Top Posts of 2014

I have loved 2014.  All of it.

Okay, most of it.

I have had some amazing experiences this year.  I’ve worked with some awesome companies, made some amazingly helpful friends (couldn’t have done it without Carla and Diane!), learned copious amounts from these seriously superb blog coaches (I’m looking at you, Dan and Rachel!) and had tons of fun, fun, fun!

All in all, I can’t complain.

The blog grew by leaps and bounds this year as well, making me super proud to be part of your lives.  Working and watching the blog grow to include lots of fun recipes I can be proud of has honestly been one of the great joys of my life.  It’s like watching a child grow.  But with fewer diapers and a fair amount less heartbreak.

This is the time of year where I reflect back on what has happened during the past year.  So without further ado, let me share with you the top ten reader favorites (judged by number of pageviews) of 2014.  These will be followed by 10 more family favorites, two from each of us that we particularly enjoyed this year.

Drumroll……

 

Number 10:

Coconut Fudge Cookie Bars Wow, did my family love these!  I mean, we are big coconut fans from way back, so I knew these coconut fudge bars would be a hit.  We devoured them at the annual Superbowl party. The layer of fudge inside the otherwise traditional chocolate chip cookie is a welcome, gooey addition, let me tell you.  They’re actually quite similar to these Pumpkin Fudge Cooke Bars, but slightly less gooey, and with a lot more coconut.

 Number 9:

Vanilla Buttermilk Cookies The Hippie Chick was thrilled that I made these babies.  That girl loves her vanilla.  And, since they use my favorite baking ingredient of all time, namely vanilla, I was thrilled too. In fact, I love buttermilk so much, I have a whole page of recipes that use buttermilk.  I would hate for you to shy away from using buttermilk because you don’t know what to do with the leftover!

Number 8:

Brownie Cookies This might be my favorite cookie of the whole year.  I mean, I luuuuuuuvvve brownies.  LOVE.  And I’m obviously a big fan of cookies.  And now I don’t have to choose. I openly encouraged several of my friends to make this cookie, and I have made it myself several times since I blogged the recipe.  And I’ll be making this one again and again… anytime I have people to impress!

Number 7:

Butterscotch Blondies I have some really good memories of eating these “blonde brownies” as a kid.  They are a really fun change from traditional chocolate brownies, which, coming from a person who has a super-human tolerance for chocolate, is saying a lot. I love adding butterscotch chips to these, but they are also nice with cinnamon chips, peanut butter chips, or even chocolate chips.

 Number 6:

Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Eggs I made these cookies as something of an experiment.  I don’t make many allergy-friendly recipes, but this one was a rousing success.  How do I judge that, you might ask? First, because of the sheer number of people who searched for, looked at, and returned to this post.  And second, and more importantly, because they tasted all creamy and soft and wonderful.  If I could, I would share a batch of these with each and every one of you. (Want more egg free recipes?  Try this Chocolate Pudding!)

Number 5:

Frozen Hot Chocolate People ask me all the time what Frozen Hot Chocolate is.  And I say, it’s exactly what it sounds like.  It’s not quite like a chocolate shake, no.  It’s more like hot chocolate.  Only frozen.  I don’t know how else to describe it. Hot chocolate has a different flavor from a chocolate shake, if only slightly.  And it’s not made with ice cream, but with milk and ice.  And it’s awesome with whipped cream.  This has been a really popular post, probably because this recipe is so easy to make, and so fun! (Prefer it hot?  Try this Gingerbread Cocoa or this Peppermint Hot Chocolate!)

Number 4:

Nutella Swirled Peanut Butter Bars These have been so fun to share with you!  The swirl of Nutella is pretty, which, let’s face it, is lots of fun, but the flavor of the chocolate and peanut butter together is quite frankly fantastic. One thing you should know, though, is that I didn’t add any kind of baking soda or other leavening agent to these bars, which makes them kind of thick and fudgy and gooey.  Which is just fine with me.

Number 3:

50 + No-Bake Cookies & Bars I’m not sure how I should feel about the huge number of people who have come to this baking blog to look at this collection of recipe that require no baking at all.  But, to tell you the truth, I feel pretty good about it, because there are plenty of days when I’d prefer to make something that didn’t require the use of an oven, too. Some of these recipes are mine, and some come from other fantastic blogs that you might want to check out. (Like collections? Check out this collection of 100 Chocolate Chip Cookies!)

