Can you believe that 2015 is over? 2015 is actually over. It is now (brace yourself…) 2016. TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Madness. And it's been a crazy first year for Chocolates & Chai. Well, ten-ish months but who's counting?…I am. I'm counting. Somewhat obsessively.

I thought this would be a good time for us to go over my top five recipes of 2015! Want to know which recipe is the most popular? Or which one was featured by Cosmopolitan Magazine? How about my personal favourite? This is the post for you.

So… My personal favourite recipe didn't quite make the list, so I'm going to just give it a quick plug - try out my Nutella & Dark Chocolate French Toast! Okay, onwards to the Top Five Recipes of 2015!

5. Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes

I'd been wanting to work on this pancake recipe for ages, but I never had mascarpone just sitting around. Sure, I could've used ricotta (which, as it turns out, is becoming more and more popular in the Toronto restaurant scene), but I wanted mascarpone. I wanted mascarpone so, by golly, I used mascarpone! And it was glorious. And the mixed berry compote…incredible. So easy to make and so tasty! And I'm not the only one who thinks so, because this recipe was actually featured in the April edition of The Sunday Brunch Magazine as well as on Food52's Tumblr! It was even featured on Tumblr's #food page. (Thank you, tag editors! I miss you!)

4. Chaliapin Steak

This one surprised me! I knew I loved my Chaliapin Steak recipe, but I honestly didn't think it would be as popular as it has become. Even now, five months since I posted the recipe, I have readers landing on the page from all sorts of sources - I guess people love steak. And even more so when it's super tender, full of flavour, and cheap! And it goes without mention, Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars) is an incredible and hilarious anime.

3. Gooey Nutella Brownies

Gooey. Nutella. Brownies. It's a no-brainer that this one is in my top three of 2015. I don't even need to tell you that my Gooey Nutella Brownies recipe can be ready in less than 30 minutes, using as few as 4 ingredients. And you know what else? This recipe has one of my favourite comments (it's the one by Gaylene) from a reader that happened to try out the recipe!

2. The Almost-Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich

While I called it "The Almost-Perfect", Cosmopolitan UK disagreed. They dubbed it "The Simple-but-Perfect" when they featured it in their list of "7 Sexual Grilled Cheese Recipes We NEED in Our Life". Almost perfect, or simple-but-perfect, one thing is for sure…this is a good grilled cheese sandwich. None of that uber-trendy stuff here. This is all about a good ol' fashioned grilled CHEESE (mmm, cheese).

1. Fluffy, Fluffy Pancakes

The response to my Fluffy, Fluffy Pancakes recipe has been just phenomenal! It's my most popular recipe by far. And if that wasn't enough - type "fluffy pancakes" into Google; this recipe will be the second result!  I know, I know… second, not first (though it is one of the most favourited and one of the most gawked pancake recipes on FoodGawker…just sayin'.). But it's on Page One of Google!!! Not to mention, overall, this is my most shared and most commented on recipe.

And that’s it! My top five recipes of 2015. Let's see what 2016 brings. And if you happen to be interested in seeing it with me, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click and subscribe. Go on, you know you want to!

Oh, and in case you're a bit of a contrary sort and were wondering what my least popular recipe was in 2015…it was my Egg Philip recipe. Sacrilege!