15 Recipes Readers Are Relying On Right Now
A quick recap of the recipes readers have been making the most over the last month while everyone is spending more time at home with limited access to regular groceries.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month now since most of us have been self-quarantining, self-isolating, sheltering place, and whatever else you want to call it. How is everyone doing food-wise?
I’ve gathered up all of the recipes on the site that have been getting an enormous amount of usage over the last month. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of BREAD BAKING going on! There are other types of recipes on this list, and perhaps you’ll find a new one that you’ll want to tackle while spending time at home.
Don’t forget to share some of your favorite recipes in the comments below!
1. My Favorite White Bread Recipe – Hundreds of thousands of you have made this bread over the last month, confirming how unbelievably easy it is and how perfectly it turns out each and every time.
2. Ciabatta Bread – Lots of folks are experimenting with this delicious Italian bread, as well.
3. Classic Burger Sauce – The absolute best burger sauce, which goes magnificently with my cast iron skillet cheeseburgers.
4. Italian Bread – If you’re looking for a classic, bakery-style Italian bread with a crusty exterior and soft and chewy crumb, this recipe is absolute perfection.
5. Grandma’s Banana Nut Bread – If you overbought on bananas and want to whip up a classic, old-fashioned banana bread, you’ll love this. If you want to kick things up a notch, try my peanut butter-banana bread with chocolate chips.
6. Fluffy and Crisp Buttermilk Waffles – We just made them last week and now that every day feels like a weekend, no excuses to put these off another day!
7. Garlic-Herb & Parmesan Roasted Red Potatoes – My all-time favorite roasted potato recipe; they’re loaded with flavor and are buttery crisp.
8. Homemade Soft Pretzels – The boys and I made a batch of these during our first week of quarantine and it looks like many of you have tackled them, as well. They’re so good!
9. The Best Meat Sauce – My father-in-law’s legendary meat sauce is a must for keeping in the freezer, quarantine or no quarantine. Sub out the meat mixture with whatever is available or you can omit it totally.
10. Wacky Cake – This recipe hails from World War II and was popular because it requires no eggs, milk, or butter… and here we are. Crazy times! This is a delicious chocolate cake and I top it with a simple vanilla buttercream.
11. Copycat Krispy Kreme Doughnuts – Another great baking bucket list item to cross off the list. If you can’t get to your usual doughnut spot, whip up a batch at home!
12. Authentic Beef Enchiladas – If you’re craving Mexican comfort food, look no further than this recipe. So many robust flavors.
13. The Best Old-Fashioned Sticky Buns Recipe – Yesss make it a weekend morning any day of the week; these are so caramel-y and sticky and delicious.
14. Apple Turnovers From Scratch – Easier than you’d think to make, so grab a few extra apples and get baking!
15. Better Than “Anything” Cake – Hands down, my all-time favorite dessert to make with a box cake mix. If you have one in your pantry, treat yourself to this delicious cake.
A quick request! >> I would LOVE if you would share the recipes you’ve been making and enjoying during these crazy times in the comments below, xo
Yes! My daughter used your white bread recipe to bake bread for her FACS (aka Home Ec) class during our first week of Distance Learning. Thank you for all the incredible recipes you share!!
I’ve been baking & cooking a variety of greats from BEB:
1) Flourless Chocolate Cake (rich and fudgy Deliciousness!)
2) **Brownie Cake with Cookie Butter Frosting (Put the spoon down from the Biscoff jar!) my family said this was the best dessert yet.
3) Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies (according to my husband they’re the best he ever tasted!)
4) Better than Box Mix Brownies – yummy & easy.
5) Chocolate Mint Brownies – I made these for St Patrick’s Day. The recipe bakes a huge portion so I froze some for dessert later this month. So yummy with all the delicious favors of dark espresso chocolate brownie to the creamy mint to the cream de cacao ganache! Heaven in every bite. These brownies make you want it to be St Patrick’s Day every 2 months!
6) No Bake Mint Chocolate Chip Pie
This was another recipe motivated by St Patrick’s Day. Creamy deliciousness. How can you go wrong with Andes Candies?
