And the people have spoken with their clicks.
These are the ten most viewed posts on my site in 2012:
10. 15 Recipes Using Cake Mix (and none of them actually make a cake)
9. Homemade Thin Mints (no-bake, vegan)
8. Old-Fashioned Butter Mints (no-bake, gluten-free)
7. No-Bake Vanilla Cake Batter Chocolate Truffles
6. Avocado Cream Cheese and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastry (vegan)
5. Homemade Peanut Butter (vegan, gluten-free) – Make in minutes
4. Pumpkin Spice Latte (vegan, gluten-free)
3. Peanut Butter Cocoa Krispies Smores Bars
2. Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (no-bake, vegan, gluten-free)
And the most popular recipe is…
1. Orange Pushup Smoothie (gluten-free with vegan option)
In general I’m not that surprised per se, but the findings are interesting.
Some of the food wasn’t made in 2012 but continues to make the top ten list annually. For example, the Cookie Dough balls were made in 2009 and each year they continue to be in the top ten; as does the Pumpkin Spice Latte and No-Bake Cake Batter Truffles, both of which were created in 2011.
If given more time, I think the Old-Fashioned Butter Mints and Thin Mints could have surpassed other recipes and ranked even higher, but I didn’t make them until June and July 2012, respectively. I suspect they’ll do well in 2013.
It’s also interesting that two recipes with mint made the top ten and #11 was Triple Layer Fudgy Mint Oreo Brownies
Two beverages made the list and the beverage that took the top spot was an afterthought of a post. I had just returned from Aruba early last January, was swamped, didn’t have time to actually bake something, but needed to make something. So I made a citrus-ey, summery smoothie. In early January. Clearly, I still had Aruba on my mind, but apparently the timing worked.
Things that can be made in a blender or food processor are popular from Peanut Butter to Smoothies to Cookie Dough.
No-Bake is always popular and all but three items on this list are no-bake. The Smores Bars are technically baked, but barely. The Avocado Puff Pastry although it requires baking, it’s more of an assemble-and-bake rather than a baked-from-scratch recipe. The other baked post is the Cake Mix Recipes post.
Cake mix and things that taste like cake batter are always popular. No matter what people say about cake mix and claiming to want to shun it, they click on it. From my 15 Recipes Using Cake Mix post to the No-Bake Vanilla Cake Batter Truffles, cake mix has been around for generations because it’s easy, it works, and it gets the clicks.
Chocolate is present in five of the ten recipes, not surprising. Peanut butter turned up twice; three times if you count the 15 Cake Mix Recipes post.
There’s only one savory recipe that made the list, the Avocado Puff Pastry. Savory or ‘healthy’ recipes never get the clicks that the sweeter recipes get. My vegetable-based recipes, family-friendly casseroles, dinner options, and savory food only ever get a fraction of the clicks on both my site or on the food sites that my desserts or sweeter options generate.
As I look at this list, I feel like many of these recipes are a little underwhelming. They’re not complicated, they’re not involved, I don’t know if they’re ‘classics’ that people will make over and over for generations to come, but they’re what the people wanted in 2012.
It’s a reminder to me that in 2013 I shouldn’t necessarily try to reinvent the wheel with multi-step recipes or things that are too involved. When it comes right down to it, easy, simple, straightforward, and on the sweeter side seems to be what you want.
Thanks for the Elegant Food Gift Box Giveaway Entries
Are you surprised with the results?
Any recipes you’d like to see more of in 2013?
What did you make in 2012 that was memorable?
I tried to get to the pumpkin spice latte recipe you link to, but I think the link may be wrong – there are two urls in the link. Can you please let me know what the correct link is?
Fixed! Thanks for LMK it was broken – fixed now!
Thank you!! I can’t wait to try it!
Well selfishly I’d love to see anything gluten-free. But your pictures continue to be amazing, even if I can’t eat the food! Happy New Year’s Eve!
Happy New Years, Amber! My recipe tomorrow is actually GF :)
Since I haven’t been following you for years, it’s fun to see some of your older recipes. Thinking back, I’m pretty sure I discovered your blog from your avocado and cream pastries on Pinterest. That smoothie must get made this week. I have an overwhelming amount of citrus and a brand new Blendtec. Match made in heaven….
Also, you can’t go wrong with thin mints! You did such a fabulous job with that one. Can’t wait to see what you do next year. I’m sure you’ll continue to blow us all away!
