15 of the most popular recipes in 2016! Delicious cakes, indulgent desserts, scrummy cookies, and amazing cocktails – Giraffes Can Bake had a very tasty year! Here are the 15 recipes you lovely readers loved the most!
2016! What a year! There’s been a lot of ups and downs, but overall it’s been a pretty good year for me. I experimented a lot more with my second love, mixology, and you guys loved it as much as I did – 6 of the most popular recipes this year were cocktails! There will definitely be more to come in 2017, I can’t wait to get mixing! I also learned to bake gluten free, which was a big, and often frustrating, challenge but I mastered it in the end – 5 of the top 15 recipes were gluten free, I’m glad you liked them as much as I did! Let’s take a look at the 15 recipes you loved the most in 2016, in no particular order…
These were the first of gluten free baking successes – and it definitely started my 2016 gluten free baking with a delicious bang! They’re egg free cookie dough, dipped in salted caramel, wrapped in brownie and covered in chocolate! Holy awesomeness batman! I mean you can’t go wrong with these little balls of heaven, especially since they’re so easy to make!
These are a delicious twisted donut – they’re crazy easy to make since they only need one 15 minute rise! And, well, there’s Nutella – what more could you want?! I adapted this recipe from Jhuls at The Not So Creative Cook, and it’s one of my personal favourites of 2016!
I did a summery twist on this classic cocktail, and upped the boozy goodness by using alcoholic ginger beer. It was a real winner, and you guys are loving it too!
Another amazing gluten free recipe, made especially for Thanksgiving 2016 but pretty damn awesome at any time! It has a pecan and walnut crust, with creamy vanilla cheesecake, a bourbon pecan pie topping and bourbon whipped cream! There’s a very good reason this one was so popular!
These amazing cookies are, without a doubt, the favourite recipe of my family and friends. They literally go crazy for them! Peanut butter cookies, topped with gooey caramel and peanuts and a layer of chocolate. They taste just like a Snickers Bar, but so much better! What I love about these is they’re so easy to make and naturally gluten free! You gotta try these ones!
I made these little beauties for my mum on Mother’s Day 2016, but they were a huge hit with you guys too. How could they not me? Delicious orange cupcakes with fresh raspberries baked right into t he middle and topped with a very generous helping of Prosecco Buttercream Frosting – you can’t say no to that cupcake-to-frosting ratio!
One of the best things about 2016 was the return of the amazing Gilmore Girls! I had to celebrate it, and Rory’s cocktail seemed like the perfect tribute! I guess you agreed, because this pink cocktail was a favourite!
It’s no surprise this was so popular, there were three recipes in one! And cocktails you can make in your Vitamix are always gonna be a win! Pomegranate Martinis, Spiced Clementine Bellinis and Grapefruit and Thyme Fizz Mocktails saw Giraffes Can Bake into Christmas, so much yumminess!
Another amazing cocktail that you loved! This was definitely one of my personal favourite cocktails of 2016, it’s so delicious and really refreshing. It’s made with homemade cucumber gin (so easy to make and recipe has all the instructions), fresh mint and champagne or prosecco. A must try!
This gorgeous bundt cake is a favourite among my work colleagues, with strawberry cheesecake bakes throughout the delicious strawberry yogurt bundt, how could it not be a favourite with you guys too?
Another one of my favourite cocktails of 2016! It has three of my favourite fall flavours, plus tequila – it’s just amazing! That fresh fig taste in a cocktail will blow you away. It’s so pretty to look at too, don’t you think?
I celebrated Pumpkin Month, I mean October, with a cocktail naturally! Baileys’ new Pumpkin Spice flavour was so good, I had to create something with it. And this cocktail turned out so delicious, it was like a boozy Pumpkin Spice Latte – no wonder it was popular with you guys too!
Dessert shots are so much fun, there will definitely be more coming your way in 2017 – especially with those super cute jars! Eton Mess is always a winner, it’s so easy and if you buy ready-made meringue there’s no need to turn on the oven, making it the perfect summer dessert.
These were another naturally gluten free bake, with so much peanut buttery goodness! The “crust” is actually a baked peanut butter cookie base, topped with creamy peanut butter cheesecake and a layer of rich chocolate ganache. A real winner!
Last, but most certainly not least, was this incredible bundt cake. This was actually a re-do of an amazing cake I made in 2014, I redid the photos and gave it a gluten free make over! With that thick caramel and pecan goodness, this was always going to be a favourite of yours and mine!
So there we have it, Giraffes Can Bake’s 2016 winners in a nutshell! This year we lost a lot of amazing legends and icons, and we made some *ahem* questionable political choices, but it sure was a delicious year! I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see what tastiness 2017 brings, I already have loads of ideas brewing!
What was your favourite Giraffes Can Bake recipe of 2016? Which ones did you try?
And, is there anything you’d like to see on the blog in 2017?
I hope you had an amazing 2016, and have an even better 2017! Happy New Year!
I’m a new reader, so haven’t tried any recipes yet. But those mini Eton Mess shots look fantastic! I love mini desserts – you should definitely make some more in 2017!
Happy New Year 🙂
Thank you Charlotte! And welcome!
I will definitely making more mini dessert shots, they’re too cute not to!!