Easy all purpose bread recipe

I haven't posted on this blog for a while. The cookery school is taking off and life has been busy. No excuse I  know but some exciting classes have been going on at the school.
We have jumped onto the bread baking band wagon and this recipe is an easy all purpose recipe that can be used for making bread sticks, focaccia or pizza bases.
The difference with this recipe and what makes it so easy it that it does not need a long time to rise and only has one rising.
This is a great recipe for beginners to bread making. I used this recipe at a recent bread making class and it was a great success.

Easy All- purpose bread

This dough doesn’t need a lot of proving time and can be used to make a versatile array of breads.

Makes 1 focaccia, 2 small pizzas and 12-16 breadsticks

Ingredients

200ml milk ( and extra if needed)
12g ( 1 ½ sachets of quick acting yeast)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
425g strong white bread flour

In a non-metallic bowl add in order as listed the first five ingredients plus 120 ml tepid water ( hand hot).

Add 1 ½ cups of the flour and mix thoroughly.

Cover and leave in warm, draught free place for 20 minutes.

 Stir in the remaining flour adding a little extra milk if your dough is too dry. Mix well then knead on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, until the dough feels silky and elastic.

To make focaccia.

Preheat the oven to 220ᵒC/ gas mark 7

Take a third of the dough and pat it out to 1cm on an oiled baking sheet. Use your fingers to make small “dimples” in the dough. Scatter with some rosemary leaves, chopped garlic, and black olives and drizzle with the juice of half an orange mixed with some olive oil. You could also mix in some chopped sun-dried tomatoes and thyme leaves for a different flavour.
Bake for 15 minutes.

To make pizza dough

Take a third of the dough and roll out 2x 20cm circles. Top with any toppings of your choice. Season and drizzle with olive oil. Preheat the oven to 230ᵒC/gas mark 8 and bake for 8-12 minutes.

To make breadsticks

Take a third of the dough and roll or pat out into a 1cm thick rectangle. Using a pizza wheel or kitchen scissors cut into 1cm wide strips. Roll into cylinders but don’t make them too even for that rustic look. Brush with water and sprinkle with poppy seeds, sea salt or onion seeds. Preheat the oven to 150ᵒc/ gas mark 2 and bake for 30- 40 minutes until crisp.