As 2013 draws to a close, I want to thank everyone who reads my blog and visits my site.
Averie Cooks wouldn’t exist without readers, and I am so very, very thankful and grateful for you. Whether you read my posts in stealth or you leave comments, I am appreciative. Thank you for your pins, tweets, shares, and for your support and loyalty.
It makes my day when I wake up to your comments saying you’ve tried a recipe, you loved it, it made you look like a star among your family, friends, and co-workers, and that you’re head-over-heels with what you made. Thank you for trying my recipes, for buying the ingredients, making it, trusting that it will work, and then coming back to tell me about it. That’s truly the best part of blogging.
Some recipes are more popular than others, and I’m highlighting the 10 most popular according to my Google Analytics’ top landing pages. The first slot is people who land on my homepage without landing on a specific post.
Noteworthy is that many recipes from 2009-2012 were in the top 25, but for this post, I’m only including recipes that were made in 2013. I had to go down to #23, just to get the 10 most popular from this year.
Recipes that were made earlier in the year do have an advantage to gain more popularity, and notably, the majority of the top 10 were made January through March.
1. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies – These are some of my favorite cookies on my blog, and I wish I would have put them in my cookbook, Peanut Butter Comfort, but there’s a similar recipe, minus the chocolate, in the book. I attribute the popularity due to the peanut butter and chocolate combo, the photography, and the tagline on Pinterest, “Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (GF) – The BEST PB Cookies I’ve ever had. There’s NO Flour, NO Butter, and NO White sugar used! Soft, chewy & oozing with dark chocolate. Crazy good!”
2. Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies – The cookies became a Pinterest hit and I think the tagline and melty chocolate did the trick. “Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies – Move over butter. Cream cheese makes these cookies thick & super soft!”
3. Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies – The Pinterest text says it all, “Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies – NO butter, NO white sugar. Made with coconut oil. So soft that they’re bendable!” So true and one of my favorite cookies on my site. I adore these cookies.
4. Skinny Caramel Frappuccino – “Skinny Caramel Frappuccino (GF) – Just like Starbucks except only 50 calories per serving! Sweet, creamy, easy & guilt-free!” I posted this in June and I think the warm weather, and because everyone likes healthier and cheaper alternatives to storebought, contributed to the popularity.
5. Loaded M&M Oreo Cookie Bars – I think the photography helped these bars take off. I loved every picture in the post (almost never happens) and apparently others did too.
6. Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (GF) – I don’t know why these became as popular as they did. They don’t seem that ‘special’ to me, but I make so many cookies, and am a very tough critic. I attribute it to, “Thick & Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (GF) NO butter, NO white sugar, & NO flour used. Soft, moist, rich & boldly chocolaty. Almost like brownies!”
7. Overnight Buttermilk Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls – Better than any other rolls I’ve ever had, including Cinnabon. In general, I think people love cinnamon roll pictures and recipes. They’re soft, fluffy, and pure comfort food. These have a make-ahead/overnight option built in. “Overnight Buttermilk Soft & Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls- The best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had! And no need to get up at 5am to start them!”
8. Soft and Puffy Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Cookies – I believe coconut oil is gaining popularity among mainstream Americans, and this recipe and recipe #3 help validate that point. “Soft & Puffy Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Cookies – Soft, light, puffy, & very peanut buttery. NO Butter & NO White Sugar used!”
9. Nutella-Swirled Peanut Butter Chip Blondies – I made these when I was in Aruba in August and cried after the photo shoot because I thought the pictures just looked like a hot, melted mess. I felt like I just wasted precious vacation time baking, doing dishes, staging, styling, and taking food pictures when all I wanted to be doing was be at the pool with my daughter. I was so close to not posting these, but I literally had no backup recipes, and the thought of re-doing the photos was never going to happen. So I went ahead and posted them, and within a day, I knew I had a hit on my hands. Go figure. “Nutella-Swirled Peanut Butter Chip Blondies – One bowl, no mixer, soft & gooey. Peanut Butter & Nutella is always a win!”
10. Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Crumble Bars – These are some of the my favorite bars on my site. “Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Crumble Bars – Fast, easy & worth every last minute of cardio you’ll need to do. Soft, chewy, rich & gooey!”
It’s interesting that 5 of the 10 most popular recipes include peanut butter. I guess that my cookbook with 100 peanut butter recipes was right on the money.
6 of the 10 include chocolate. Not shocking.
Any tagline in which I say something to the effect of, “NO Butter & NO White Sugar used!” or use “Skinny” tends to get a lot of attention. The downfall is that I get a zillion comments from people telling me that brown sugar is really just white sugar with molasses added. I try to explain that I am not making a health claim, but rather a taste claim; brown sugar has a different taste, but people become highly irate when it comes to sugar claims, so I measured my words a bit more carefully the second half of 2013.
I have my own set of favorite recipes. It’s really hard to narrow them down because I post between 20 and 25 new recipes per month, every month, so that’s closing in on 300 recipes last year.
I really do love all the ones that made the top 10 list, especially Peanut Butter Cookies #1 and #8, the Softbatch Coconut Oil Dark Brown Sugar Cookies, the Nutella Blondies, and, Cinnamon Rolls, and the PB Cup Bars.
But if I close my eyes, and say, quick, what do you love, a few that come to mind as My Favorites of 2013 include:
Chewy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal Bars (No-Bake, Vegan, GF) – Everything I want in a bar. Chewy, gooey, dense, peanut butter, chocolate, fast, easy. I remake this bar, and versions on the theme, all the time on my blog and in my cookbook.
Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Molasses Chocolate Chip Bars – Dense, bold, gingerbread fudge-like. You have to love big, bold, powerful molasses and ginger flavors to enjoy these, along with a love of uber-rich desserts and a penchant for dark chocolate, but if all those things are a yes, you will love these. I love molasses yearround and plan to make these in July.
Blueberry Muffin and Buttermilk Pancakes Cake – “Soft, fluffy & tastes like a big buttermilk pancake that ran into a blueberry muffin on the way to the oven! Easy, one-bowl, no-mixer recipe”. I love this cake base so much that I adapted it for many other cakes, including Peaches and Cream Fluffy Muffin Cake, Peanut Butter-Swirled Strawberry Cake, Cream Cheese-Swirled Cherry and Mixed Berries Cake, and Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Bliss Cake. Rich, fluffy, flavorful, one-bowl, not fussy, and makes a modest 8×8-inch cake.
Another cake/muffin base that served me well is this (vegan) pumpkin base. From it, I made Soft Vegan Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream Frosting
Soft Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Brown Sugar Streusel Crust
and Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins. If you like pumpkin, this base recipe, which just happens to be vegan but you’ll never miss one bit of flavor, is the best base for soft, rich, flavorful muffins, quickbreads, and cakes that I’ve ever tried, and I’ve made a whole lot of pumpkin stuff. I have news in 2014 to let you know about. Stay tuned.
Lofthouse-Style Soft Peanut Butter Chip Sugar Cookies with Peanut Butter Frosting – Just like the real Lofthouse cookies, but with peanut butter! They’re perhaps my favorite cookie on my blog, tied with the others previously mentioned. Soft, light yet dense, extremely satisfying, and one of the best things that’s ever come out of my kitchen. I really wish I had thought of these when I was still writing Peanut Butter Comfort. They are without a doubt cookbook-worthy and would have gone on the cover!
What was one of the best things you made in 2013?
If you made anything from my blog in 2013, I’d love to hear what it was and what you thought of it!
