These Spooky Snake Breadsticks make a perfect addition to your Halloween Party Food table. A great healthy appetiser idea to surprise the kids and grown-ups alike.
Also great for Harry Potter or reptile themed party food.
How to make Snake Breadsticks at home?
Follow our step by step recipe below to make your own breadsticks. Learn how to shape and decorate them into snakes.
We have given extra information on this blog post and finally check out our how to video below.
How to make dough for breadsticks?
Breadstick dough is so easy and cheap to make. A simple combination of yeast, warm water, olive oil, flour and salt.
How to knead breadstick dough
It is quicker to use a handheld mixer with dough hooks to combine and knead the ingredients with minimal effort!
You can also use a electric stand mixer with dough hook.
Or you can knead by hand instead, although it will take more effort and time.
How long to leave dough to proof?
Leave dough to proof for at least 1 hour.
In the case of proofing, you will know when it is ready as it will have doubled in size.
Dough has doubled in size, as illustrated in picture above.
How to shape breadstick into a Snake?
Simply weigh out 50 grams of dough and roll out using your hands. Keep one end wider than the other for the snakes head.
Use flour on surface if dough too sticky.
Place the wider part near the end of a wooden or metal skewer (kebab sticks).
Gently hold the snake's head down with your thumb, whilst you twist the tail down the stick.
Try to give dough enough room not only around the stick, but also on the baking tray.
Remember the snake breadsticks will grow a little in the oven!
You will likely need 2 trays to fit them on.
What temperature to bake breadsticks?
Breadstick's need to be baked at 190°C fan (375°F) oven for 20 minutes.
However, for this recipe, we will only cook for 15 minutes. As we need to add some colour to the snakes before finishing cooking for the last 5 minutes.
How to make coloured breadsticks?
We experimented with many different ways, to find the simplest way, with best results.
Cook the snake breadsticks until almost completed (15 minutes).
Then paint on a simple mix of water and food colouring before cooking for a final 5 minutes.
We used 6 drops of Dr Oetker Extra Strong Food Colour.
Use any colour you like and use as much as you like for stronger colours.
You may also want to add sesame seed, poppy seeds, parmesan or nigella seeds to your snake breadsticks? We dipped the brush into the water than the seeds to help paint them on.
How to remove the stick from the cooked snake breadstick?
It can be in particular tricky to pull the kebab stick out, as we soon found out after we broke a snake breadstick upon our first attempt!
Hence, we give you the secret. Gently hold in one hand, then twist the stick 360, before gently pulling and twisting out at the same time, until fully removed.
What to use to decorate your snake breadsticks?
In this case we used what we already had to give the snake breadsticks some character!
Black olives chopped small for eyes and orange pepper (bell pepper) cut small for the snake's tongue.
We used the end of a kebab stick to make holes in the snake breadsticks before placing the olives and pepper in.
That's it all done, 12 (well, 11 as one didn't make it) snake breadsticks ready for your Halloween party!
How to serve Snake Breadsticks?
We served ours up with our delicious Kebab Shop Chilli Sauce.
But, you can use whatever you like to dip your Halloween serpent in!
Such as our Garlic Mayo Sauce, or our Homemade BBQ Sauce?
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Snake Breadsticks - Party Food Halloween or Harry Potter
Equipment
Ingredients
Breadsticks
- 5 grams (1 tsp) Dried Active Yeast 1x sachet
- 170 ml (⅔ cup) Warm Water
- 4 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 330 grams (2 ⅔ cup) Plain Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Decoration, this is what we used but you can use whatever you like?
- 2 Olives, chopped small for the eyes
- ⅓ Orange Pepper (bell pepper) for the tongue
- 6 drops Extra strong food colour gel we used green
- 3 tablespoon water to mix food colour with
- 1 tablespoon sesame or nigella seeds optional
Instructions
- Mix warm water with yeast, stir together until it starts to bubble up, then add the olive oil.5 grams (1 tsp) Dried Active Yeast, 170 ml (⅔ cup) Warm Water, 4 tablespoon Olive Oil
- Sieve the flour and then add the salt.330 grams (2 ⅔ cup) Plain Flour, 1 teaspoon Salt
- Using a hand mixer with dough hook mix on slow until combined, then increase speed to medium speed for 5 minutes.If kneading by hand will take 10 minutes
- Cover the dough in a bowl with cling film and let prove for 1 hr / until the dough has doubled in size.
- Place flour on a clean surface, give the dough a gently knead adding more flour if needed to remove stickiness.
- Weigh out and work with 50 gram pieces of dough at a time.
- Roll into a snake shape, thin one end for the tail and thicker the other end for the head
- Starting from the head end. Wrap the dough snake shape around a wooden kebab stick and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Allow space between snakes on a tray. Shape the head before placing in the oven. Cook on 200°C fan/ 220°C/ 425°/ Gas mark 7 F for 15 minutes
- Mix together water and green food colouring for painting the snakes3 tablespoon water, 6 drops Extra strong food colour gel
- Remove snakes and brush over the food colouring mixture, add seeds now if wanted? Then place back in the oven for a further 5 mins.1 tablespoon sesame or nigella seeds
- Cut up black olive into small pieces for the snake eyes2 Olives, chopped small
- Use an orange/ red pepper cut out the snake tongues⅓ Orange Pepper (bell pepper)
- Once the snakes have cooled down, twist the kebab stick 360°. Then continue to twist as you pull out slowly from the snakes
- Use the sharp end of a stick to poke a hole for the eyes and mouth, and place the olives for eyes and peppers for tongues into each snake
- Serve with a dip and enjoy!!
