My Favorite Recipe from 2011

I hope everyone is having a great last week of the year. Hubby and I are both off of work until January 3rd. We’re enjoying the week by just relaxing and doing nothing. It’s been great so far. I decided to review some of my favorite recipes from this year.

January:You guys all know that I love cinnamon rolls. I have made plenty of cinnamon rolls over the years. These Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and How to Freeze Cinnamon Rolls are some of my favorites. And I learned a great technique for freezing cinnamon rolls.

February: The Oreo Cupcakes on my blog are seriously one of our favorite recipes ever. When I was asked to bring a cake for a surprise birthday party, I decided to turn those Oreo cupcakes into a Triple Layer Oreo Cake. It’s seriously as decadent and amazing as it looks.

March: In March, I featured a week of cupcakes. I whipped these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes for my friend M’s birthday party. They were such a huge hit that I made them again (in miniature cupcakes) for Cupcake Camp Boston.

April: Not to brag, but these Frito Cupcakes were the talk of Cupcake Camp Boston. The salty-sweet combo and the unique aspect of eating your favorite chip on a cupcake added to the buzz around these cupcakes. They’re ridiculously good. If you ever need a unique dessert recipe, I highly recommend giving these little guys a shot.

May: This New York Style Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce was on my 30-by-30 list and I’m glad I finally hunkered down and tried to make cheesecake again. (My first attempt at cheesecake a couple years ago didn’t go so well). This one turned out beautifully and the blueberry sauce on top was divine.

June: In June, I celebrated by 30th birthday. To honor such a monumental occasion, I whipped up these Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes (aka, Quintuple Chocolate Cupcakes). Definitely a mouthful to describe, but worth the effort.

July: You all know I’m a HUGE Harry Potter fan. While the books are obviously better than the movies, I still really enjoy the movies. The eighth and final movie came out this summer and I made these Harry Potter Cupcakes to celebrate.

August: Cinnamon Rolls again. I know. I warned you, I love them. This time I decided to put a twist on them that Hubby would enjoy after an adventure in blueberry picking. He really enjoyed these Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls.

September: We enjoyed tons of fresh produce over the summer thanks to our CSA. As peach season rolled around, I wanted to whip up some unique dessert bars to enjoy. From that inspiration came these Strawberry Peach Basil Bars. I love mixing basil with desserts. These were great for the end of summertime.

October: In October, I celebrated National Breast Cancer Awareness month by posting only pink foods for the entire month. The Raspberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast were hands down the favorite pink food we ate that month. I could see this recipe working really well with other fruits like blueberries or strawberries.

November: I chose these Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies as part of my monthly Secret Recipe Club participation. They were huge cookies with crunchy edges and chewy centers. They were honestly some of the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten.

December: I made lots of delicious treats in December. But these Candy Cane Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes were my favorites. I had been playing with the idea of turning my Oreo Cupcakes into a chocolate cupcake version. I had the opportunity to do just that and used Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe Joe’s to make them all choco-minty.