815 crackling recipes

Buttery banana bread loaded with very ripe bananas, melted butter, and a full cup of nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips. A rich, freezer-friendly quick bread that bakes up tender with a crackly top crust.

Mile-high blueberry muffins built on tangy plain yogurt and butter cut into the dry ingredients (biscuit-style). Bursting with fresh blueberries and finished with a crackly sugar top, ready in 40 minutes.

Brisket with peppercorns marinated 24 hours in soy sauce, crusted with cracked black pepper, broiled until charred, then roasted to medium rare. Served thinly sliced at room temperature.

Classic pumpkin pie with a silky brown-sugar custard, warm pumpkin pie spice, and a two-temperature bake that sets it without cracking. Topped with amaretto whipped cream. The Thanksgiving standard, made easy.

Crisp sugar cookies rolled and cut into shapes, with crackly browned edges, a soft snap, and the kind of buttery vanilla flavor that takes well to a sugar dusting or royal icing.

Disgustingly rich brownies live up to the name with a full cup of butter, four eggs, and three quarters of a cup of cocoa. One bowl, one pan, fudgy center with a crackly top.

Chicken breast with sour cherry sauce, cracked peppercorns, and coriander in a white wine-brandy reduction. A French-inspired pan sauce built right in the skillet.

Homemade Swiss roll, a light sponge cake baked thin, rolled while warm to keep it crack-free, then spread with vanilla buttercream and rolled into a tender, swirled slice. A classic teatime treat from scratch.

Classic French chocolate loaf cake bakes in a water bath for a dense, fudgy crumb with a thin crackly top. Semi-sweet chocolate, espresso, and whipped egg whites do the work. Flourless using cornstarch.

Ginger molasses muffins fold whipped egg whites into a buttermilk batter spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh ginger. Crackly tops, tender tangy crumb, and the warming bite of dark molasses in every bite.

Slice-and-bake chocolate walnut cookies built on a flourless-style dough with a pound of melted semi-sweet chocolate, espresso, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Crackly tops, fudgy centers, almost no flour.

Old-fashioned rhubarb cake with a sour cream batter, brown sugar sweetness, and a crackly mace-sugar topping. Tender, tangy, and a much-loved way to use spring rhubarb in a single 8-inch square pan.

This should be one of the easiest and yummiest way to cook tuna. The beurre blanc was creamy and rich, wasabi added a bit zing. We didn't have cream, so just used milk instead, which was rich enough to our taste, and it worked deliciously with tuna. Sesame seeds added a bit crunch and nice nuttiness. The salmon was cooked to perfection, seared on both sides, and still moist on the inside. A very impressive dish.

Key lime cheesecake with a buttery graham cracker crust and a tangy, silky filling made with fresh lime juice, sour cream, and three blocks of cream cheese. Two-stage baking gives it that signature crack-free top.

Farrah Fawcett's pecan pie is the classic: a rich corn syrup and vanilla custard packed with pecan halves in a flaky crust. The actress's simple, foolproof holiday pie bakes up with a glossy, crackly top.

Bullard's chili pairs lean venison with pork in a hearty bowl of pinto beans, tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro, seasoned with chili powder and cumin. A from-scratch wild game chili worth cracking a beer for.