Top Recipes Of 2014

Is tonight really New Years Eve? I’m in denial. How could 2014 be over already??

 

2014 has been a big year for Whole and Heavenly Oven….

• I purchased my first DSLR camera and more or less fell in love with food photography.
• This recipe was published in Taste of Home!
• Whole and Heavenly Oven got a HUGE makeover in May.
• I got to work with several amazing brands, including Red Star Yeast, Diamond Nuts, Quaker Oats, Pacific Foods, and KIND Snacks.
• My blog traffic quadrupled in size.

 

As I look back at all these accomplishments, all I can think is that without Y-O-U guys, the readers none of this would be possible! I thank my lucky stars every day for each and every one of you who cook my recipes and take time out of your day to read my little corner of the internet.

I know I’m sappy, but I still get shivers when I get a comment from a reader telling me they made a recipe and adored it. It still instantly puts a smile on my face reading a sweet comment from a fellow blogging friend.

In short, I am so grateful to YOU guys who made this the best year ever. ♥

Let’s get on to the most popular recipes of 2014 shall we? Prepare your tastebuds.

 In transcending order….

10. Creamy White Chicken Chili — My family loves this chili even more than the regular kind—that’s how amazing it is. It’s on our dinner menu pretty often around here!

9. Caramel Pumpkin Spice Lattes — Not too big of a surprise that these lattes were an instant hit on Pinterest climbing up to nearly 3,000 pins in only one day! Did you know that over 20 million PSLs are sold each fall?! I developed this recipe in the hopes that I could have my beloved pumpkin spice lattes year-round. (and also snuck some caramel sauce into the mix) Success!

8. How To Make Perfect Steel-Cut Oatmeal — I posted this simple tutorial last March and almost immediately it took off. It’s super-easy to follow, yet it yields the BEST steel-cut oatmeal you’ll ever taste—try it and see!

7. Grandma’s Cranberry Nut Bread — This is definitely my favorite quick-bread recipe on my blog. My grandma works magic with her cranberry bread and it’s a tradition that she always brings it on Thanksgiving every year—I usually look forward to it all year, but now I don’t have to since she shared her prized recipe with me! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

6. Better-Than-Anything Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup — The title doesn’t lie—this is seriously the best chicken noodle soup I’ve had to date and I guess you folks think so too, because it claims the No.6 spot of the most popular recipes on my blog!

 5. Sweet Potato Turkey Chili — I’ll be honest, I was kinda shocked to see that this chili hit the top 5 recipes on my blog—I wasn’t really loving the photos when I posted it, but it was seriously so amazing I had to share the recipe. I guess you guys knew something I didn’t? This chili is SUPER-popular on the blog, oodles of readers have made it and loved it, and it’s been pinned over 4k times on Pinterest!

4. Overnight Dinner Rolls — These are seriously the BEST dinner rolls out there and were an instant hit with my family— And WIN! They’re overnight too! I posted these rolls around Thanksgiving a few months ago, but I’ve literally made them at least 20 times since then. They’re that fluffy, soft and irresistible. ♥

3. Bakery-Style Double Chocolate Cookies — I have to say I wasn’t too in love with these photos, but these cookies seriously turned out so amazing, I decided to post them anyway. You guys obviously didn’t care, because since then these cookies have been pinned over 6,000 times and numerous readers have told me how amazing they are! Bakery-style…you just could never go wrong. 😉

2. Ultimate Gluten-Free Fudge Brownies — I’m not even sure if you guys can comprehend the awesome-ness level of these brownies…unless you’re one of the tons of people so far who have tried them and loved ’em. And if you haven’t? You kinda need to.

They’re seriously the fudgiest, thickest, chocolate-iest brownies I’ve ever had in my life, and that is coming from a complete-and-total brownie queen. Oh, and you also would never in a bajillion years guess that they’re gluten-free. Hello, Number 2!

….and finally rolling in at #1…

1. Cranberry Eggnog Coffee Cake Muffins — It blows my mind that these muffins are the most popular recipe on my blog. I posted them only a week and half ago, but they’ve already been viewed by over 15,000 readers! You guys clearly know good stuff. Eggnog, cranberries, coffee cake, AND a granola streusel topping all in one gorgeous muffin. Couldn’t be wrong. 🙂

• Most-Pinned Recipe On Pinterest: Death-By-Chocolate Layer Cake — This cake is ALWAYS requested at birthdays around here! It’s been pinned over 15,000 times and so many of you have told me how perfectly moist and fudgy it is.

• Best-Loved Skinny Recipe: Healthy Banana Chocolate Breakfast Cookies — You heard me right: Breakfast cookies with no butter or refined sugar in them! Get on board with this guys. It’s awesome. 🙂

• Favorite Dinner Recipe: Slow-Cooked Sloppy Joes with this Slow-Cooker Beef Stew coming in close second.— You guys really love your crockpots!

• Most-Made-By-Readers Recipe: Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins — Oh, man. The numerous emails and comments I’ve gotten regarding these muffins—have you guys tried them yet?! They’re literally perfection in a muffin. Super-chocolate-y, supremely moist, and you’d never guess there’s green stuff hiding in there!

• Most Famous Recipe: Whole-Wheat Strawberry Shortcakes — This recipe was published in the March/April 2014 issue of Taste of Home! It’s such a fun, healthier twist on strawberry shortcake and hands-down my favorite summer recipe!

 You may be wondering about my personal favorites from this year. Super-hard to choose, but here they are!

Sarah’s Top 5 Favorite Recipes of 2014

 5. Skinny Double-Chocolate Muffins — Seriously, unless you were told, you would NEVER guess that these muffins are skinny! I have literally made these muffins at least 25 times this year.

4. Cheesy Garlic Hasselback Bread — This bread is NOT recommended for those on any kind of a diet. It is entirely possible you will end up eating an entire loaf.

3. Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie — Cheesecake. In the form of a pumpkin pie. Heck yes, you want it.

2. Fluffiest-Ever Buttermilk Pancakes — You won’t need to pick up that pancake mix ever again because now you can make your OWN homemade mix, plus the fluffiest pancakes in the universe along with it! Thank you, I think I will take an entire stack.

1. Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cake — I only posted this recipe a little over a week ago, but it’s easily my most favorite recipe I’ve made all year. It’s super-soft and moist and everything a good ‘ol fashioned classic gingerbread cake should be and more.

(hint, hint, YOU NEED TO TRY IT)

Thanks again for the amazing year, guys! You ‘da best. 😀 Just to show you how much I love ya, be sure to come back tomorrow! I’m starting a new series that you definitely do not want to miss!

See you next year! (sorry, I had to)