220 date recipes

Traditional Sicilian fig cookies stuffed with ground figs, dates, raisins, walnuts, and orange, then iced and topped with colored sugar. Makes 10 dozen for the holiday cookie tray.

Spiced devil's food bundt cake studded with brandy-soaked dates, raisins, and chopped filberts, all baked in the microwave and topped with tangy cream cheese frosting. Ready in under an hour.

Classic hermit cookies with dates, golden raisins, walnuts, brown sugar, and warm spices, topped with a simple milk glaze. A chewy, old-fashioned spiced drop cookie.

Whole wheat bread machine loaf loaded with All-Bran, dates, raisins, pecans, almonds, and almond extract. A high-fiber, mildly sweet morning bread that bakes hands-off in one cycle.

Plum cake is the grand Victorian celebration fruitcake: pounds of raisins, currants, dates, citron, and almonds bound by spiced butter cake batter. Christmas, weddings, and christenings on a serious scale.

Christmas compote jam blends dried figs, dates, apricots, three nuts, and candied orange in a quince-juice base spiced with cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and star anise. A three-day European holiday preserve worth every step.

Fruit and nut muffins with whole wheat flour, applesauce, raisins, dates, and walnuts. A lower-fat big-batch recipe using egg whites and skim milk for lighter baking.

A diabetic-friendly spice cake made with whole wheat flour, sour cherries, dates, and applesauce instead of refined sugar. Warmly spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Braided yeast bread wreath filled with dates, walnuts, bran flakes, and cinnamon, topped with vanilla confectioner's sugar frosting. A stunning holiday bread that's worth the rise time.

Fruit basket cookies packed with candied cherries, dates, dried apricots, golden raisins, pecans, and walnuts in a brown sugar butter dough. A chewy, fruited holiday cookie.

Homemade bear claw pastries made from a buttery yeasted dough wrapped around a cherry, date, raisin, and walnut filling. This classic bakery recipe yields 16 to 20 golden, flaky pastries with a sweet almond glaze.

A fruit-packed quick bread loaded with dates, raisins, candied cherries, and walnuts, moistened with applesauce and oats for bakery-style loaves.

Linda's fruitcake: brandy-soaked dates, citrus peel, raisins, almonds, and cherries folded into a spiced batter with a pineapple jam layer. Wrapped in brandy-soaked cheesecloth to age.

Fruchtebrot (German fruit bread) packed with dried pears, apricots, dates, plums, raisins, and walnuts in a spiced yeast dough with cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.

Lester's fruitcake is a heirloom holiday loaf: pounds of candied fruits, figs, dates, raisins, pecans, and walnuts bound in spiced molasses batter. Slow-baked, brandy-soaked, aged a month.

Pumpkin spice bread with whole wheat flour, oats, dates, and maple syrup instead of refined sugar. Buttermilk keeps the crumb moist and tender with a triple-spice warmth.