Favorites from 2007

 I enjoyed every single recipe that I posted about this year, whether it was fun to make, fun to eat or – in the majority of cases – both. There were 151 new ones in total. But some were more popular than others, both with myself and with my testers. These are the recipes that I got multiple requests for from friends and family and made over and over this past year, as well as some of the ones that were huge hits with readers.

• Hands down, the most popular recipe of the year was Car-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies (and possibly ice cream) are the only reasons to hope for a really, really hot day in summer.
• Chocolate Pumpkin Pie was a holiday staple. I can’t count how many pies I made on request for parties and no one ever seemed to get tired of them.
• Peppermint Cookies n’ Cream Brownies were inhaled every time I made a batch – quite the feat, considering how rich they were.
• My personal favorite cupcakes this year were Vampire Cupcakes. They looked amazing and tasted even better. Too bad Halloween only comes once a year.
• Another fun cupcake was the Giant Hostess Cupcake that I made as a birthday cake. Size-wise, it was equivalent to almost 3-dozen normal cupcakes.
• The ‘funfetti’ cake, a mix cake dotted with confetti-like sprinkles, was reborn as the very colorful Confetti Cupcakes.
• S’more Cookie Bars are the perfect after school snack, even for grownups (especially for grownups) and unlike real s’mores, don’t require a campfire.
• Quick breads don’t always compare to yeast breads in flavor, but this Apricot Beer Breadwas super-flavorful and very addictive.
• Homemade English Muffins, followed closely by homemade bagels, were probably the biggest hit yeast-bread wise, largely because lots of people didn’t know it was possible to make them at home!
• How many twists can you put on a plain sugar cookie? Chai spicing kicked up Chai Snickerdoodles, reinventing a classic.
• Red Velvet Cake Sandwich Cookies, also known as whoopie pies, were fun to make all the way back in February. Definitely a great treat for any Valentine.
• Everyone loves Maltesers, the Aus/UK/Canada version of malted chocolate balls that is far and away better than the US’s Whoppers. I set aside a whole bag to make Malteser Cookies and it was worth every bite.
•  Butter Tarts are a Canadian favorite that isn’t well-known outside of Canada. It’s hard to see how they’ve been kept up north, considering how addictive the buttery, sugary tarts are.
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Muffins were also a hit, as an easy-to-make recipe that contained flavors you don’t find as frequently in muffins as you do in candy.