Holly Haines

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​Corn and Berries Belong Together

This is an easy-breezy, no-bake treat, but it does require a bit of planning ahead because it needs a good amount of time to chill—at least 8 hours. You can leave it chilled for up to 48 hours before the berries start to lose their integrity — a perfect make-ahead dessert.

By Holly Haines Published August 3, 2026

Berry Cornbread Ice Box Cake

This no-bake icebox cake is an easy make-ahead dessert, with the refrigerator doing all the work. I love using Trader Joe’s Cornbread Crisps because corn and berries are one of my favorite flavor combinations. A pinch of Chinese five-spice with the strawberries and ground coriander with the blueberries adds subtle depth that makes the fruit flavors pop. Chill for at least 8 hours before serving, or make it up to 2 days ahead.

By Holly Haines Published August 3, 2026

Things We Like: Let’s Make Some Tsukemono

Welcome to our biweekly roundup of our favorite things. We’ll only ever recommend things that we personally have tried and enjoyed. This week: Mark’s new favorite hobby, making old school OJ, and a baking book that wows.

By Mark Bittman Published March 6, 2026

Things We Like: An Awesome—and Cheap!— Bread Knife

Welcome to our biweekly roundup of our favorite things. We’ll only ever recommend things that we personally have tried and enjoyed. This week: your new bread knife, a team-tested air fryer, and a cozy cookbook.

By Kate Bittman Published February 6, 2026

Broiled Sweet Cornbread

I was ​flipping through​ my childhood ​Betty Crocker​ cookbook when I noticed a section called “Broiled Toppings.” After trying it on a few different bakes, I’m hooked. This cornbread leans more toward cake: sweet, tender and full of summer corn flavor. Instead of nuts, as suggested in the original Betty Crocker recipe, I used fresh corn kernels combined with salted butter and brown sugar.

By Holly Haines Published August 13, 2025

Broiled Sweet Cornbread

Inspired by the Broiled Toppings section in my childhood Betty Crocker cookbook, this sweet, tender cornbread gets a golden finish of fresh corn, salted butter, and brown sugar — a fun twist on a familiar favorite.

By Holly Haines Published August 1, 2025

Summer Jewels: Respect Your Strawberries

Please, stop cutting the tops off your strawberries. Here’s what to do instead, plus more tips and tricks to employ when you’ve got your hands on summer’s favorite fruit.

By Holly Haines Published June 23, 2025

Strawberry Sorbet

You can adapt this recipe for any type of soft, ripe fruit—just be sure to peel, chop, and/or pit the fruit as needed. For berries, strain out the seeds for a smoother sorbet. Although Chinese five-spice powder enhances the flavor of berries, you can experiment with other fruit and spice combinations, like blueberries with cardamom or bananas with cloves.

By Mark Bittman Published June 23, 2025

Eggless Pastry Cream

I walked into my grocery store the other day and the egg section was completely empty, which inspired (read: forced) me to think about how I develop recipes that usually include eggs. For this pastry cream (it’s really just a very thick pudding, right?), I wanted to lean into the milky flavor, so I used a combination of evaporated milk and heavy cream. I added a little turmeric for color, but it’s not necessary. For a flavor more reminiscent of a true pastry cream, try adding a bit of Indian black salt — it’s distinctly eggy in smell and taste (see the variations).

By Holly Haines Published February 9, 2025

This Is the Pie (or Tart!) Crust You’ve Been Waiting For

A gluten-free, extra easy, press-in crust that works well with fruit and cream fillings.

By Holly Haines Published November 11, 2024

Oatmeal Tart or Pie Crust

A gluten-free, extra easy, press-in crust that works well with fruit and cream fillings. It’s a bit on the saltier side because, despite what it might seem like, I don’t do well with anything super sweet, but it balances well with pastry creams – and you should feel free to reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon.

By Holly Haines Published November 11, 2024

Are You Ready for Your Goth Potato Moment?

This ube dish is like candied yams, but dark and crackly.

By Holly Haines Published October 30, 2024

Candied Ube (or Purple Sweet Potato) with Latik

Like candied yams, but dark and crackly. Fresh ube isn’t always readily available — purple sweet potatoes make a fine substitute.

By Holly Haines Published October 23, 2024

We’re Big Fans of Chewable Milk

Holly has a Lindy West-inspired ​series on Instagram called Chewable Milk​ (it’s our favorite genre of dessert), where she shares all types of dairy in various stages of viscosity — poured custards, crémeuses, rice puddings — anything thick and milky. Today’s recipe is Chewable Milk in maybe its purest form: panna cotta. The texture is much lighter than traditional panna cotta and it’s such a nice complement to cold, seasonal fruit. Since the recipe is so simple — there’s not even any vanilla to mask the sweet, milky flavor—try to find the absolute best milk you can get your hands on.

By Holly Haines Published July 22, 2024

Whole Milk Panna Cotta

Chewable Milk in maybe its purest form: panna cotta. Or maybe it’s leche cotto since there’s solely whole milk and no heavy cream? Either way, the texture is much lighter than traditional panna cotta and it’s such a nice complement to cold, seasonal fruit. Since the recipe is so simple — there’s not even any vanilla to mask the sweet, milky flavor—try to find the absolute best milk you can get your hands on.

By Holly Haines Published July 22, 2024

Dressing Citrus up in Its Sunday Best

It’s a beautiful time to share a few of Holly’s current citrus-centric favorites: a labor-intensive but incredibly fun to eat kumquat posset, set right in the kumquat skin; a vegan olive oil cake using whole calamansi; and a mezcal Negroni-inspired granita.

By Holly Haines Published June 17, 2024

The Whole Dang Calamansi Cake

This cake uses whole calamansi, a Filipino lime used in both savory (a squeeze on pancit is chef’s kiss) and sweet applications (move over key lime). When ripe (bright orange, not green), its peel is sweet and its flesh tart—I’d say a kumquat would be a close comparison.

By Holly Haines Published June 17, 2024

Kumquat Posset

Posset is an English dessert of milk thickened (or curdled, which sounds worse but it’s what’s happening) with lemon or citrus juice. In this case, I’m using kumquat juice and setting the posset in the kumquat skins so they can be popped in your mouth like fancy Jell-O shots.

By Holly Haines Published June 17, 2024

Mezcal Negroni Granita

This granita is light, refreshing, a tiny bit boozy and ridiculously easy. It takes about 5 hours to finish, but 99% of that time is hands-off. It may be tempting to add more alcohol, but keep in mind that alcohol doesn’t freeze, so if you add too much you’ll end up with something more like a slushy than a granita.

By Holly Haines Published June 17, 2024

Whole Lemon Torte

When I saw Kerri and Mark’s “whole-lemon torte” variation on the chocolate torte in Bittman Bread, my wheels started turning. I swapped out the lemons for sweet limes — a cross between Mexican limes and sweet lemons. The skins are thin, the juice is sweet, and the acidity is relatively low — similar characteristics to the Meyer lemons they suggested in this variation.

By Holly Haines Published February 12, 2024