I am one of your stealth readers who occasionally makes an appearance, but let me tell you, I am also so very glad I found your blog!!! I remember the day I stumbled upon your blog! I was searching for something to make for an upcoming work potluck, I was at work browsing for magic cookie bars, and your site’s link popped up and so I clicked it an what did I find? Magic cookie bar cookies ! And a ton of beautiful pictures! I called a few of my co worker friends over to my desk and we all ooohhed and awed over your pictures lol! I made the seven layer magic bar cookies they were incredible and everyone devoured them. That was the start of my daily routine of reading your blog. I have since made countless recipes that all make me very popular and people ask for me to make things again and again! Because of your blog I found cookie butter! I love that stuff now and have made a couple of your recipes using that! One thing I have not yet made is the nut butter, but that is about to change because Santa brought me a very heavy duty food processor for Christmas so I will be venturing into the nut butters very soon! I just appreciate your creative recipes, which are unlike any others out there! I feel like you are a friend and I look forward to reading your blogs every day, so I can tell my husband and friends “Averie says this…. Averie does that” lol! Thank you Averie! Keep on creating, so I can keep on making wonderful recipes!
What a wonderful comment, Julie, thank you! First congrats on your new mack daddy food proc! I can’t wait for you to break it in with the sound of grinding peanuts :) You’re going to love homemade nut butters…wow, you’re in for such a treat!
Thanks for trying so many of my recipes, calling your coworkers over to ooh and ahh, telling your hubs things like well Averie says this, wow, I am just honored! Thank you!! I love stories like this. It really helps inspire me to stay creative and bring new energy to recipes instead of beating up the same played out things. Thank you so much for being a wonderful reader and for your support!
I’m not surprised that those peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies were #1, they look so fantastic!
I bet you could work beer into them somehow! As an aside, I have a beer bread recipe next week and I thought of you the whole time I was making it and taking the pics :) xo
Averie I make some many of your recipes I can’t remember everything from the year! Strawberry coffee cake, blueberry coffee cake, at least 6 different cookies (love the coconut chocolate chip oatmeal ones, I made more so that I have dough balls in the freezer ready!) and of course some blondies!
I read a ton of food blogs, and something I love about you is that you’re always commenting sweet things on almost EVERY SINGLE ONE I read! I think it shows your dedication and thoughtfulness towards now only your recipes and blog, but others.
Have a great new year!
Thank you for trying so many of my recipes Cori and smart girl to plan ahead and make extra and freeze the dough balls (I have a freezer full of dough at all times!) b/c you never know when you’re going to need warm cookies :)
And thanks for noticing that I really try to be a team player. If I didn’t want to interact, I’d just write cookbooks. They’re very isolating and you never hear back from readers or other bloggers; but I don’t find that approach fulfilling, which is why I have my blog too! And I want to interact with the community. What fun is it to just hunker down in your own little bubble, you know! :)
Fabulous list, Averie! You had an amazing year!! Cheers to 2014!
Anna you’ve had an amazing year as well!! xo
Nice statistics :)
It was a great year for you, and this list of luscious treats is proof. Happy 2014!
Thanks for being a longtime reader, Marcie! I appreciate it!
So many amazing recipes… 2014 will be my baking year and I hope I can try them all :) I love how you add some healthy recipes into the mix!
What a list! I love how ooey and gooey everything is! Cheers to 2014, Averie!
Have an awesome 2014 Cassie! Can’t wait to see what you make!
Your blog is seriously my favorite “new discovery” of 2013! You’re also one of my biggest blogging and photography inspirations, with how beautiful your photos are and how detailed your posts are- I love that you take the time to walk readers through the recipe step by step. I can’t believe that you take the time to post detailed recipes nearly every day.
Happy New Year!
Thanks for noticing that I pay close attention to details, from the photography to the step by step info, because I find that is really so important with food blogging. More important to tell stories about what could go wrong or what to look for, than to tell stories about my cat, you know. Everyone’s style is different but glad mine works for you! Thanks for being a loyal reader and commenter, Faith. I always appreciate your thoughtful comments!
And that is why we post so much peanut butter. You rock girl!!!
