2014 Favorite Recipes

After sharing the Top 10 Recipes of 2014, (as chosen by all of you!), I couldn’t resist sharing my own favorite new recipes from this past year. This is one of my favorite posts to compile each year, as I remember the foods that my family loved best of all.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake – This Brown Sugar Pound Cake is not only the best pound cake I’ve ever tasted, it is filled with toffee bits and then drizzled with an irresistible caramel glaze. This cake is perfect for any and every occasion.

How To Make Granola {in the Crock-Pot} – Slow-Cooker Granola is a complete and total game changer. After burning countless batches of granola in the oven over the past few years, I love that I don’t have to pay close attention with this method! This is the easiest granola I have ever made and it is a staple in our kitchen now.

Peaches and Cream French Toast Casserole with Praline Topping – This simple overnight french toast casserole with fresh peaches and a buttery, brown sugar and pecan topping is a guaranteed hit anytime I make it. I plan to make it again just as soon as peaches come back into season.

Frito Pie Huevos Rancheros – From the first crunchy, spicy, gooey, egg soaked bite, I absolutely positively loved this meal. Inspired by an absurd number of food-related late night texts with a couple of friends, (FYI, chatting about food cravings late at night can lead to very unique breakfast plans!) this unusual combination simply can’t be beat.

Better Than Take-Out Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry – This recipe for Chinese beef and broccoli turns out better (and it tastes much more fresh) than any restaurant version I’ve ever tasted. It inspired this Beef and Broccoli Soup that is also one of my favorite new recipes.

Roasted Garlic Quinoa with Mushrooms – If you’ve known me for long, you know that quinoa is not a top ten food for me. Heck, it may not even be a top twenty. However, this quinoa? This quinoa rocks. I made this on a whim early last year, because I had an abundance of roasted garlic in the fridge. I made it for lunch one day, then made it again for a dinner. I’ve been known to finish off the leftovers for breakfast.

Spicy Caramelized Cauliflower – You simply have to try it, in order to understand how crazy good this cauliflower is. This saucy, spicy cauliflower leaves everyone (even the former cauliflower haters!) reaching for just one more bite and we all love it.

Salt Potatoes – These are creamy, buttery, salty potatoes that put every other boiled potato to shame. Salt potatoes are a staple in Upstate New York and I’ve been told that people get a wee little bit crazy about them. When I tell you that these just might be the most perfect bites of potato that I’ve ever tasted, I don’t say that lightly.

BBQ Sundaes – Pulled pork, baked beans, and southern coleslaw are layered together to make these Barbecue Sundaes. The first time I made these, I sighed after the first bite and I didn’t stop taking bites (while standing at the kitchen counter!) until that jar was empty. I’ve made these BBQ Sundaes at least a dozen times over the past few months.

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake – This fantastically moist, perfectly sweet blueberry coffee cake with a hint of lemon, is the best blueberry coffee cake I have ever tasted. I could very happily eat this coffee cake every single morning.