My Top Ten Recipes of 2023

I made a lot of delicious food in 2023 and I didn't want to continue on without showcasing my Top Ten Favorite Recipes of 2023! The recipes below are in order of my top favorites, starting with my most favorite of all! If you click on the recipe title you will be directed back to the original post and recipe!

How Sweet Eats Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza I am obsessed with this puff pastry pizza! I highly encourage everyone to go over to the How Sweet Eats blog and search all the options for puff pastry pizza! This is a great way to get something quick and delicious on the dinner table during the week! All you need to do is set out the puff pastry the morning of, then come home and spread the pastry out, top it, and bake it in the oven. It is a crispy flaky delight and you can do pretty much any toppings you'd like. My family loved this pepperoni pizza option best, but I liked How Sweet Eats Zucchini, Lemon, and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Pizza best of all because it's light and fresh and zingy. I ate it on repeat all summer long! Other puff pastry pizza options are Pesto Caprese, Pickle Lovers', and Bacon, Sage, and Pumpkin. Check them out if you need a quick delicious weeknight recipe that everyone will love!

Ina Garten's Spicy Pimento Cheese Dip  Look, there are three recipes I made on repeat in my kitchen and this recipe is one of them. Ina's Spicy Pimento Cheese Dip is THE ONLY DIP recipe you need. I made this so many times, in fact I made it anytime we went anywhere. It is insanely delicious. The first time I made this I made half a batch and I quickly learned never to do that again. We are whole batch people for this recipe. You eat it on crackers and celery and really anything else. You will be slathering it on everything from baked potatoes to burgers to grilled cheese to any sandwich, soft pretzels, even a breakfast sandwich. I took it to the 4th of July party and it was the first thing gone within a half hour. Make this and put it on everything. It is the perfect hint of spicy, without being too spicy and it just goes with everything. People go nuts over it!

Mark Bittman's Sichaun-Style Cucumber Salad The second thing I made on repeat all summer long was Mark Bittman's Sichaun-Style Cucumber Salad. My friend Linda kept growing the most delicious cucumbers and bringing them to me left and right. I made this refreshingly delicious and flavorful cucumber salad several times a week and ate the whole bowl myself. It was so zesty and zingy and just popped with flavor. I craved it on repeat and took it with me to every family gathering where it was a big hit! 

Donna Hay's Smoky Halloumi and Couscous Salad I must have ate this salad at least once a week all throughout the summer! I love halloumi cheese and having it on a salad gives you a good excuse to eat it and call it healthy. Coat the cheese in some herbs and fry it in a pan until it gets all squeaky and chewy. Serve that over pearl couscous that pops in the mouth with some fresh spinach and tomatoes and a smoky paprika dressing...it's heaven!

Ina Garten's Hot Dogs In Puff Pastry  Poor Ina got a lot of flack on social media about adding a recipe for hot dogs in her cookbook. I'm not sure why because I think most people do love them and they're definitely family friendly. Plus, Ina has said over and over again that she loves to mix high end ingredients like puff pastry with low end ingredients like hot dogs. And listen, when Ina creates a recipe for hot dogs you make it because she is pretty much the Queen of recipes and let me tell you...this recipe is so good! Just buy enough to double the recipe because your family will inhale these. We especially loved these with a little sprinkle of the Everything But the Bagel seasoning on top and then we loved to dunk them in a mixture of mayo and mustard. You could even make these and cut them into minis for a party. They are so savory and juicy and delicious!

Half-Baked Harvest's Creamy Roasted Cherry Tomato Ricotta Pasta I had my eye on this pasta recipe for awhile and over the summer I grew the most delicious cherry tomatoes and I paired them with a fresh basket ricotta from the Murray's cheese department of my Kroger store. If you haven't tried the fresh basket ricotta then you should! The cherry tomatoes roast in the oven with herbs and garlic and then get mixed with the fresh ricotta, Parmesan, and butter before getting mixed into the pasta. It is so creamy and dreamy and flavorful. It was my favorite pasta dish of the year, a creamy garden fresh explosion of flavor.

Ina Garten's Blueberry Breakfast Ricotta CakeI've made a lot of cakes in my day, but none like Ina's Blueberry Breakfast Ricotta Cake. I can honestly declare it THE BEST CAKE I've ever made. It is utter perfection. In fact, I follow the Barefoot Contessa Fan Page on Facebook and this cake cycled on repeat on that page as person after person made it, shared it, and declared it amazing. The crumb is so tender and moist and ratio of blueberries to cake batter is just right. There is a hint of lemon and it is just oh so good served warm. If you find yourself in need of a cake for any reason just do yourself a favor and make this one.

Ruth Reichl's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies If you're a big oatmeal chocolate chip cookie fan, then Ruth Reichl's recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies is for you. Oatmeal chocolate chip is probably my all-time favorite cookie and I think this recipe is the best, hands down. Ruth calls for a lot of oatmeal, making these cookies thick and chewy and more substantial than a regular old oatmeal cookie. These babies are thick! You can use chocolate chips in this recipe, but I prefer chocolate chunks so I buy bars of Ghiradelli chocolate and cut them into big chunks. Give them a try!

Tessa Kiros' Milky Way Ice Cream Sundae This was my husband's favorite dessert of the year and I can see why. Not only is this dessert delicious, but it's so easy a kid could do it. All you need is three ingredients: milky war bars, cream, and vanilla cream. You simply cut up the milky way bars and throw them in a pan, add some cream and melt. The milky way bars melt down with the cream to create a thick fudge-like sauce that is delicious poured over vanilla ice cream. Buy some extra milky war bars to cut and garnish on top of the sundae and you have a big hit for the whole family!

Ina Garten's Baked Sweet Potato Fries with the Best Sweet Potato Fry Dipping Sauce I crave these thick wedges of sweet potato fries dunked in the creamiest sweet potato fry dipping sauce. In fact, I could eat them daily and never tire of them. Ina's sweet potato fries are cut into thick wedges and coated in olive oil, brown sugar, salt and pepper then baked in the oven. I like these better cooked in the air fryer, but either way works. What makes the fries so delicious is the sweet potato fry dipping sauce made from mayo, Sriracha, and smoked paprika. It is so savory, and creamy, and spicy, and addictive. I literally cannot stop eating them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January Potluck @ I Heart Cooking Clubs

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