BREAKFAST

MONKEY BUBBLE BREAD

PUMPKIN CHEDDAR MUFFINS

FARM STAND BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUTS THREE WAYS

NUTELLA SCONES

CARROT COCONUT SCONES WITH CITRUS GLAZE

BAKED CHEESE GRITS

MOM'S OLIVE OIL ORANGE BUNDT

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

HONEY CORN MUFFINS

NEW YORK-STYLE CRUMB CAKE

CORNMEAL GRIDDLE CAKES

MALTED WAFFLES

BAKED FRENCH TOAST

DOUBLE-CHOCOLATE LOAF WITH PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE SPREAD

Breakfast, or the concept of a "proper breakfast," can be unpredictable. I like it that way. When I feel inspired, I like rummaging around the pantry and refrigerator for unexpected muffin, scone, or pancake ingredients. I might use up some fresh fruit, chop some chocolate, stir in a bit of brandy, or break apart a stale baguette. When I am feeling less ambitious, I might just reheat leftover macaroni and cheese, or grab a bagel from the local deli, or both. I leave myself open to either option — I consider myself a breakfast optimist, and I never plan in advance.

It's not that I am blasé about breakfast. Actually, I am quite a breakfast advocate; I just never structure the meal like I might a lunch for friends or a large dinner party. I have never "dressed" for breakfast (a frightening idea!), and I don't enjoy the idea of sitting formally at a table in the morning. I prefer to fly solo for my first meal of the day, and most likely I am hunched over the morning news, be it on my laptop or the daily paper.

My carefree roll-out-of-bed-and-grab-your-own-breakfast attitude is largely a part of my upbringing. Mom encouraged the scour-and-devour breakfast scenario that still is part my daily routine. On occasion we were treated to last-minute innovations like a spruced-up muffin mix (usually loaded with butterscotch or chocolate chips) or a pancake burdened with more toppings than a tricked-out ice cream sundae. Other times, it was a simple store-bought, and probably not very good, coffee cake. My breakfast never looked like the hearty abundance of a tweaked-and-Photoshopped Denny's picture menu.

While digging for this book, I unearthed more recipes for breakfast than any other section. People are passionate about their first meal of the day, and the nostalgia runs deep — deeper than with most recipes. I whittled the written and oral submissions down, keeping to the sweeter side of things, and edited them down again by preserving the items that felt the most homey without being too kitsch. I can honestly say that I had the hardest time regulating myself with breakfast during the book's testing phase. One time I lost self-control, nearly consuming half a loaf of Monkey Bubble Bread all by my lonesome. The other recipes in this chapter are equally delicious. I still daydream about the Double-Chocolate Loaf with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread. It is a rewarding and handsome breakfast loaf with a sinful flair. Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt is coffee-klatch heaven, and the Malted Waffles are a great excuse to use your waffle iron. If you are one of those rare anti-sweet breakfast people, I recommend the Baked Cheese Grits. Actually, I recommend the cheese grits no matter what. Have a great breakfast.

MONKEY BUBBLE BREAD

I SUGGEST ONLY MAKING THIS FROM-SCRATCH BREAD IF YOU ARE HAVING A LARGE GATHERING. Otherwise, you could end up (like me) eating more than you should. Simply put, this is addictive stuff. I liken these warm, gooey bread balls to the most amazing glazed doughnut hole you have ever had. There are several recipes floating about for monkey bread that use canned biscuit dough, but I ask you to kindly refrain from this expedient fix because the result won't be as tasty, and it is more expensive. The origin of the name monkey bread or bubble bread is quite hard to pinpoint, and while many dubious answers exist (the bread resembles a monkey puzzle tree or monkeys love to pull things apart), none of them are definitive, and some are cloyingly cute. I hate cloyingly cute. Suffice it to say that the source of the name is just one of life's great mysteries, and we should leave it at that.

YIELD: ONE 10-INCH BUNDT

Ingredients

FOR THE MONKEY BUBBLE BREAD

1¼ cups whole milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE CINNAMON SUGAR COATING

1¼ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

MAKE THE MONKEY BUBBLE BREAD

Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, warm your milk to slightly above room temperature, then remove it from the heat, add the yeast, and whisk to dissolve. (Do not warm it beyond 110 degrees F or you will kill the yeast).

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, and salt until combined.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork and add it to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until combined.

Keeping the mixer on low, slowly stream in the milk until combined. Add the melted butter and mix until the dough comes together. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook attachment. Continue to mix on medium speed until the dough becomes silky and tacky, but not sticky, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should mound together and easily come off the bottom of the mixing bowl. (If the dough is too wet, add some flour. If it is too dry, add a tiny bit of water.)

Spray the bottom and sides of a large bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and roll it around to make sure it is completely covered in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let it rest in a warm area until the dough has doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Use your clean hands to push down and deflate the dough. Remove it from the bowl and pat it into a rough circle approximately 8 inches diameter. Use a bench knife or serrated knife to cut dough into 1- to 1½-inch pieces (about ½ ounce each) — alternatively, use your hands to pinch apart the dough. Roll the pieces into balls (they don't have to be perfectly round). Place the balls on the sheet pan (you will get about 60 pieces in all). Cover the balls lightly with plastic wrap.

MAKE THE CINNAMON SUGAR COATING

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Place the melted butter in a separate bowl.

ASSEMBLE THE BREAD

Remove the plastic wrap from the dough balls and dip one ball in the melted butter. Let the excess butter drip back into the bowl, roll the ball in the brown sugar mixture, and place it in the Bundt pan. Continue this...