Breakfast Archives

Best Sticky Buns Ever

Hyperbole on a food blog? Well I never! Look: I’ve eaten many a sticky bun in my day (that sounded dirty) and the best sticky buns I’ve ever experienced were the ones that I ate in my kitchen just two days ago when I made the Sticky Sticky Buns from Joanne Chang’s essential Flour cookbook. But, to quote Reading Rainbow, don’t take my word for it. When Joanne Chang went on Beat Bobby Flay in Battle Sticky Bun, these buns went home with the trophy. They’re as much a Boston landmark as Faneuil Hall — I ate one when I visited Craig last summer. But nothing can compete with eating them warm out of your own oven. They really are the best sticky buns ever.

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Eggs on a Green Blanket

Iconic dish names have to start somewhere. Who invented Toad in the Hole? Chicken a la King? S’mores? I’m sure they all have stories, and if we had more time we could research those stories, but my point is that sometimes a dish needs an official name. And that’s why I Christen (what’s the Jewish version of Christen? Bar Mitzvah?)… I Bar Mitzvah this dish: Eggs on a Green Blanket.

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Matzo Brei with Lox, Eggs, and Onions

Here’s the thing about my Jewish childhood: I grew up eating lox, I grew up eating eggs, and I grew up eating onions (lots and lots of onions), but I didn’t grow up eating matzo brei. What can I say? It was a blindspot in my otherwise very Jewish upbringing. And it’s a shame because matzo brei — the Jewish version of migas, with matzo replacing the tortilla chips — is a wonderful way to stretch your scrambled eggs in the morning, to use up leftover matzo from Passover, and to turn both things into something that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Take, for example, this matzo brei with lox, eggs, and onions; a tribute to my dad’s favorite Jewish deli breakfast order. It’s a breakfast that anyone, Jewish or not, would have a hard time saying no to.

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The Ultimate Chocolate Banana Bread

Banana bread is a great way to pretend you’re that eating something virtuous when, really, you’re eating cake. That’s what makes this chocolate banana bread, from Jessie Sheehan’s Snackable Bakes (my new favorite baking book), such a treat. There’s no pretense here about “healthfulness” or “low-calories” or “gluten-free” (not that there’s anything wrong with that). It’s basically chocolate cake mashed up with banana bread with all of the best qualities of each.

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Naturally-Sweetened Granola

When it comes to granola, we’re all living in denial. The word evokes such feelings of healthfulness, it’s actually become an adjective to describe somebody who’s wholesome. “They’re a little too granola,” you might say about that guitar-playing, “aw-shucks” guy in your reading group. But the truth is that granola is PACKED with sugar. I read on the interwebs that 1/2 cup can contain up to 20 grams of sugar. Which is why I was so excited to find a recipe for naturally-sweetened granola in Marco Canora’s wonderful book, A Good Food Day.

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Blow-You-A-Whey Pancakes with Homemade Labneh

Little Miss Muffet can keep her curds: I’m stealing her whey. Especially to make these blow-you-a-whey pancakes with homemade labneh which (spoiler alert!) are easily some of the best pancakes that I’ve ever made and/or eaten in my life.

The secret is the milky white substance that collects in the bowl underneath the sieve when you strain yogurt overnight in the fridge. If you’ve never done this, you’ve never made labneh, which is a real shame because labneh is like yogurt taken to the power of eleven. It’s thick and creamy and works as a dip, a spread, even on its own as a base for fruit and granola. But we’re not here to talk about the labneh, we’re here to talk about the whey!

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Overnight Oats in a Mostly-Empty Yogurt Container

There used to a website called “Is It Iced Coffee Weather?” that would tell you whether you should drink hot coffee or iced coffee on a particular day.

I’d like to build a similar website for oats. For me, it’s either overnight oat weather or hot oatmeal weather. Right now, in L.A., we’re on the cusp. Yesterday, the weather was in the 80s; this morning, it was in the 50s. Usually I make my decision the night before: if it’s hot oatmeal, I put a cup of steel-cut oats in a pot, cover with 4 cups of water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and cover so they’ll cook up in ten minutes the next morning. Last night, though, I opened my refrigerator and saw a mostly-empty yogurt container. That was the universe telling me it was time to overnight oat.

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How To Add Flair To Your Banana Bread

My dad has a joke he makes whenever someone his age has a birthday: “Don’t buy any green bananas.”

I buy green bananas every week, but I’m only 41. The thing about buying green bananas is that eventually they become yellow bananas, perfect for snacking or slicing on to your yogurt and granola. And then those yellow bananas become speckled bananas, perfect for making banana bread.

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