Who is the Butter Ben?

Having a mom who loves to bake, and a dad who is a nuclear astrophysicist is certainly a strange combination, but it didn’t come into play until after I graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in Food Marketing, and literally moved 2,000 miles away from home.

During the year away from home, is where I started developing my love for baking. I have an enormous sweet tooth, and I was accustomed to having whatever dessert my mom whipped up. That was no longer possible being on opposite sides of the country. So I started learning to bake using a custom cookbook my mom made me.

Fast forward a year, I found back in Michigan with a new job, but with a new set of baking skills that i used to keep my friends, family, and coworkers happy. However, I had gone through the whole cookbook my mom gave me. So make sure I was always bring new flavors to potluck, I took after my dad, and starting experimenting.

Did these experiments always work? No (just ask my friends about the Skittle cookie), but there was one creation that I latched onto and wanted to perfect. That recipe would later become what I am now calling the Cinnamon Spiral.

Tired of working corporate jobs that didn’t feel like I was impacting the community, with my Cinnamon Spiral recipe in hand, I set off on my own adventure and using an old college nickname, I became Butter Ben.

To understand why I’m doing this, you need to understand me. I love making people happy. Whether it was through telling jokes in the office, helping someone move, or giving someone a weird Christmas gift, those are the best moments in life. And through experimentation, I learned I can make people the happiest through my baking. Seeing someone smile, and wish they didn’t share the other half of their Cinnamon Spiral is why I bake.