Bites by Bianca

Bianca Fernandez, Founder

New York, NY

2025

Bites by Bianca is making baking playful and totally doable

Bianca Fernandez started Bites by Bianca as a hobby after years in science labs and bakeries. Known for her kawaii cookies, ube desserts, and pop culture–inspired bakes, Bianca is helping a new generation fall in love with baking (no fancy equipment required).

When med school said no, baking said yes

When Bianca Fernandez first started baking in high school, her French macarons came out as flat as pancakes.

“I didn’t have a whisk. I didn’t even have a mixing bowl,” she laughs. “I just used a rubber spatula. They were a mess.”

But rather than giving up, she dove right back into food blogs and YouTube, where she discovered something fascinating: food science. But Bianca put her newfound passion on pause when she went to college at SUNY Oswego, earning a biology and chemistry degree. She then moved from upstate New York to Boston for a research job in a cancer lab after graduation, and applied (twice) to medical school. When both attempts didn’t pan out, she was devastated, but something else was quietly rising that whole time.

That one failed batch of macarons back in high school ended up sparking a love for baking, and she started Bites by Bianca while working in the cancer research lab. “I was baking for fun. I had my blog on the side,” she says. “I didn’t really know what was next, but I didn’t want to go to grad school just for the sake of it.”

Instead, she rolled up her sleeves (literally) and started working part-time in bakeries on the weekends. “It was just five months at first, but my research boss encouraged me to go full-time as a pastry cook in 2022,” she says. “He told me, ‘Just do what you want.’”

And that encouragement was all she needed. Over the course of a year, Bianca hopped from one bakery to the next in Boston. But alas, the 4 a.m. shifts, concrete floors, and repetitive strain eventually led to injury.

“I developed Achilles tendonitis in both ankles,” she says. “I couldn’t stand for long, couldn’t drive, couldn’t work. So I moved back in with my parents.”

At home, unable to be on her feet for too long, she turned her full attention to blogging. “I’d heard about bloggers turning this into a real career,” she says. “So I decided to try doing it full-time for one year, just to see where it would take me.”

That was in 2023. And in her own words: “It made me more money than I’d ever made at any other job.” Her blog has now grown into a flourishing online business known for its pastel treats, kawaii cookies, and personal takes on Filipino flavors.

Teddy bear chocolate chip cookies with sea salt and candy decorations

Keeping it free and super cute

In the beginning, Bianca made most of her income through brand sponsorships, raking in around $80K her first year.

But 2024 told a completely different story: “sponsorships went down, and I made half of that,” she says.

That income dip was a wake-up call: she needed to count on other ways to make money.

“I had seen another blogger sharing how much she made from her ad network, and it was way more than sponsorships,” says Bianca. “So I thought, ‘What could happen if I go all in?’”

Everything changed when she qualified for Raptive, a Google Certified Publishing Partner, thanks to their “Remarkable Voices” initiative. The program had dropped their usual threshold for a site’s traffic to qualify for a partnership, and it just so happened that Bianca crossed that line thanks to some Valentine’s Day traffic.

By early 2025, her ad income had increased tenfold.

But for Bianca, ads weren’t just about financial security. They meant freedom as well. “They let me keep my content free. I don’t want someone to have to pay just to bake a cookie,” she says. “It also helped diversify my income. Because if brand deals go away, at least I have this other steady stream.”

That way, Bianca can keep doing what she loves most: baking. And it’s been pretty much a one-woman team since. She develops each recipe, photographs them, writes the blog posts, and shares them across social platforms.

Bianca’s also all about making her recipes fun, accessible, and, of course — “super cute.” And that’s not just a design choice, either. It’s her mission.

“I want people to realize baking doesn’t have to be intimidating,” she says. “You don’t need ten bowls or a stand mixer. A lot of my recipes just use melted butter because even I get annoyed when something says to whip butter.”

Not just that, but many of her treats — like her chick-shaped lemon cookies or her strawberry cheesecake macarons — are infused with pop-culture. “I think a lot of my audience is younger,” she says. “Teens, people in their 20s, moms baking with their kids, anyone who loves cute stuff.”

And they don’t just follow her, they also bake with her. She ran a blog survey recently and was blown away by the responses. “Someone mentioned they baked my cookies for their boyfriend’s birthday. Others said my dog feels like part of the blog,” she says. “It’s crazy to think something I made is part of someone else’s tradition now.”

“Ads let me keep my content free. I don’t want someone to have to pay just to bake a cookie. It also helped diversify my income. Because if brand deals go away, at least I have this other steady stream.”

Bianca’s mixing it up for what comes next

Readers don’t know this yet, but Bianca’s been busy with more than just her baking blog. She recently took on a new role: Co-Founder and Head of R&D at a baking mix company, Oh So Easy, the first-ever globally-inspired baking mix brand, which is launching with 3 new products this September.

“They found me through my blog,” she says. “I think I just showed up when they were Googling around. At first, I was just giving feedback on a mix. Now I’m their Co-Founder and Head of R&D. It’s wild.”

The project hopes to be the third-culture version of classic boxed baking mixes—nostalgic, but reimagined with flavors that reflect more than just one kind of upbringing. “It’s the kind of thing I wish I saw more of growing up,” Bianca adds.

Bianca’s also been thinking about adding video tutorials, maybe hiring someone to help with editing or social media. She’s even started going to more food blogging conferences.

“I didn’t really expect any of this, honestly,” she says. “But I feel like I’ve found a path that finally makes sense for me. I get to do something that feels like mine.”

For her, Bites by Bianca has grown into something more — a fully-baked (pun intended) brand, and a reminder that even if your first batch of macarons flops, that doesn’t mean your story will.

About the Publisher

Bianca Fernandez is the founder of Bites by Bianca, a baking blog known for its approachable recipes, pastel colors, and cute treats. A former biology major and pastry cook, Bianca blends food science with pop culture to make desserts for readers around the world. Based in New York, she runs her blog full-time, and still does all the baking, writing, and photography herself. She is also the co-founder of Oh So Easy—the first-ever globally-inspired baking mix brand, launching in summer 2025!

Bianca smiling outdoors with a plate of baked desserts