Another year come and gone. Can you believe it? Honestly I still catch myself thinking it’s 2021, the fact that it’s going to be 2024 in a few days just boggles my mind.
Needless to say, it’s been a delicious year. I published 37 recipes this year, which is a new record… low (lol). I’ve been spending more time testing, developing, and photographing recipes and writing longer, more detailed posts than ever before. The result is ultra-high quality recipes (I really think this year’s are some of my best), but fewer of them. But you know what? I’m ok with that.
I also spent some time this year going back and revisiting some old favorites (like my Olive Oil Rice Crispy Treats, Red Wine Chocolate Cake, and Chocolate Raspberry Jam), a process which involves taking new photographs, expanding on the tips and information in the post, adding process images, and updating the recipes into the new recipe format complete with gram measurements. I’m hoping to continue this in the coming year, and seeing as I’ve got 16 years worth of recipes, there are a lot of really good ones in there that deserve a second chance in the spotlight (if you have any requests, let me know in the comments!)
Anyway. I’ve done a best of post every year for the past 14 years, and want to continue that tradition, if only just because it’s fun to look back and reminisce.
These year-end posts are always fascinating to me, seeing which recipes you all loved the most and how they differed from the ones I was most excited about (although to be honest, I don’t usually post about recipes I’m not excited about.)
(Click through to see which recipe came out on top!)
Your Favorite Posts this Year
These were the top recipes published this year. I’m sensing a theme here in that y’all really like pistachio, lemon, chicken, and chocolate (though not all together, thankfully).
1. Pistachio Sour Cream Cheesecake / 2. Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake / 3. Pistachio Meyer Lemon Mousse Cakes / 4. Creamy Chicken Florentine Pasta / 5. Homemade Pistachio Butter / 6. Blackberry Red Wine Chocolate Cake / 7. Strawberry Meyer Lemon Tart / 8. Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta / 9. Chocolate Orange Streusel Muffins
All-Time Favorites
If we look at all the recipes, not just posted in the past year… the rankings look a little bit different. You’ll notice a lot of the same recipes show up here every year. With the exception of the pistachio cheesecake and lemon loaf cake (new this year) along with last year’s sour cream chocolate cake (last year’s #1 recipe), everything else you probably recognize from last year’s roundup (and the year before that… and the year before that…) The Soy Sauce noodles from 2015 still hold the title of all time favorite, and they’re here again this year.
1. Soft Amaretti Cookies / 2. Strawberry Cake Roll / 3. Crispy Oven-Roasted Broccolini / 4. Sourdough Crackers with Olive Oil & Herbs / 5. Soy Sauce Noodles / 6. Pistachio Sour Cream Cheesecake / 7. Sour Cream Chocolate Cake / 8. Mini Blueberry Mousse Cakes with Mirror Glaze / 9. Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake
Most Popular Month by Month
I thought it’d be interesting to see the most popular post from each month! Interestingly these tend to be new recipes, which often see spikes in traffic when they are first published… interspersed with the Strawberry Cake Roll which pops up regularly in the list of Trending posts (I blame GBBO), at least until the fall when the Soft Amaretti Cookies exploded and there was no stopping it (all aboard the amaretti train!)
January: Strawberry Cake Roll / February: Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake / March: Pistachio Meyer Lemon Mousse Cakes / April: Strawberry Cake Roll / May: Strawberry Meyer Lemon Tart / June: Strawberry Cake Roll / July: Strawberry Cake Roll / August: Pistachio Sour Cream Cheesecake / September: Pistachio Sour Cream Cheesecake / October: Soft Amaretti Cookies / November: Soft Amaretti Cookies / December: Soft Amaretti Cookies
Most Popular on Instagram
I’ve been much less active on Instagram this year, where engagement seems to get lower by the day (which makes me said as I used to love IG). This year’s most liked post saw half as much reach as last year’s, and a fraction of the year’s before that. I may scrap this section eventually if that trend continues. (In other news, who’s on Threads? I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit!)
1. Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies / 2. Strawberry Meyer Lemon Tart / 3. Tart Cherry Fondant Creams / 4. Homemade Sour Strawberry Gummies/ 5. Chocolate Maraschino Layer Cake / 6. Pistachio Meyer Lemon Mousse Cakes / 7. Sour Cream Chocolate Cake / 8. Blackberry Red Wine Chocolate Cake / 9. Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake
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What’s in store for 2024? I honestly cannot say. But here’s hoping for something delicious, at the very least!
Tell me, what new recipes to you want to see (or what old recipes do you want to see updated)? Your opinions matter greatly to me, so I appreciate every last one of you who takes time to share. Seeing folks making my recipes makes all the time and effort worthwhile!
Happy New Year, everyone!