7) Shepard’s Pie: I prepared this en lieu of corn beef and cabbage for St Patrick’s dinner. I had to use shaved steak instead of hamburger or lamb as the grocery store was depleted of a lot of meat choices. I used “The Best Mashed Potatoes “ recipe suggested as well. It was hard for me not to eat the mashed potatoes before I put them on top of the Shepard’s Pie! I will only make mashed potatoes like that for the rest of my life! The Shepard’s Pie was yummy too.
8) Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs: outstanding tender and flavorful meat. The house smells great. The dog even participated and gnawed on the rib bones.
I enjoy seeing your posts and have tried several recipes. Yum! Thank you for sharing the pics of your kids Easter.
I have not poured through your recipe list, but wonder if you have a quick and easy whole wheat bread recipe that is as yummy as your white bread recipe.
My husband loves this chocolate pudding so we have it at least once a week. Its easy to make and is great with home made whipped cream as a special treat.
Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tbsp. baking cocoa, 1/4 c. cornstarch and 1/8th tsp salt into a saucepan. Stir in 2 3/4 c. milk and cook over medium heat and stir until it boils, becomes thick and coats a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tbsp butter and 1 tsp vanilla until all the butter is melted. Then pour into four serving dishes.
You won’t ever buy pudding mix again. This is very yum!
The fluffy waffle recipe has become a favorite in our house!! We experiment with adding sprinkles or chocolate chips but they’re delicious plain too!
I’ve been craving cinnamon rolls. I put them on my Instacart list from ALDI but they were out of stock. So for breakfast I took a package of crescent rolls (expiration date 12/20/19 – oops) & pressed them out on a floured cutting board, sealing all of the seams. I melted 2 T. butter & spread most of it over the dough, then sprinkled cinnamon/sugar mixture over. I rolled the short side up & cut into 6 slices. The remaining butter went into a 7″ round baking pan with 2 T. brown sugar. I put the rolls, cut side up on top of brown sugar/butter mixture. I baked them in my air fryer at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes. Could bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 20 – 25 minutes. Craving abated!
Love that you admitted the expiration date. Bright spot today reading this, made me smile😊
I’ve made your Homemade Crescent Rolls twice recently. They are totally awesome. So easy, so tasty! I could become a bread addict! Thank you!!!
I just made your chocolate chess pie for Easter this last weekend, it’s one of our family favorites! I forgot how easy the filling was to make! I can’t wait to try your Wacky cake recipe next!
Thank you for asking! In the past five weeks I have cooked your recipe for Cincinnati Chili twice. This is an unusual recipe for me, because I had never heard of it before reading your recipe, and – it is SO EASY! There aren’t many ground beef recipes that don’t require browning first. With this one, just assemble ingredients, everything goes in the pot, and then it simmers! Love it!!
Made your “Easy Bolognese Sauce” last week with some penne pasta. Hit the spot on comfort and I love how it is so flavorful in such a short amount of time!
I was sooo craving chocolate for more than a week but I am trying not to put the 15 lbs I recently lost back on during this stay at home time. I decided to cut the wacky cake recipe in half…so easy to do. I baked it in three 6oz ramakins…perfect size. I made a simple chocolate ganache and added a few sprinkles …just because sprinkles are joyful. I gave two to my dear neighbors and kept one for myself. It was exactly what I needed to satisfy the craving and now I know I have a small batch version as a go to if another chocolate craving happens.
Not baking much right now due to having to telework from home but I will definitely be trying some of these to take to work in the future. Thanks so much for your recipes.
I have an easy one for you to try. Make your favorite meatballs and for the sauce use a jar of Ragu Cheddar cheese sauce and a package of Brown Gravy mix made by package directions mix those two together and add meatballs. This is our favorite meatball recipe. Let me know what you think or share with your followers and I will know that you like it. You can just use ground meet also and serve over rice or noodles.
Yum, these meatballs sound like something my Dad would like. I buy the frozen Italian beef meatballs at Costco. They are so quick and versatile and so good. Better than my homemade ones actually. I’ll have to give this sauce idea a try. Thanks for sharing..