Since I don’t do much savory or any meat, cheese and chicken are out (two other ‘always get views’ ingredients), so I’m left with PB and chocolate. Not bad things to be left with :)
Sooo much goodness has come out of my kitchen between your blog and cookbook!! Your desserts always look divine–and the recipes I’ve tried taste as good as they look while being quick and easy to make without a big mess to deal with after the fun part is done. I remember making a few things in the morning to take to work–little power balls, the skinny caramel frappuccino, and individual microwave apple crumble. Loved the PB banana upside down cake for my B-day and the marshmallow butterscotch fluffernutter bars. We have also really enjoyed your savory recipes–the breads/rolls, pickled veggies, chutney and cranberry sauce make fairly regular appearances. My husband has a huge weakness for Cheez-It’s so he loved the crackers from your cookbook. It’s ironic that the nutella PB blondies caused you grief because they looked melty–that is exactly why they look so darn good to me (and they are on my bucket list to make). You are incredibly creative in the kitchen–I love seeing what you’ve come up with during my morning coffee!
What a great comment, Paula, and thank you for probably making more of my recipes than anyone else out there (at least that I know of, and only one other lady makes as much that she tells me about). The best part of blogging is sharing what I make and then hoping people try it and seeing if they had the results I did, and if they loved it as much as I did. I love that you try SO MANY things and you definitely have made more recipes from my cookbook than anyone, that’s for sure (that I know about). Thank you! You’re my after-the-fact recipe tester :) Thank you for the compliments about my creativity and for your loyalty and friendship over the years! xoxo
So many delicious recipes rounded up!! Happy New Year Averie :)
What a great year of delicious recipes!! I can say that the #1 recipe is SO beloved in our household… I’ve told you before that my husband requests those ALL the time! Thank you for all that you share in this space, Averie!
So glad that they’re still on rotation and thank you for your loyalty, readership, and friendship over the years, Marie! xo
I just need to say that I very rarely follow anyone else’s recipes, especially for baked goods and super especially for cookies. However, I absolutely trust and love your recipes and don’t mess with a thing! lol. The chewy coconut oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that I made the other day were such a hit with friends that my best friend’s husband cannot stop telling me that those were the best cookies of his entire life. And the peanut butter chocolate chip? OMG. Amazing. I can’t wait to keep trying out your recipes! I really need to look into getting your peanut butter book since peanut butter is my most favorite food (maybe even above chocolate).
Thank you for trying so many of my desserts & cookies and for trusting them blindly. I can totally relate as I never trust anyone’s recipes blindly (even cookbooks) and always have to tinker with something! So I can completely understand how hard it is to just sit back and follow.the.recipe and I really appreciate the leap of faith there! And the cookies – glad they’re the best cookies of that guy’s entire life. Cool! And I hope you pick up the book! $13 bucks and I hope you love it :)
Oh man, so much for trying to get back on the healthy train in January with all these recipes that I need in my face. right.now. I am totally ok with that as these all look incredible girl! Thank you for all the time that you put into this blog, the recipes and the incredibly mouth-watering pictures! Happy New Year!
Thanks for your sweet and heartfelt comments, Taylor! I always appreciate reading them and the time you put into them and not just saying ‘yum’ :) I hope you have a great 2014!! :)
First of all, thank you so much for all the mouthwatering, scrumptious,over-the-top recipes you post (almost daily!!) with such detailed instructions and glamourous photos- it’s plain to see the dedication, hard work and love you pour into each and every post. I firmly believe that discovering Averie Cooks has to be one of my most precious finds of the year. I’ve made countless recipes with fantastic results: Blueberry Yogurt Cake with Lemon Vanilla Glaze, Oatmeal Raisin Rolls, Quintuple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies, Chocolate Chip and Cherry Blondies, Coconut Oatmeal Toffee Cookies, Chocolate PB Cookies, Snickerdoodles- the list is endless! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season and an even more successful year in 2014! YOU ROCK!
“it’s plain to see the dedication, hard work and love you pour into each and every post” <--- thank you for saying that! I do pour my heart and soul out into my blog; it's my work, but it's a very passionate form of work and I am glad that you've discovered my blog and are so happy with what you've been making! Thanks for reminding me you tried the Quint Choc Cookies (they're my fave chocolate cookie ever, but never really became 'popular' so it's nice to hear you say you tried them!), as well as all the others you just listed. Thanks, Siunna! Have a wonderful 2014! :)