Another year has come and (almost) gone, and I think we can all agree that it was a doozy! Many of us spent more time at home than ever, and that means that a lot of people (and I mean a lot) discovered the pleasure of baking. Or at the very least, they baked something, and sometimes that something was one of my recipes. *pandemic hair flip*
In that vein, this is the annual top ten most popular recipes from E2 Bakes. Many of these recipes have appeared on past lists, and I’m sure some of these will make the cut next year. Please note that, for the first time, none of the recipes on this year’s list were actually published this year. 2020 just happens to be when they hit their stride. The internet works in mysterious ways.
10) Polenta Breakfast Bake {Gluten-Free}
Everybody loves a special breakfast, and for me, this Polenta Breakfast Bake is about as special as it gets. This is a gluten-free spin on my mom’s go-to Christmas brunch offering. Cheesy, filling and endlessly adaptable—take my recipe and make it vegetarian, use it as a base for leftover odds & ends, or eat it for breakfast for dinner! Take my recipe and make it yours.
9) Churros {Accidentally Vegan}
Who doesn’t love churros?! These crisp and delicious Spanish-style doughnuts are easier to make than you might imagine. Mix up a quick dough in a warm pan, then pipe it into hot oil and toss the results with cinnamon-sugar. So good! And accidentally vegan!!! Make 2021 the year you make your own churros—trust me.
8) Maple Layer Cake
I haven’t made many layer cakes in 2020–without parties, there wasn’t much point—but this Maple Layer Cake is one of my favorites. Surprisingly simple with huge maple flavor, it’s no surprise that this recipe made this list again.
7) Toasted Oat Graham Crackers {Vegan & Gluten-Free}
Many of my most popular recipes are vegan or gluten-free, despite the fact that I am neither. These Toasted Oat Graham Crackers? They’re both! And incredibly delicious stacked with toasted marshmallows and chocolate. Mmhmm.
6) Banana Snickerdoodles
Banana bread may have had its moment in 2020, but I think Banana Snickerdoodles should have theirs’ in 2021. Soft, chewy and egg-free, a batch of these will make exceptional use of your brown bananas.
5) Coconut Custard Pie
Coconut Cream Pie is great and all, but have you tried Coconut Custard Pie? Because you should. There’s a reason it’s on this list: because rich coconut custard baked into a pie crust is about as good as dessert gets.
4) Maple Thumbprints
First a cake and now the thumbprints- y’all sure do love maple syrup! And to state the obvious, so do I.
3) Chocolate Macaroon Tart {Grain-Free}
This five ingredient Chocolate Macaroon Tart was a hit from the moment I hit “publish.” It’s super simple to make, completely grain-free, and while I originally made it for an Easter dessert, it’s perfect for any occasion including New Year’s Eve.
2) Silky Smooth Sweet Potato Pie
Silky Smooth Sweet Potato Pie was my most popular recipe of 2019 and is the second most popular of both 2018 and 2020. It’s a classic with a textural twist, and so, so delicious.
1) French Apple Cake
This simple cake was far-and-away my most popular recipe this year, and for good reason. It’s easy to make, requires ingredients you probably already have, and is the perfect finish to any meal. Pandemic or no, this basically my favorite kind of recipe.
Have you made any of these recipes? What was your favorite E2 Bakes recipe this year? Let me know in the comments or on social media!
I never know what to post during Thanksgiving week. I assume your menus are set and that you’ve already shopped and everything—I mean, mine is and I have. Still, I always like to leave you with one last recipe before the holiday.
In years past, it’s been 
Well, my friends, that’s where Pie Crust Cinnamon Twists come in. Where you’d normally roll out your pie crust, fit it in a pie plate, fill it, chill it several times and finally bake, this recipe takes super buttery pie dough and transforms it into a flaky cinnamon-scented dessert that you can make with minimal ingredients and tuck into in under an hour. It’s the dream.
Start by rolling out your disk of pie dough (this is my 
Fold one of the outer thirds over the cinnamon-sugar, then brush on more butter and sprinkle on more cinnamon-sugar. Fold the last blank third of dough over (like a letter) and then refrigerate for 20 or so minutes while the oven preheats. 
Once the oven hits 375F, slice your dough into strips, brush with more melted butter, and twist them do that you can see the two layers of cinnamon swirling all the way down the length of the twists. Yum!
After that, bake for 22 minutes or so until your kitchen smells like butter and cinnamon and everything else that’s good in this universe. Then wait just long enough so that you don’t burn your mouth before digging in, with ice cream if you are better-prepared than I am.
I know I am not the first person to write a recipe for Pie Crust Cinnamon Twists, and I won’t be the last either. Some people just spread the cinnamon-sugar right on and skip all the folding and whatnot, but in my experience, this extra care results in a triple-layer twist that is favorably compared to churros. 
I questioned my sanity while making these Little Pumpkin Pie Jars earlier this week—do we need a 
That said, we might need eight pies, but little ones in mason jars that require no baking—perfect for a Thanksgiving with all the trimmings and all the COVID precautions. Little Pumpkin Pie Jars are just the ticket.
This recipe is nearly a carbon copy of the 
Little Pumpkin Pie Jars get their autumnal flavor from the 
I don’t know why I’ve never thought to make a 
Galettes are pie’s more chilled out cousins. They’re free-form, don’t require a pie plate or crimping, never need blind-baking, and you can put pretty much anything but custard inside. Easy easy easy, and positively perfect for a busy day like Thanksgiving. I’m mystified as to how I didn’t realize that until now–it’s so obvious!
Today’s galette is filled to the brim with sliced tart apples and sweet ripe pears, and it’s seasoned with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg. I like to think of those spices as somewhere between regular 
Assembling an Apple & Pear Galette is as simple as mounding your dough in the center of a piece of 
Another thing galettes have over pies? They cool really quickly. I will pretty much never tell you to slice a pie before it has hit room temperature, which can take hours. Galettes though? They’re thin enough that they can be sliced at warm room temperature without any consequence. This beaut was sliced an hour after it came out of the oven, and the worst thing that happened was that it melted my ice cream slightly more quickly than it would have otherwise. And by worst thing, I mean a very good thing. Very good.
I first had Brownie Pie at an Easter brunch almost twenty years ago, but I’m here to tell you to make it for Thanksgiving. Yes! You may not realize it with everything going on, but Turkey Day is twenty days out. Twenty days! I started off the festive foods with Wednesday’s 
Brownie Pie? Like brownies *in* a pie? You better believe it. We’re talking dense, chewy, fudgy, crackly-topped brownies baked up in a flaky 
Now, Brownie Pie not quite as simple as baking brownie batter in a pie crust…but it almost is. You just have to partially blind-bake (bake without filling) the pie crust first, lest your bottom crust stay raw. Don’t worry, it’s not as terrifying as it sounds.
To partially blind-bake, begin by rolling out your dough, then fit and crimp it in a pie plate like you normally would. Next, give it a good chill before lining it with parchment, filling it up with your weights of choice (pie weights, dried beans, rice) and baking for 20 minutes. Then simply lift the parchment and weights out of the crust, dock it with a fork and bake for another 10 minutes, until it starts to brown.
After that—which, again, is much less of an ordeal than it sounds—it’s as simple as pouring the brownie batter into the crust and baking it off. I used my trusty 
Brownie Pie’s final bake is 30-35 minutes. Ideally, you should let it cool completely for the cleanest slices, but I don’t want to be that person who tells you not to eat warm brownies, so you decide when to slice your pie. Follow your heart and all that. Whatever you do though, don’t skip the vanilla ice cream and 
e2 bakes brooklyn 