That’s funny that you think you discovered me via the avocado puff pastry recipe! And thanks for all your comments & have a happy new year!
My oh my! I can see why! What a great collection. Happy New Year Averie!
Man, oh man, this is a sweet roundup! Those avocado and cream cheese pastries have always been one of my faves of yours, along with your peanut butter, so I’m really not surprised that they’re so popular! And the cake mix recipes… drool and swoon and drool some more…
more vegan and raw recipes in 2013. thanks for all the posts
I’m not surprised with the results–everything you make looks insanely delicious and the photographs are gorgeous! I see your pictures on Pinterest all of the time, including the smoothie–so I’m not shocked it made the list! :) Happy New Year, Averie! Here’s hoping 2013 is your year!!
Here’s hoping 2013 is your year, too! And thanks for not only seeing my stuff on Pinterest but thanks for the stuff of mine you pin, too :)
Happy New Year :) You rock my socks off!!! xoxo- K
Right back at ya!
I could truly go for that orange push up smoothie right now! Yum! It is quite tasty looking. Happy New Year!
Even though it’s chilly out, something about that smoothie seems to be season-less for me too :)
I always think it is interesting to share what the “viewers” click on the most…you sure had a lot of recipes that I pinned and pinned…thin mints that one is so easy and so good. I want to make the butter mints…now that orange smoothie that would be perfect to help wake me up this Monday morning. What I am surprised about is no bread and that sure has been a favorite of mine…I just love reading what you write about the recipe and the process…I haven’t made yeast bread yet but I sure love oogling over your photos! and actually I made your banana bread recipe last night does that count for “bread” aka no yeast…LOL
People I think are a bit intimidated by bread and it doesn’t seem to make the cut like other recipes do – it’s the easier, realllllllly simple stuff that seems to make the list. I am so glad to hear you like reading about the recipe and process and that you just made banana bread last nite! I wish I was sharing a piece with you!
Wow, I can see why these were the most clicked! My most favorite has to be the Avocado Cream Cheese and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastry – I have some leftover puff pastry lingering around in the freezer so you know I’ll be making this soon!
A lot of vegan stuff here! The vegans must love you =) I still want to try those Thin Mint thingies too.
You know I love this kind of analysis and could talk/write for hours about what it really means or says about people. Bottom line, I think, is that people want to look at beautifully styled and decadent desserts, so those get the hits, but they don’t want to make them. The easy, straightforward, no-bake, etc – those will get the hits too, from those who are actually reading the recipe. So this top ten list really isn’t that surprising. A nice mix.
That the bread isn’t on there isn’t shocking eeither. As much as people love fresh bread, it is so readily available, and there is such a stigma around it that people probably just don’t want to be bothered.
Personally, I’ve made a lot of your recipes, or used a lot of them as “jumping off” points, and most of them fall into the easy, no-bake desserts (the cookie dough balls, the butterfinger bars, the creme de menthe bars, and I just made the browned butter RK bars) or the savory recipes. I love all the dips and spreads and soups and casseroles. That’s 90% of what I eat anyway.
I guess I did write a lot. :D
OK…here goes! My top 5 of yours:
1) White Chocolate Marshmallow Cake Bars
2) Fudgy Nutella Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
3) Baked Vanilla Donuts with Vanilla Glaze
4) Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache
5) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Marshmallow Stuffed Rice Krispie Bars
Honorable mentions:
1) Coconut Spice Cheesecake Bars
2) Peanut Butter & Jelly Thumbprint Cookies
Good grief, who am I kidding? I could go on and on! I love your honey dinner rolls, all of your donuts, your banana breads and your maple oaties that I seriously have made over 15 times. Not even kidding!
I love your blog and I say, more of the same! I will keep reading every day! Always look forward to your posts! :-)
And thank you for your daily readership (and friendship!) and that you’ve made more of my stuff than anyone – you and one other lady, hands down, are my #1 tried-and-true and actually make it readers. I bet you’ve made over 50 DIFFERENT recipes of mine, and some …many, many times. You’ve made the oaties now more than me. Ha!
Coconut PB Magic Cake Bars – those make the cut for me too, in addition to both of your #1’s. Variations on a theme.
And yes the brownies and the pumpkin bundt are total keepers. I mean, yes, without a doubt in my own personal top 10 on my whole site, ever, recipes.