Yesterday I made 2 loaves of your favorite white bread. So easy and perfectly wonderful! Thanks for all your recipes. You are my go-to blog for reliable recipes. ♥️
I have been cooking almost every night and baked a few batches of chocolate chip cookies, and apple cinnamon muffins.
This week I made chili, chicken enchiladas, and flatbread pizza. I have been trying to only go to grocery store every two weeks, stocking up on items with a long shelf life. Looking forward to warmer weather so we can fire up that grill! Yeah, in Chicago we woke to snow this morning…
We’ve made banana muffins weekly, orange cookies, grapefruit cookies, brownies, a cheesecake, a fruit tart, Dutch babies, and have been cooking dinner every night. I was on maternity leave when everything really shut down so that has been extended indefinitely (my workplace is shut with no telework option until further notice) and hubby is still on paternity leave, so we are just making the most of the situation.
I love, love, love your Peanut Butter Lover Monster Cookies. I almost always share the cookies I make. Not these! They are nearly the perfect cookie.
Thank you for posting this round up of baking ideas for us. My son made his second successful loaf of your favorite white bread. It looks intimidating, but it is easy to make and turns out so generously! He’s made a chocolate banana chip loaf for himself, while I made a pear bread for myself. I’m looking for a gluten free / dairy free bread recipe that looks edible, but have found nothing I like, so I’ll keep searching.
My Mom has been in a baking frenzy also, and giving baked goods away, including pizza. She’s 86 and keeping very busy! We’re all doing our best. Now if only there was bread flour to be found we would try some artisan breads next.
Check out cooknourishbliss.com. She posts a lot of vegan, dairy free, etc recipes. I haven’t tried a lot of what she posts as I don’t have food allergies to bake for on a regular basis, but what I have made is always delicious!
I would add chili.
And chicken noodle soup.
I made the soft pretzels for a snack during Holy Week. I made scalloped potatoes to go with ham last night. Both turned out delicious! Next time I will cut the potato recipe in half if just making for my family of 5.
I tried your buttermilk waffles the other week, & my whole family loved them, so we’ve been making that a few times. And definitely the meat sauce, our favorite ever! Funny you mention the roasted potatoes, bc I have small red potatoes & was also going to do that this week. Have made them before & love them.
Oh-today will be trying your Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie, looks delicious!
I’ve made the meatloaf twice as well as the peanut butter banana bread. I was behind on the bake along so I finally tackled the focaccia and the Danishes. I feel like I’ve had your websitr pulled up for the entire quarantine. It’s the best! Thanks for all the yummy recipes.
We make your Chipotle chicken ALL THE TIME! (We live in Florida!)
I mix up a double batch of the marinade, then buy a big pack of chicken thighs and make half right away and freeze the other half. We love it! Stay safe!
Thank you for this! How thoughtful, and very helpful. God bless you!
I’m slightly afraid to bake to terribly much as I haven’t seen flour where I live in almost 3 weeks. But I made regular banana bread and your peanut butter banana bread today – the bananas were ready! Plus, that’s breakfast! And I really want to try your wacky cake recipe. I also did a half batch of chocolate chip cookies because my husband requested them. I have two bags of flour in my cupboard right now – if I don’t bake much, then I’ll be fine! But I’m definitely keeping a lookout for flour because I love baking! When this all started, I made 4 loaves of potato bread – I had the mashed potatoes and was trying not to waste food. It was really good bread actually! In one batch, I put raisins and then used that to make cinnamon sugar toast – that was really good! I was hoping to make it raisin bread but it wasn’t quite sun maid quality. But then I started having trouble finding flour so….. It’s also just two in my household, and I usually share what I’ve baked with coworkers – not that that’s a possibility right now!
As much as I love baking, I’m enjoying seeing all the recipes and I’m spending my time with my crafts, sewing and knitting so far. And I’m crossing my fingers I can find flour again – I might try making sourdough again and I stumbled across my recipe for Amish friendship bread when I was thumbing through looking for your peanut butter banana bread recipe.
Not sure what state you are in, but oddly I just found flour being sold at the Vitamin Shoppe. They deliver for free on orders over 25.00. Good brand of unbleached flour too.
My husband was very happy when I baked him a batch of tour hot cross buns on the weekend.