Top 5 Easiest Recipes from 2017 for Busy Moms
Updated: Feb 14, 2019
Scrolling through a recipe board on Pinterest brought back all kinds of memories from this year in my kitchen. What do busy moms need the most? Easy recipes.
So here are my five favorites from this year. By the way, the other thing moms need is kitchen tricks to speed things up while cooking, so I also wrote this sister post about my Top 5 New Kitchen Tricks from 2017.
5. Marshmallow Fondant - All our birthdays save one are in September, so that month this year was filled with cake baking and decorating. Since I was determined to make cupcakes my husband would never forget, that meant making my own fondant for the first time. The Bearfoot Baker has a post about how to make it in small batches, and it was so much easier than I expected. Took about five minutes (stick with it - about 2 1/2 minutes in, I thought it was going to be a disaster, but I just kept following her instructions and it came out perfectly) and dyed easily, froze easily, and rolled easily. In case you're curious, the cupcakes and frosting from Sally's Baking Addiction were also incredible.
4. Biscuits and gravy is easier than you think to make at home. The Chunky Chef shares her best recipe for both, as well as a special trick for folding and cutting dough to get fluffier, flakier biscuits.
3. I feel a little bad sharing this Baked Teriyaki Chicken from the Center-Cut Cook because I wasn't the one who actually made it - The Lad did. We were having people over for dinner, and I left at the last minute to get authentic egg rolls from the Oriental Market. I ran out of gas on the way, had the father in the family that was coming over to our house rescue me by bringing a gas can, and still managed to have a fun dinner party (albeit later than anticipated) for our families. And while all that was going on, The Lad handled dinner. He did say it was very easy, so I'm going to count it because it was too delicious not to share. We had it with fresh green beans, fried rice, and the above-mentioned egg rolls.
2. Liluna's One-Hour Cinnamon Rolls are to die for, and we made these several times this fall. In fact, I never even liked cinnamon rolls until my friend Amy made these for me. And yes, they are very, very easy.
1. Hands down my most favorite, easiest recipe was this Applesauce Oatmeal Muffin recipe from Tastes Better from Scratch. I use regular white flour, so they aren't as healthy as they could be, and I'm not a fan of raisins so I leave those out. But they are easily adaptable for food allergies (almond milk and coconut oil for dairy free, another kind of flour for gluten free), and they go together quickly. I just dump all ingredients together in a big bowl and mix. I made these for multiple play dates and the kids (and moms) all devoured them.
The best part? I mix up several batches of dry ingredients at a time in Ziplock bags (I like these half gallon bags - they are the perfect size!) and keep them in your pantry. Write the wet ingredients on the bag, and when you need a quick snack for kids, dump a bag into a bowl, add wet ingredients, and bake.