Number 2:

Red Velvet Cake Batter Dip This dip is my new favorite entertaining stand by.  You can use any flavor of cake mix you want, but for this one, I chose red velvet.  Since it uses a dry mix, you can throw this together in just a couple minutes, and pair it with graham crackers, animal crackers, or apple slices for a fun party snack. As mentioned above, I’m a chocoholic from way back, so my favorite flavor is obviously chocolate! (Find more dip recipes here.)

Number 1:

Plain Oatmeal Cookies I think this was my first recipe of the year, and maybe it was the most popular because it had the longest amount of time to gather some page views, but I like to think it was the most popular because it was the most fantastic.  I mean, as boring as it sounds, a simple plain oatmeal cookie is just a classic staple.  Everyone loves them. A little dash of cinnamon is all that is needed to enjoy these oatmeal cookies!

 

As with last year’s popular post post… I thought perhaps pageviews might not be the only way to measure what was the most fantastic stuff on the blog.  So I turned to the people who actually ate the treats, namely my family.  I let them each pick their two favorites.

 

The Fruitarian:

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that this child chose the banana pudding.  This kid loves, and I mean luuuuuuuvvvvvvves bananas.  He begged me for months to make this pudding again, so I guess we can thank him for the updated photos.

He also loved the Rainbow Cake in a Jar.  The recipe I included in the post just calls for any white cake, but I used this white cake.  The one with buttermilk.  Cuz, y’all know how I feel about buttermilk.

Banana Pudding

Rainbow Cake in a Jar

The Hippie Chick:

I was hoping someone would choose these brownies, because I thought they were crazy good.  I loved them chilled.  It’s probably good I have so many other treats to make, or this one would get made every month.  Hippie Chick agreed.  The peanut butter and marshmallow combination is out of this world.

She also loved the Virgin Mojitos, proving that she is, in fact, my daughter.  Robb and I both loved these mojitos, too, and made them several times.  They are so refreshing, and since they are virgin, they are kid friendly too!

PB Crispy Marshmallow Brownies

Virgin Mojitos

The Lizard:

The Lizard must love the frozen treats because his two favorites this year were both pops.  The Snickers PB Pops were just like ice cream on a stick.  But with pieces of Snickers bar.  It’s hard to go wrong with a combination like that.

He also loved the Tropical Punch Popsicles.  I wonder if it’s because his face is in the photos!  I do love the idea of adding fresh fruit to frozen popsicles to make them a little more healthy and fresh, and if I recall, The Lizard ate the bulk of the batch I made.

 

PB Snickers Ice Cream Pops

Tropical Punch Popsicles

Robb:

Both of these recipes represent the way Robb grew up, as they are both family recipes that are tried and true.  This chocolate cake was his birthday cake this year (and every year), and I really really don’t mind making it, because I kind of love it too.  It’s not too heavy, not too rich, and not too sweet.  Just how Robb likes it.

The Bread Pudding was another one he loved.  He and I disagree about the merits of bread pudding in general  (also rice pudding and custard) but enough people have expressed to me their love of bread pudding, that I thought I had better post it for everyone to enjoy.

Grandma’s Chocolate Cake

Bread Pudding

 

Yours Truly:

I’m totally surprised that my favorite recipe of the year was a rice krispie treat.  They’ve never really been my favorite.  But, it turns out, when you layer them with coconut and caramel, and drizzle them with chocolate, they are basically irresistable.  I wish the photos had done the recipe justice.  I may have to reshoot them.  It would give me an excuse to eat an entire pan of them again.  Or I could just make more Samoas Brownies.  They were equally irresistible.

The Zucchini muffins might be recipe I am the most proud of this year.  They turned out SO tasty, with their soft texture, spicy flavor, and did I mention the walnut crumb topping?  I made them several times while I had zucchini on my counter.  I ended up shredding some zucchini and freezing it, so I’ll probably be making them again one of these days.

Samoas Rice Krispie Treats

Spiced Zucchini Crumb Muffins

 

Before I leave this year behind me, I want to mention one thing about the year ahead.  I am starting a super fun new feature called Cookie of the Month!  Each month I will make a new cookie for you to try.  If you do try it, I’ll ask you to take a picture of it and send it to me, via email, Facebook, or Instagram.  At the end of the month, winners will be chosen from those who send photos, and prizes will be given!  The prizes will vary from month to month, so please check back each month for a new chance to win!

In the comments below, tell me what your favorite recipes of the year were!  I’d love to hear your feedback!

Have an amazing 2015!