All of us at Spoon like to consider ourselves foodies, but the people who run these ten blogs are some of the most diehard foodies out there. From incredible food photography to healthified junk food recipes and ideas that just make you go “Whaaaat?”, the following blogs are ones you should add to your daily reading list immediately.
1. Joy the Baker
Photo courtesy of Joy the Baker
Since January 2008, Joy has expanded her gorgeous photography and sweet recipe-laden blog into a cookbook and series of podcasts. Besides her plethora of dessert, brunch and drink recipes, you can also find savory, gluten-free, and vegan recipes — and all the ones I’ve tested have been delicious.
2. Chocolate-Covered Katie
Photo courtesy of Chocolate-Covered Katie
Katie, an avid runner, health junkie and lover of all things chocolate, dedicated her site to making healthier versions of everyone’s favorite guilty pleasures. Her recipes are just as, if not more, yummy than their caloric counterparts. Plus, she has gluten-, dairy-, sugar-, and egg-free versions for every diet.
3. Foodie Fiasco
Photo courtesy of Foodie Fiasco
This is another blog dedicated to healthifying your favorite foods, but has a larger array of salty/savory snack and meal recipes than Chocolate Covered Katie does. The founder, Kelly, started this blog at age 14 after unhealthily losing 42 pounds in 3 months. She came upon the food blog sphere and used this blog as her way of eating and living healthily, and loving it.
4. The Kitchn
Photo courtesy of The Ktichn
Have you heard of the home improvement site, Apartment Therapy? The Kitchn is the foodie spinoff of Apartment Therapy that supplies its readers with cooking tips, how-to’s and recipes with the motto that “simplicity and luxury are not mutually exclusive.”
5. How Sweet It Is
Photo courtesy of How Sweet It Is
“From healthy recipes to comfort food and indulgent desserts,” How Sweet It Is has recipes for just about any type of food you’re looking for. The author Jessica is super relatable and completely self-taught, with lots of messy kitchens and recipe malfunctions to prove it. She also tries to use seasonal and local ingredients whenever possible, which makes for a continually changing site.
6. Two Peas & Their Pod
Photo courtesy of Two Peas & Their Pod
Maria and Josh got married in 2008, and have been running their blog together ever since then. Their focus is on “simple, fresh, and family-friendly” recipes, along with entertaining friends and family. I find it interesting to see the dynamics of a blog run by two people, with different stories and writing styles between the two.
7. Bakerella
Photo courtesy of Bakerella
The original creator of cake pops (the cute little cupcake/lollipop/cake bite creation that has taken over Pinterest boards and recipe sites all over the internet), Bakerella is a blog dedicated to all things dessert. It also features lots of pretty decorating ideas and instructions, giving it a fresh spin on a baking blog.
8. Smitten Kitchen
Photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen
Smitten Kitchen is the result of “fearless cooking from a tiny kitchen in New York City.” Deb, the founder of the site, believes that food and ingredients should be accessible and affordable, and refuses to use all those “excessively fussy foods and/or pretentious ingredients.” Instead, she remakes your classic comfort foods, walks you step-by-step through making daunting recipes by scratch, and provides how-to’s on both the simplest and most involved kitchen tasks.
Photo courtesy of Skinnytaste
This is another site that takes your favorite foods and revamps them to make them healthier, without sacrificing any flavor. Unlike Chocolate-Covered Katie and Foodie Fiasco, Skinnytaste is written by a mom and tailored more toward the whole family. In addition to great photography and recipes, the site offers Skinny Bits, where the author answers cooking questions and offers tips, tricks, and reviews.
10. Cake Wrecks
Photo courtesy of Cake Wrecks
This is one of my personal favorites, not for its great recipes or incredible photography, but for the great laughs I get out of horrible cake wrecks. What is a cake wreck? Anything that didn’t accomplish the original intentions really. Some of them are just really, really bad decorating jobs that make you question, “Who gave that guy an icing bag?” Others aren’t that bad, but just don’t look anything like they’re supposed to, or are so far gone that you don’t have no idea what they were intended to look like. Next time you think your culinary artistic skills are sub-par, hit up Cake Wrecks and give yourself some credit.