One Recipe, Many Alternatives
From one bread recipe, you can make many alternatives.
- For communion bread, make a dinner plate size flat loaf. Place it on a large cookie sheet or pizza pan lined with parchment paper. With a large sharp knife, cut a cross in the center of the loaf.
- For cinnamon rolls, roll dough into a large rectangle. Spread butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins over it. Roll and slice. After baking, drizzle with a mixture of milk and powdered sugar.
- For a loaf of bread, shape to fit the loaf pan and place smooth side up in the greased loaf pan.
- For a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, add cinnamon to the flours and then when you turn out the dough after rising, pat or roll into a flat rectangle. Spread with butter, sprinkle with brown sugar and raisins. Fold and shape into a loaf and place in the greased loaf pan, smooth side up.
- For rolls, shape and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Slash the top once.
- For bread sticks, pinch off pieces of dough and shape as break sticks. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkled with cornmeal. Brush breadsticks with olive oil, shake Italian herbs and powdered garlic over the bread sticks.
- For herb bread, add a couple of tablespoons of herbs to your flours. Herbs de Provence or Italian herb mixtures are great for this.
- For focaccia, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Shape dough into a rectangle to fit a 9 x 13 inch pan. Drizzle olive oil all over the bottom of the pan. Carefully place dough in pan. Using your finger, poke indentations in the dough all over the surface. Generously brush on a mixture of herbs, garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake.
- For appetizers, allow dough to rise a second time. Flatten dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut rounds with a biscuit cutter. Flatten each round to about 1/8 inch thick. Place a tablespoon of cheese --mozzarella, a mixture of cheeses, chesses and herbs-- in the center. Carefully pick tup the sides and twist/pinch the top closed. Bake and serve with marinara.
- For pizza, cut dough ball in half and allow the dough to rise a second time. Flatten dough into a large round circle and carefully place on a pizza stone or pan lightly coated with cornmeal. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, top as desired and bake.