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One Dough, 100 Recipes: The Focaccia Formula That Built My Career

I never planned to build my career around bread. It wasn’t some childhood dream or romantic bakery fantasy. It just… happened.

One day I found myself in a tiny Brooklyn kitchen working when my mentor, Chef Daniel, hired me to replace his entire kitchen crew — no, really. Suddenly I was in charge of the first and last impression of every guest: running the bakery, managing the starters, working the grill, doing pastry… all of it.

I had no idea that a decade later I’d be elbow-deep in dough people wouldn’t stop talking about.

I didn’t become a “master baker” in that time — I just figured out what worked, and then doubled down. Once I realised how much a single dough could do, it changed how I cooked forever.

Extra scraps turned into sticky buns, stuffed breads, and flatbreads that became the center of my dishes. Bread became the canvas. This dough particularly gave me an edge in every kitchen I ever stepped into — and it can do the same for you.

So here it is. My gift to you.

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This recipe — the one that became the most popular bread at SCRATCHbread — is the foundation of my new paid series:

1 Dough, 100 Recipes.

We’ll start with this base focaccia dough, and from there I’ll show you how to spin it into:

• Breakfast stromboli

• PIZZAbread (my grandma-pie x focaccia hybrid)

• Sweet potato rolls

• Flatbreads

• Chai Sticky Buns

• Chocolate-filled baked doughnuts
  …and a lot more.

The best part?
You’ll see that baking isn’t some sacred, intimidating art form — it’s just cooking with a little more patience and a little more play.

And if you’ve tried my gluten-free version, you’ll see how these two doughs run side by side — proof that creativity in bread dough is limitless.

Once you feel that supple dough in your hands and smell it filling your home… you’ll get it.

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THE RECIPE

This dough will be the foundation for everything we build.
We’ll start with a topped focaccia baked in a pan, plus a little trick for shaving and pre-salting onions so they don’t burn.

From there, we’ll jump into:
PIZZAbread — a Grandma-style pizza topped with burrata (or homemade mozz) and crushed San Marzano tomatoes.
PARMAloaf — a Parmesan-crusted loaf baked on a bed of Parmigiano Reggiano with a spiced “mohawk” of fennel, peppercorn, and flaky salt.
Breakfast Stromboli — the quick breakfast winner stuffed with eggs, ham, green chilies, and a cheddar–gouda blend. Bake once, slice, and reheat in minutes.

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“The smell of good bread baking… there is no yoga exercise, no meditation, that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.”
— M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

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QUICK RECIPE NOTEs:

Water Temp- I recommend room temp water, approx 70 degree.

“Build” - Aka ‘Old Dough’, is an optional pro tip adding a knob of leftover dough from your last batch, adds flavor and digestibility to every new dough you make. If you dont have, you can make the recipe without it.