Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Category: Breakfast

  • One-Bowl No-Mixer Pumpkin Muffins

    So it’s no secret that I’m enamored with pumpkin, and I have dozens of pumpkin recipes that get busted out in the fall.  But for many folks, the idea of setting up the stand mixer to cream butter and sugar…or having multiple bowls and measuring cups to clean up afterward…it’s just too much to contemplate…

  • Crispy Cheese-Crusted Omelet

    Just imagine it…a delicious, fluffy omelet chock full of your favorite ingredients, but wrapped in a crispy, crunchy, savory crust of cheese.  It’s way easier than you might think. I’ve recently been making a lot of these unique omelets for breakfast, and decided to post the method, even though it’s pretty simple.  But I haven’t…

  • Cinnamon Masa Pancakes (with gluten-free option)

    So I make pancakes 2 or 3 times a week for breakfast, and that gets boring.  Yeah…you can add chocolate chips or nuts or berries.  Yeah…you can make gingered citrus syrups to pour over them.  You can top them with whatever.  But after a few years, they get boring.  So I developed a new pancake…

  • Quick Sticky Buns

    Over the last few years I’ve migrated away from commercial yeast and toward my sourdough starter.  It’s gotten to the point that I don’t even keep yeast around anymore.  This means my breads have gotten infinitely better…but also take infinitely longer to bake.  There’s no such thing as “quick sourdough” anything. So while I have…

  • Calas (Creole sweet rice fritters)

    At our last FRANK, we wanted to serve a few Creole and Cajun classics that would be unfamiliar to the majority of our diners.  After all, everyone knows beignets, etouffee, gumbo, jambalaya, and boudin.  Calas (pronounced cah-LAHS)  turned out to be a perfect option.  These lovely little yeast-risen rice fritters were typically eaten at breakfast…

  • Bourbon Preserved Figs

    If you’re lucky enough to have a fig tree, or a neighbor who has one, you have figs coming out your ears in early summer…and perhaps again in late fall, especially if you live in a Southern state.  This fall crop of figs often gets interrupted by early frosts.  The figs are still green when…

  • Caramel Stuffed Banana Nut Muffins

    What’s better than a banana nut muffin?  A banana nut muffin stuffed with caramel.  Of course. This recipe is based on the great Alton Brown’s banana bread recipe, which I’ve tweaked to make these decadent muffins.  If you’re looking for a healthy breakfast recipe, this ain’t it.  Check out my whole grain low-fat banana bread…

  • Cabernet Jelly

    Have you ever had wine jelly?  It’s divine.  And couldn’t be easier to make.  In fact, the hardest part of this recipe is sterilizing the jars and lids, which is easy.  You should do that first, because the jelly comes together VERY quickly once you start. This recipe makes about 4 pints of jelly, or…

  • Bourbon Fig Jam

    You fall into one of two categories of humans.  The first: someone who has to pay an outrageous amount of money to purchase figs at the grocery store when they’re in season…sometimes up to a dollar a fig. If you’re not that person, you fall into the other category.  Either you or a neighbor has…

  • 3-minute Microwave Oatmeal Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

    I make breakfast almost every single day.  During the week, when it’s nothing special, I usually make biscuits or pancakes.  Biscuits take about 15 minutes, start to finish, pancakes take a little less.  That’s not a lot of time, to be honest.  Way less than most people might think. But even 15 minutes is too…