Cooking

Our Most Popular Recipe of January Is…

Clue: It’s a baking project primed for Sunday brunch.
Collaged image of top most popular BA recipes

After the hustle and bustle of the holidays, January may seem relatively quiet, but if you listen closely, you’ll hear a lot: winds rustling trees, boots crunching on snow, and the cackles of company, gathered around the table. That’s where you’ll find us. This month, we published a slew of recipes ripe for having people over: cozy pastas, slurpable soups, and project bakes. Now our most popular recipes of the month are in. Keep reading for the top 10, in descending order. And scroll all the way for the hit of the month, plus a Q&A with that recipe’s developer.

  • A chocolate espresso flavored gelatin with mascarpone in a baking dish topped with whipped cream chocolatecovered...
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne, Prop Styling by Maggie DiMarco
    3/10

    Tiramisu Panna Cotta

    Creamy panna cotta imbued with mascarpone, espresso, cocoa, and booze is everything you love about classic Italian tiramisu in a lusciously wobbly package.

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  • Speedy Chicken Stroganoff in a skillet with a spoon
    Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Food Styling by Drew Aichele, and Prop Styling by Adrian Ababović
    4/10

    Speedy Chicken Stroganoff

    This easy, one-skillet chicken stroganoff features tender chicken breasts, savory mushrooms, and a creamy Dijon-crème fraîche sauce—perfect for weeknights.

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  • A macro view of a spoonedin roasted salmon.
    Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Food Styling by Drew Aichele, and Prop Styling by Adrian Ababović
    5/10

    Hot Honey–Glazed Salmon

    This broiled hot honey salmon recipe results in sweet, spicy, glossy fish coated in a homemade hot honey glaze for an easy weeknight dinner or make-ahead lunch.

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  • Ditalini and Peas in Parmesan Broth in a bowl with cheese on the side
    Photo by Emily Hawkes
    6/10

    Ditalini and Peas in Parmesan Broth

    A comforting dinner the whole family will love.

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  • Three bowls of mezze rigatoni tossed broccoli stems in a lemonyanchovy sauce.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, Prop Styling by Christine Keely
    9/10

    Smashed Broccoli Pasta

    A feel-good dinner designed to cram a ton of veg in each serving.

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  • Six bagels on a wire rack topped with furikake sesame seeds melted Parmesan poppy seeds and everything bagel topping.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Jesse Szewczyk, Prop Styling by Linden Elstran
    10/10

    Homemade Bagels

    Crusty, chewy, and actually easy. No lye or barley syrup needed.

    View Recipe

January’s most popular recipe was…Homemade Bagels! Fun. I love how ambitious you readers are, going to great lengths to level up brunch. It’s worth it. I made these at home and they were the crustiest, chewiest bagels I’ve ever had. (Probably because they were the freshest bagels I’ve ever had.) I spoke with the recipe’s creator, Test Kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk, to get the scoop on his development process, and find out his go-to bagel order.

Nina Moskowitz: Did you grow up eating bagels?

Jesse Szewczyk: Not at all. I grew up in Illinois, so there was no bagel culture whatsoever. We got an Einstein Bros Bagels when I was teenager and that was my first introduction to them. I thought they were high-class.

NM: Why did you develop this recipe?

JS: The easy answer is, we were surprised to find out there wasn’t an existing bagel recipe on Bon Appétit. January is maybe the one month of the year we figured people might be down to try such a project. And our suspicions were right. The people of BA Bake Club killed it this month.

NM: How many tests did this recipe take you?

JS: This was not a recipe that came quickly. Around 15 tests, and that’s not counting cross tests, recipe videos, and photoshoots.

NM: What’s your favorite bagel order when you go out?

JS: A sesame bagel with cream cheese and lox. But I live in NYC, so I can’t afford lox.

NM: Toasted or not toasted?

JS: Not toasted. I don’t like when cream cheese gets all melty on a warm bagel.

NM: And where’s your go-to spot in the city?

JS: Bagel World on Dekalb Ave. It’s close by, so it’s automatically the best.

NM: I love that this recipe lets you choose your own adventure with the toppings. What were some that you tried in testing?

JS: I tried Tajín, but it didn’t hold up well (it burnt), plus the acidity was a little weird. I also tried gochugaru and sugar, which was the perfect balance of sweet and spicy with a little crunch.

NM: What was your favorite topping after all the tests?

JS: Furikake for the win. Parmesan is second favorite because it tastes like a nostalgic Panera Asiago bagel.

NM: If someone took your bagel recipe and made a rainbow batch, what would you say?

JS: I’d say slay!

Nina works across Bon Appétit and Epicurious, solving mysteries like “Why do beans make us fart?” and “What is that white stuff oozing out of my chicken?” She also edits and produces recurring columns like It’s That Simple and has even developed a recipe or two. Before joining the editorial ... Read More
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