Video
Nutrition
We hope you enjoyed this Halloween snake breadstick recipe.
We have plenty of other Halloween recipe ideas for you to check out too. Click on the link in the picture for recipes.
Please share with your friends and family as well as leaving us a comment below!
October 2021 "This post has been included in the Twinkl Halloween Guide. Why not have a look at the pumpkin patches available near you for next Halloween?"
Amy
Hey random question can I leave the dough over night before baking? I want to make these with students but the class time would need to be done in 2 sessions.
Luke and Kay
Hi Amy
You can leave the dough in the fridge over night and bring it back to room temperature before you shape and bake.
Hope you and your students enjoy the recipe 🙂
Ann
Those kebab sticks are a game changer in making these snakes! These were fun - my kids loved it!
Kay
Thank you for trying our Halloween snake breadsticks, Ann! I'm glad to hear that you and your kids enjoyed them. The kebab sticks are a great way to make the snakes, and they're really easy to use. Thanks for the feedback, and we hope you'll try them again soon. 🙂
Charlotte
Hello. How long do these keep once baked? Thank you
Kay
Hi Charlotte
Thanks for the question
Once the breadsticks are cooked, they should stay crispy for up 2-3 Days in an airtight container.
Enjoy the recipe 🙂
Amy Liu Dong
Awesome idea and concept! A breadstick with a twist, that will definitely love by many! A perfect treat for this Halloween festivity!
Kay
Thank you for your kind words, Amy! We're so happy you love our Halloween snake breadsticks. They are a lot of fun to make and even more fun to eat! 🙂
Maddison
I made these to kick of spooky season today! (october 1st celebrations) and i’m usually terrible at making things like this but these turned out yummy and adorable! super quick and pretty easy. if i can make them and be successful then anyone can 🙂 thank you for sharing this recipe! i will absolutely be making more soon!
Kay
Thank you for trying our Halloween Snake Breadsticks Maddison, and for your kind words! We're glad you found the recipe easy to follow, and that you enjoyed the end result. They do look quite adorable don't they? We hope you'll make them again soon!
Karen
Can you use frozen bread dough or roll dough to make the snakes
Kay
Hi Karen,
Using pre-made bread dough will help make the snakes quicker, but I am worried it will rise more than the European breadstick dough we made.
Maybe try making them thinner then they will have more room to rise and expand!
If you try the recipe using bread dough, let us know how they turn out and share a piccy on one of the social media channels for others to see! Our handle on all social platforms is @flawlessfooduk if you would kindly share with us too 🙂
Thanks Kay
Patty
I would make this more simple by using the bread sticks that come in a tube. Much less work.
Kay
Hi Patty,
We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Using pre-made breadstick dough tubes, would help make the preparation process quicker. But it may make them too soft and fluffy. Let us all know how they come out if you do.
Our breadstick recipe is a European breadstick, which results in a thin crisp dry Italian-style breadstick. Perfect for dipping. Think they are known as grissini breadsticks in America?
Jessica
How cute are these hoping to make some for a Halloween party at the end of the month 🐍 🥰 xx
Luke
Thank you so much Jessica for the comment 🙂
These are great to make for Halloween, the kids loved making this recipe with us!
Enjoy 😉
Anaiah
This is so creative and such a fun activity to do with the kids. They're going to love making this.. and eating it too!
Kay
Thanks, Anaiah
Hope the kids love this recipe as much as our kids did, its such a great Halloween treat 🙂
Enjoy!!
Kimberly Carruth
Could I use butter with the green food coloring instead of water? Or does water work best?
Luke
Thanks, Kimberly for your question?
We have never tried butter but we have tried with egg and it browned the breadsticks taking away the effect of the colour
We found using water worked best but if the butter does work please let us know 🙂
Nora
This is such a great and fancy idea, and so simple! And looks so great! I love it! Thanks for the great recipe!
Kay
Thanks, Nora
Our pleasure really pleased you like the recipe, have fun making these at halloween 🙂
Millie
So cute! I forgot it’s almost that time of year already! Can’t wait to get creative with these 🙂
Kay
Thanks, Millie
We had a lot of fun making these with the kids, its a great Halloween treat for perfect for a wizard theme party 🙂
Enjoy!!
Amy
Oh my! How cute are these snake breadsticks?? They are super creative and I love that they are easy enough to make with my daughter. With everything going on this year, she is keen to celebrate Halloween with a bang this year so we're going all out! Definitely adding these to the food list!
Kay
Thanks for the comment Amy
Hope you have loads of fun making these great Halloween snacks 🙂
Ellie
Hi these look like a great idea.
What’s the best way to store these when made and how long do they keep?
Thanks
FOODHEAL
These snakes made me laugh, they are so cute. A great idea to amuse kids.
Desicart
These are simple and fast to prepare and everyone enjoyed them!i ll definitely try it!! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Kasy
These look like a lot of fun! Cant wait to try and bring to a Halloween gathering! 🤗