The Best Recipes of 2022

What can I say about 2022? That it’s been a year? Because it has, despite the fact that it still sort of feels like 2020. (2020 version 3.0 if you will).

We did a little bit of traveling this year, visiting family in California, and taking a quick fun trip with siblings and friends to Portland, Maine that provided to be a much needed mental reset (I’d really forgotten just how much I love to travel), although the… ahem… souvenirs I brought home (and subsequent 14-day isolation) weren’t quite as pleasant. We’re still not quite ready to head overseas again… Maybe in 2023? We’ll see.

The trend of me sharing fewer, more in-depth recipes in this space continues, with fewer new posts published this year compared to last, about half as many as published in 2018, and a third as many as in 2015. Which seems shocking, although if you compared the sheer number of words written in 2018 vs 2022 my guess is I’ve probably written way more overall (I don’t know a good way to calculate such things otherwise I’d prove my theory). Quality over quantity, right?

Part of the quantity decrease is that I’m apparently no longer capable of posting a recipe with fewer than 3 rounds of testing, 42 photos or 2,000+ words of narration. To be frank, it takes a heck of a long time to publish one recipe, so doing more than one a week is no longer feasible for me as it was once. Even once a week becomes difficult at times. I did take a few more breaks (so if you noticed a few weeks passing without a new recipe, that’s just me giving myself permission to stop pushing myself and take a break. Which is a lot harder then it seems and something I’m still working on for sure.)

Luckily, there’s no shortage of recipes to tide you over, 15 years worth to be exact. That’s over 1,500 recipes that I’ve published, which is quite astonishing actually.

I’ve always said I’d leave my old content and photos as is, because I like having that visual timeline of my progress and growth as a photographer, writer, and recipe developer. But perhaps this sentiment is misplaced. Some of those old recipes are really, really good, and maybe aren’t getting the attention they deserve because of the outdated photos and sparse information. I still haven’t figured out how to reconcile my desire to preserve my old work for posterity’s sake with the need to update old content for SEO and whatnot, though it’s definitely on my to-do list.

I did update a few recipes this year, including the Tequila Watermelon Popsicles and Olive Oil Rice Krispie Treats. Maybe I’ll continue doing more of this in 2023, to bring some of those older recipes back into the spotlight.

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Peppermint Bark Shortbread

Classic shortbread gets a holiday twist with with a drizzle of white and dark chocolate and a flurry of crushed candy cane bits for a festive treat Santa is sure to love!

As far as holiday cookies go, shortbread is a classic for a good reason: it’s ridiculously easy to prepare and delicious to boot. But shortbread combined with peppermint bark (another holiday classic)? That’s one marvelous holiday mashup.

I actually started this recipe last year, but didn’t have time to make it perfect and posted before Christmas. While my concept was solid (combining buttery shortbread cookies with peppermint bark is a stellar combination), the final execution left much to be desired.

My first attempt was downright messy (to say the least).

If you’ve made shortbread before you know that cutting the cookies while warm is absolutely necessary if you want clean cuts, as opposed to a crumbly mess if you try and cut into cooled cookies.

But I wanted to top the cookies with peppermint bark, which meant adding two layers of tempered chocolate to the tops of cooled cookies (cooled so the chocolate would actually set); additionally, the chocolate could not be added to already cut cookies otherwise it’d just flow into the cracks and glue the cut cookies together.

What I ended up with was sure delicious, but uglier than a Christmas sweater, with the shortbread crumbling to bits underneath the layer of snappy chocolate on top when I went to cut it. And I know, taste is the most important thing, obviously, but it wasn’t just about appearances: the crumbly mess-of-a-cookie was equally hard to handle and just not practical, no matter how good it tasted.

At this point it was two days before Christmas and really too late to post any new holiday cookie recipes anyway, let alone re-test this recipe to get it just right, so I jotted down a few notes and stuck a bookmark in my recipe notebook with the intention to revisit this recipe next year.

Fast forward to this December… and we’ve finally brought the execution up to bar with the concept.

In short(bread, lol), it’s all about the drizzle!

Drizzling the chocolate on top of the cookies, rather than spreading on a solid layer, allowed me to cut the cookies while they were still warm, then add the chocolate and candy cane once they’d cooled, solving the execution problem entirely.

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Persimmon Pie

This stunning persimmon pie would be a great alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie for the holidays. It’s smooth and creamy, lightly spiced with flavor notes of honey, pumpkin, and apricot. Serve with a dollop of freshly whipped cream for the perfect bite!

If pumpkin pie is the official pie of Thanksgiving, I’m declaring persimmon pie the official pie of Christmas (because as much as I love cookies, Christmas is sadly lacking in pies.) Pumpkin is so last month… this persimmon pie is it.

What looks like a pumpkin pie, tastes kind of like a pumpkin pie, but definitely isn’t a pumpkin pie?

Persimmon pie! Yes, I said persimmon! The fruit!

If you’ve never had a persimmon before, it’s one of my favorite fall/winter fruits. I’d describe their flavor as sweet and slightly tangy, somewhere between a peach or apricot and a pumpkin, with subtle notes of honey and even caramel that pairs beautifully with fall spices.

The pie itself is laced with seasonal spices, which does fool the brain a bit: upon first bite you may think you’re eating a pumpkin pie (and if I hadn’t told you it wasn’t pumpkin you may never know). Except, it’s not quite pumpkin like you’re used to. Maybe a little bit fruitier, perhaps? Like someone snuck a peach into the can of pumpkin puree (which sounds weird but also kind of wonderful?)

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Glazed Matcha Sugar Cookies

Looking for a unique new cookie recipe to add to your holiday cookie boxes? Look no further than these glazed matcha sugar cookies! With a gorgeous stamped design and a vibrant (natural!) green color, they’re bound to be a new holiday favorite.

There’s no denying my love of all things matcha, and these soft glazed sugar cookies are no exception. They are buttery and soft, with a mild matcha flavor and just a hint of salt, and brushed with a thin sugar glaze that is simply perfection.

This recipe was created in partnership with Matcha.com, high quality Japanese matcha for drinking, baking and more. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Last year I bought a gorgeous set of cookie stamps, and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them. I’ve seen plenty of recipes for stamped gingerbread or chocolate cookies, but I figured I’d take them in a bit more colorful direction.

Enter… matcha.

I think we can all agree that matcha was made for the holidays. It’s one of my favorite ways to give baked goods a natural green hue (no food coloring here), not to mention a delightful green tea flavor.

I much prefer the flavor of matcha to steeped green tea (which can taste rather grassy). Matcha, which is made from whole tea leaves, has a lovely smooth and earthy flavor that works especially well in sweet, buttery baked goods.

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Gingerbread Amaretti Cookies

My favorite soft amaretti cookies with a festive holiday twist! These easy and impressive almond-flavored cookies are a fan-favorite for a reason, and this gingerbread version is sure to be a new holiday favorite.

With a soft and chewy marzipan-like texture, infused with molasses and gingerbread spices, these gingerbread amaretti would make a fabulous addition to your holiday cookie boxes. Even better, they’re made with almond flour so they are naturally gluten-free!

It has been 363 days since I posted my last amaretti cookie recipe (those being the amaretti thumbprints from last December). Considering I posted three different amaretti flavors in 2021 and a four in 2020, that I waited a whole year is really surprising.

Needless to say it seemed to me high time to share a new one, and these gingerbread amaretti seemed like the perfect seasonal flavor!

Tell me though… at what point do I need to re-brand as Love & Amaretti?

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