Almond cinnamon-raisin biscotti with brandy and vanilla, twice-baked in the classic Italian style. Crisp, lightly spiced cookies for dipping in coffee, tea, or a glass of vin santo.
Oaxaca tostada bites: tortilla chips topped with a mole-spiced black bean mash of cocoa, cumin, and cinnamon, cool avocado cream, pepper jack, and lettuce. A no-cook, party-ready Mexican appetizer.
Christopsomo: a traditional Greek Christmas bread with semolina, citrus zest from oranges and tangerines, currants, golden raisins, and a warming blend of cinnamon, anise, coriander, and cloves.
Ritz crackers transform into tender, spiced filling that mimics apple pie with lemon zest, cinnamon, and buttery crust. A Depression-era classic dessert.
Orange sweet potatoes whipped with fresh orange juice, zest, brown sugar, and a secret splash of Angostura bitters. A lighter, butterless holiday side dish.
Cinnamon sherry biscochitos, the official state cookie of New Mexico, crisp anise-scented butter cookies with a splash of sherry and cinnamon sugar coating.
Fresh fruit medley with apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes tossed in orange juice concentrate, topped with a spiced yogurt-ricotta sauce. A light, diabetic-friendly dessert.
Dense, buttery sweet potato pound cake with sour cream and warm spices, served with a vanilla bean-cinnamon custard sauce and praline ice cream. This is dinner party dessert that earns a standing ovation.
Instead of being hard, dry spice cookies, these are soft, moist spicy cookies with a medium hot disposition. Their heat is derived from ground Jamaican Scotch Bonnet peppers.
Old-fashioned spice cake with cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg, sweetened with brown sugar and studded with raisins. A tender crumb built on evaporated milk and topped with caramel frosting.
Old-fashioned sweet chunk pickles brined for two weeks, then packed in a warm cinnamon-clove syrup and water bath canned. Crunchy, spiced, and worth every day of the wait. Makes 3 pints.
Prize coffee cake with a brown sugar and cinnamon streusel topping over a simple one-bowl batter. Quick, no-fuss brunch baking with pantry staples.
Traditional Portuguese sweetbread with a buttery, cinnamon-scented crumb and golden egg-washed crust. This soft yeast bread needs two rises for the lightest, most tender loaf.
Moist carrot date nut bread with a blended carrot-orange puree, slivered dates, and walnuts. Spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, this recipe makes two loaves that slice even better the next day.
Ginger Puffs are soft drop cookies made with cooked oatmeal, molasses, brown sugar, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon. One bowl, 30 minutes, yields 4 dozen warm-spiced cookies.
Three-layer pumpkin bars built on a yellow cake mix base with spiced pumpkin custard center and a buttery cake-mix streusel top. Makes 24 bars in a 9x13 pan.