Sourdough and Banana Bread Are Some of the Most Googled Recipes of the Year

In a year unlike any other in modern memory, people spent a lot of time indoors and cooking with the Google search history to prove it. The search engine just released its Year in Search for 2020, which includes the most-searched-for recipes of the year.

It should come as no surprise that topping the list is sourdough. As stay-at-home orders dragged on and people found themselves stuck at home with enough time to learn the secrets of a happy sourdough starter. After nurturing those demanding little starters into existence, the baking began and amateur and professional bakers learned a lesson that our great grandmothers knew well—rolling and kneading dough can be comforting and meditative.

Next on the list was something our great-grandparents knew nothing about—whipped coffee from TikTok. Also known as Dalgona coffee, the whipped instant coffee with milk and ice, was all the rage on social media and a lot of people looked up the recipe on Google. Similarly, chaffles became a thing. Before you Google that, it's a combination of "cheese" and "waffle" made by mixing eggs and cheese and dumping it on a waffle iron. While we'll take real waffles (or the Waffle House version) any day, folks on gluten-free or Keto diets swear that chaffles are delicious.

As people stayed home due to the pandemic, they started feeling nostalgic—and hungry. Unable to go to Disney Parks, they looked up Disney churros and Dole Whips in droves. Similarly, people missed the chance to DoubleTree's chocolate chip cookies and Ikea's meatballs. When not craving vacation favorites, people frequently turned to nostalgic comfort foods, which is how good old egg salad sandwiches ended up in the top 10 most popular recipes searched for on Google.

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With extra time on their hands, many home chefs started making items they would normally pick up at Piggly Wiggly, like hamburger buns. Rounding out the top 10 list? Healthy banana bread, which is not only easy enough for beginners (a.k.a. easy enough for the kids) but is one of the best ways to use up aging bananas. Google Trends released a similar list of the top ten recipe-related searches worldwide way back in April (remember April??), as CNBC reported, and banana bread was at the top even back then. Also popular were pancakes, pizza dough, and cheesecake, which makes sense if you can't go out for brunch, pizza, or hit up the Cheesecake Factory. Strangely absent from the list? Sourdough. Perhaps it took a few months of stay-at-home orders for people to realize they did actually have time to nurse a sourdough starter.