‘Fully obsessed baker’ Matthew James Duffy shares a comprehensive guide to baking with sourdough, pizza dough and more<\/p>\n
Published Dec 19, 2025<\/p>\n
Last updated 1\u00a0week ago<\/span><\/p>\n 13 minute read<\/p>\n <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n Article content<\/p>\n Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n <\/span>or<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Jump to the recipes:<\/strong> tangzhong milk bread buns<\/a>, challah<\/a> and pecan pie babka<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n People often ask Matthew James Duffy<\/a> what his No. 1 tip for bakers is. The answer is repetition. \u201cYou make a different recipe every single weekend, and that\u2019s a mistake. You need to make the same thing over and over and over and over,\u201d he says while egg-washing 20 loaves of challah under the pink glow of the \u201cPain au Levain\u201d (\u201csourdough bread,\u201d in French) neon sign hanging in his kitchen.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n The Stouffville, Ont.-based chef, culinary instructor and self-described \u201cbread fanatic\u201d has worked at acclaimed bakeries, pizzerias and restaurants in Canada and abroad, including Noma, Langdon Hall and Caf\u00e9 Boulud. In his cookbook debut, Bread Etc., Duffy shares a comprehensive guide to bread baking, including sourdough, yeasted dough and pizza.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n He suggests picking a recipe, such as challah \u2014 which he learned from cookbook author Bonnie Stern<\/a> and often bakes with his family on Fridays to celebrate Shabbat \u2014 and making it a few weeks in a row. Then, move on to the next recipe.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n When Duffy is teaching, he likes to give students the example of baker Xavier Netry from the Utopie bakery, who won Paris\u2019s annual \u201cGrand Prix de la baguette<\/a>\u201d prize in 2024. He interviewed the award-winner in Paris last fall and asked him how many baguettes they shape each day. With one other baker, Netry makes an astonishing 1,000 to 1,200 of the iconic French loaves in a single shift.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cYou shape maybe four a year at home. Maybe you\u2019re obsessive about baguettes, and you shape 30 in a year, but it\u2019s not even close to the way the skill develops \u2014 the way you learn to bake,\u201d says Duffy. \u201cThat\u2019s why the challah recipe<\/a> is so important, because you can really develop your baking through it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Duffy opens the book with the basics of baking bread, from ingredients and equipment to understanding wheat and gluten. He says that a scale and a thermometer are two of the most important tools a bread baker can have. In Bread Etc., Duffy lists the ingredients in metric measurements (weight) instead of volume (cups) for accuracy and consistency.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is that someone who picks up this book is someone who wants to learn bread baking,\u201d says Duffy. \u201cSo, why not start with success? Start with the best way, be successful and grow the skill. Scales aren\u2019t that expensive, but they\u2019re just so important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Duffy recently surpassed 100K YouTube<\/a> subscribers, and he has another 197K followers on Instagram<\/a> and 234K on TikTok<\/a>. He\u2019s built his following, in large part, on his sourdough recipes and baking guides, but made a point of casting his net wider in Bread Etc. and including yeasted doughs as well.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a sourdough purist, and I don\u2019t necessarily think that sourdough is better, and I also hate the elitist attitude that comes from a lot of sourdough bakers. Here\u2019s the one that kills me: \u2018I only bake with sourdough. It\u2019s so much healthier. It\u2019s better for your gut. Here\u2019s my sourdough sticky bun recipe,’\u201d says Duffy. \u201cYou\u2019re better off eating a whole-wheat, yeasted bagel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n He set out to build an approachable baking brand within the sourdough niche, minus the elitism. \u201cI want everyone to feel like they can make bread. I don\u2019t want you to think that you need three days, and you have to buy or make a starter. Some people get so intimidated by that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Take the pita recipe in the book, for example, which you can make in less than 30 minutes, start to finish. Or the yeasted challahs Duffy is baking as he talks, which tend to be a bit more forgiving than sourdough. \u201cI also think there\u2019s beauty in those breads,\u201d says Duffy, adding that he wanted the book to be a resource for beginners and advanced bakers alike.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n For new bakers, making yeasted breads will help build foundational skills they can later apply to more advanced loaves, especially if they get into sourdough.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Duffy fell for bread early in his career, while working at Rundles, a now-closed fine-dining restaurant in Stratford, Ont. But his first professional foray was far from a success. He hadn\u2019t paid attention to baking in class at Stratford Chefs School<\/a> and was unprepared for the task of making sourdough bread for the dinner service. Watching chef de cuisine Neil Baxter<\/a> throw the dough into the dumpster and proceed to make quick buns instead, Duffy\u2019s first thought was, \u201cI\u2019m never doing that again.\u201d But this quickly morphed into, \u201cI\u2019m going to show you.\u201d He read Jeffrey Hamelman\u2019s Bread<\/a> book every day after work, kick-starting a decades-long career in baking.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt became this thing that I thought would give me a competitive edge and a better career, and that really turned into me just being fully obsessed. As we speak, I\u2019m turning the tray of challah in the oven. I\u2019m a fully obsessed baker,\u201d says Duffy. \u201cIt\u2019s just become this pursuit of knowledge. And I think that\u2019s one of the best things about bread baking is, you never know everything. And I\u2019m still learning just as much as anyone who picks up my book for the first time. I feel like I\u2019m still on that journey with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n![\"recipes](\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/breadEtcFeat.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216&sig=xHVP0dptqoT2oUShskpE-g\")
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Recipes Sign In or Create an Account<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture>TANGZHONG MILK BREAD BUNS<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
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