Peanut butter and jelly, cookies and milk, donuts and coffee -- some things just go better together.

In this Maggie Monday, Maggie Crane finds our what it takes to make both of our morning favorites -- donuts and coffee at Bennett's Fresh Roast in Fort Myers.

You might know Bob Grissinger by another name: Bennett. Once a radio disc jockey, Bennett is now trying his hand at another early-morning job, and he's letting Maggie in on some of his secrets to success.

If you're just jonesing for a cup of joe, looking to satisfy your sweet tooth or picking up your morning paper, some customers have found a new cafe. It's Bennett's Fresh Roast, quickly becoming well-known for more than it's daily brew.

Dozens of donuts are plucked off the shelf every day.

"The donuts are made by hand, from scratch, by me at 3 o'clock in the morning when I walk in the door -- I start the fryer up and I'm ready to go," Grissinger says.

Grissinger has to make a second batch in the middle of the morning, and that's when Maggie learns how he makes these sweet treats.

"You're going to get dirty - you're going to get covered with flour first, then you're going to get covered with confectioner's sugar, perhaps some maple glaze, some vanilla frosting," Grissinger says.

"Bob, I thought it went on the donuts, not on me!" Maggie says.

"It always gets on you, trust me!" Grissinger warns with a laugh.

So what's the skinny... or not so skinny on the dough?

"I'm not giving away the secrets, but it contains a lot of wholesome, healthful ingredients," Grissinger jokes. "It of course contains a lot of sugar, a lot of eggs and mashed potatoes -- every donut has mashed potatoes in it -- very few people know that."

After the dough proofs -- that's the time it takes for yeast to rise -- we get our hands right in the dough.

Then we slice it up and roll it out. We use what Bob refers to as a "medieval torture device" to cut donut shapes out of the dough. It's then transferred to a sheet and put back in to proof again.

The rest of the scrap dough won't go to waste.

"We recycle virtually all of our dough, and we use about a pound of it for the next day, because you want to take that one-day old dough and put it into your new dough as part of the starter batch because it really enhances the flavor of the donut," Grissinger says.

After 45 minutes, we're ready to turn the dough into donuts. And here's a fair warning, health freaks: close your ears!

"We're going to lower them into the hot fat, about 375 degrees of hot fat," Grissinger explains.

It doesn't take long before it's time to flip.

"You're going to have to go a lot faster because those other ones are burning underneath.," Grissinger says to Maggie.

After a layer or two of sugary glaze, the donuts dry until the glaze sets, and then are put on the shelf for customers to see.

Now what goes good with donuts? Bob's got your answer in a hot cup of coffee. He roasts the beans himself, as he's been doing on his own for nine years.

"I almost burned the house down one time," Grissinger says with a laugh.

But now Bob has big help.

"Anyone can roast coffee when you have a completely automatic coffee roaster that does amazing things!" Grissinger says.

This machine uses a laser to roast the bean to the right color.

The house favorite is Columbian Supremo, which is roasted fresh every day, so nothing you buy is more than 24 hours old.

Once the beans are roasted through the automatic machine, Bob transfers them to a large jar.

"We're drawing carbon dioxide out of the coffee bean," Grissinger explains. "CO2 isn't a good thing for coffee flavor, so we draw it out in a vacuum chamber."

"It has a very full, balanced, medium acidity," Grissinger says.

No, he's not talking about wine; Bob is just a coffee connoisseur.

"When I drink a glass or take a sip of coffee, I want to be able to let that coffee's flavor develop on my pallet. I know that might sound silly or a little pretentious, but I do like coffee that much," Grissinger says.

Bennett's Fresh Roast stays open until 9 p.m., also offering homemade desserts, beer, wine and appetizers. It's located at 2011 Bayside Parkway off of West First Street in Fort Myers.

If you have a story idea for "Maggie Monday," email Maggie at maggie.crane@winktv.com.