Readers’ Favorite Recipes From 2024
The following recipes are YOUR favorites from the year—that is, the most viewed recipes from the ones I made this year. I was excited to see this Gluten Free Pandan Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake on the list. It’s one of my favorites from this year, too!
5 Minute Cream Cheese Frosting For Cinnamon Rolls
This tart and tangy cream cheese frosting for cinnamon rolls comes together in just 5 minutes and tastes like the popular Cinnabon cream cheese frosting!
Gluten Free Pandan Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake
This Vietnamese honeycomb cake (Bánh Bò Nướng) recipe is a bouncy, chewy sponge cake with a unique honeycomb texture and crumb full of bubbles! The cake is gluten and dairy free, and flavored with subtle, not-too-sweet coconut and pandan flavors.
Bouncy Chewy Gluten Free Ube Mochi Cake
This ube mochi cake has a unique flavor and color, as well as a bouncy, chewy texture. It’s 100% gluten free, comes together in just 10 minutes—no stand mixer required!
The Most Popular Hummingbird High Recipes In 2024
Although the previous list shows the most popular recipes I developed in 2024, plenty of older Hummingbird High recipes that I developed and published in previous years remained popular as well. Here were the top three most popular recipes on the site overall this past year:
Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam Recipe
This vanilla sweet cream cold foam recipe is a copycat version of Starbucks’ popular topping! The recipe makes a single serve portion perfect for one coffee.
Snickerdoodle Recipe Without Cream of Tartar
This snickerdoodle recipe makes snickerdoodles that are soft and chewy in the middle, yet crispy and lightly puffed around the edges. The best part? Unlike most traditional snickerdoodle recipes, this recipe does NOT use cream of tartar. The recipe uses baking powder instead! As a result, it’s likely that you already have all the ingredients you need to make these cookies at home!
Lavender Earl Grey Cookies Recipe
Your Favorites on Instagram and TikTok
Although I scaled back on posting on social media this year (did you miss when I announced I went back to school?), I still posted a few recipes that went viral on the app. Here are your favorites—unfortunately, I don’t have a recipe for the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Matcha Neapolitan Cookies (although these 3 Flavor Neapolitan Cookies Made With 1 Dough are very similar). Let me know if you’d like to see an official recipe on Hummingbird High!
You can get the recipe for the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Tiramisu in this Easy Classic Tiramisu Recipe + How To Make Your Own Unique Tiramisu, and of course, this Gluten Free Pandan Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake.
@hummingbirdhigh because i am so incredibly jealous of all the #sakura flavored drinks and desserts at starbucks japan #cherryblossom #tiramisu #baking #bakingrecipe ♬ Beautiful – Soft boy
@hummingbirdhigh this one is for the texture girlies
@hummingbirdhigh 🌸 SAKURA MATCHA NEAPOLITAN COOKIES 🌸 Sorry my pronounciation of sakura sux but at least the cookies are pretty and tasty! #sakura #cherryblossom #cookies ♬ Spring is Coming – Han Seung Wook
My Favorite Recipes of 2024
My favorite recipes of 2024 include this Thai Tea Layer Cake (for Hummingbird High‘s 13th birthday!), these super underrated Super Chewy and Nutty Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies, and my trusty Chocolate Fudge Frosting Recipe In A Food Processor (which also makes an appearance in my cookbook, Weeknight Baking).
Thai Tea Layer Cake with Sweetened Condensed Milk Frosting
This Thai Tea layer cake is made with two layers of Thai tea infused sponge cake, topped with sweetened condensed milk frosting!
Super Chewy and Nutty Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
This rye chocolate chip cookie recipe makes super nutty cookies with perfectly chewy centers and crispy edges! Rye flour in the recipe (and resting the dough overnight) makes the cookies extra chewy and flavorful.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting Recipe In A Food Processor (No Candy Thermometer Required!)
This recipe makes the creamiest, dreamiest chocolate fudge frosting in just 15 minutes in a food processor with ingredients like melted chocolate, butter, milk, and vanilla. It’s perfect for 8- or 9-inch yellow or chocolate layer cakes. The best part? No candy thermometer required!
Other 2024 Highlights
@hummingbirdhigh proof that it’s never too late to start again 👩🏻🎓🤓💻
- I graduated from my master’s program this summer! In case you missed it, I started the process of applying to and attending grad school a couple of years ago. Why? I realized Hummingbird High was no longer fulfilling me creatively and wanted to find something new.
Attending grad school as an older student was tough. Although many of my peers were inclusive and great, I definitely still felt like I was babysitting the worst of them. I also made a lot of sacrifices (like moving away from my husband and home for a year, delaying serious family stuff, putting both my physical and mental health on the back burner) during that time. Prior to my decision, I truly believed in the adage: “you’re never too old [to try something new].” I mean, you’re talking about a girl who started learning how to ski at age 34 (and cried every second of the way doing so, admittedly)!
But this experience, especially in light of some of the sacrifices I’d made, taught me that doing something new can come with some serious costs. I spent the majority of my time wondering if it was worth it. And while the jury’s still out on that decision, I will admit that the experience opened up some new doors…which leads me to my next bullet point.
- Hummingbird High is no longer my full time thing. My graduate degree put me back on a career path similar to the one I’d left seven years ago to pursue Hummingbird High full-time. After graduating, I was thrust into official unemployment and job searching. I spent a lot of time questioning whether I’d done the right thing once again, especially since the industry I hoped to re-enter was facing severe layoffs. Eventually, I made it through one of the grueling interviews and started a new job in December.
In retrospect, things worked out well for me. But it was hard to see it when I was in the middle—for every interview I was invited to, I received the equivalent of 50 in rejections (not including the companies that I never heard back from). There were a lot of lows; for instance, I originally started my search hoping to be in a slightly different discipline than my current job, but ended up pivoting and expanding my search when I saw that discipline was particularly hard hit. But I won’t bore you with the details—I know that’s no longer what food blogs are for.
All of this is to say that, after almost two years of uncertainty and hard work, I’m incredibly grateful and relieved to be where I am today. My new job also cements my plans for Hummingbird High in 2025, affording me the security to think about what I really want this space to be and make the changes I want.
Previous Hummingbird High Year-In-Reviews
Okay, that’s all for now, folks! I’ll see y’all in January. In the meantime, if you’re curious about other popular recipes and highlights from previous years, check out the year-in-review archives:
Have a wonderful New Year!
buy the book
Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
