would I make to the GF recipes?
Thank you for any input
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid high altitude is one condition I simply can’t replicate, so I just don’t know. I recommend using whatever high altitude adjustments you would normally make, Michelle.
Connie says
Will these work just as a round dinner roll? I’m a new gf baker. Would that change bake time?
Debbie Krueger says
I made these for lunch yesterday and they were great! My husband asked if they were really gluten free!
Nicole Hunn says
That’s the best, Debbie! Thanks for letting me know. :)
Jackie says
Do you have the nutritional info for these? I count macros. Thanks!
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid not, Jackie, but feel free to plug the ingredients into an online nutrition calculator. That’s all I would do anyway!
Chelsea says
Hi Nicole, just wondering if the yogurt absolutely has to be fat free if we aren’t worried about weight watchers, thanks!
Nicole Hunn says
I haven’t tried these recipes with anything other than nonfat Greek yogurt, Chelsea, so honestly I’m just not sure!
Rian says
I can’t wait to try this, I wonder if you could add yeast…just for the flavor enhancement? (I am not a baker but the GF bread offerings out there are sad.)
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Rian, you can’t do that, no. Yeast itself, in its inert state, doesn’t have any flavor. It has to grow to develop a yeasty flavor. I have plenty of yeasted recipes, including one for yeasted soft breadsticks linked in this post. But the tang of the yogurt in this recipe does make it taste similar.
JanJan says
Do you think olive oil would be ok to substitute for the unsalted butter baste?
Nicole Hunn says
I would prefer coconut oil or something with a higher smoke point, JanJan, but olive oil might work!
Tracy Kuhn says
Wow, super helpful! Thanks for the info.
estelle whiddon says
Have you substituted chia seed mix for eggs and tried dairy free yogurt? I am dairy and egg free due to allergies….. if not , I will and let you know.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Estelle, please see the ingredients and substitutions section for all the information I have on that!
Karen Micheletti says
Do you still need to use xanthan gum if you are using regular flour?
Janet says
Nicole,
I am on an SCD diet and baking powder is not an acceptable leavening agent to use. Baking soda is okay. Would you have a guess on how to substitute for the baking powder?
Thanks!
Nicole Hunn says
The only way I can suggest is to make the baking soda into a baking powder equivalent by adding cream of tartar. You’d add half a teaspoon of baking soda to one-quarter teaspoon of cream of tartar. Hope that’s helpful!