Recipes with currants

Soft, warmly spiced gingerbread cookies made with molasses, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Roll and cut into festive shapes for Christmas decorating with simple icing.

Orange-currant scones with a tender flaky crumb thanks to a butter-shortening combination, brightened with fresh orange zest and studded with sweet dried currants.

Buttermilk currant scones with a tender, lightly sweet crumb and bursts of dried currants. Cut into rounds and baked golden, served warm with butter, cream, and jam in the British tradition.

Smith's banana bread is a fat-free whole wheat loaf with crushed pineapple, currants or apricots, fresh orange zest, and overripe bananas. A naturally sweet, dairy-free quickbread with no added sugar.

Oatmeal currant drop biscuits combine quick oats, soaked currants, and buttermilk in a cinnamon-scented dough that drops by spoonful onto the pan. Soft, lightly sweet, and ready in 35 minutes.

Traditional Sense and Sensibility currant scones in the Jane Austen Regency style. Simple, only lightly sweet from the fruit alone, ideal for afternoon tea with butter, clotted cream, and jam.

In a surprising twist, Tuscan kale is served raw—and makes for a substantial and satisfying fall salad. Sweet currants (or raisins) soaked in tangy white balasmic vingegar and salty parmesan punctuate the dressed, shredded kale.

Gingerbread men cookies with deep molasses, warm ginger and cinnamon, and currant eyes. The classic Christmas cutout cookie with a soft chewy center perfect for kids' decorating projects.

Currant and orange muffins made with rice flour, ground almonds, and beaten egg whites for a tender, gluten-free crumb. Naturally sweetened with honey and fresh orange juice.

Sunrise scones with sweet currants, a tender half-and-half crumb, and pretty scalloped edges. Small bakery-style scones cut with a fluted cutter for breakfast tea or brunch.

These are hotcakes from the isle of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

Portuguese sweet bread (pao doce) made easy in the bread machine: an egg-and-butter enriched loaf with a soft, golden crumb and gentle sweetness. A breakfast and Easter classic.

Granny's boiled fruit cake: an old-fashioned eggless, butterless loaf made by simmering raisins with sugar and shortening, then folding into spiced flour. Plump, moist and Christmas-ready.

Traditional Christmas fruitcake with brandy-soaked candied citrus peel, citron, currants, and raisins, deeply spiced and aged in a tin with periodic brandy basting before the holidays.

This Christmas pudding has plenty of delicious fruit and nuts, but it's really simple to make - just plan ahead and then make the warm vanilla-bean custard on the day.

Vegetarian mince pies with a suet-free, no-suet British mincemeat: dried fruits, ripe banana, almonds, brandy, and warm spice tucked inside flaky shortening pastry. The traditional Christmas pie, made meatless.