26 bake mac recipes

Whole wheat spice muffins with cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger sweetened with honey. A warming, low-fat breakfast muffin that smells like the holidays.

Pumpkin spice pound cake bakes a Bundt full of cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg-spiced pumpkin batter over a layer of toasted pecans, then drinks in a dark rum butter glaze poured through poke holes on both sides.

Big, soft raisin-oatmeal cookies with peanut butter for tender chew, dark brown sugar for moisture, and a whisper of mace that sets these apart from every other oat cookie. Quarter-cup scoops, no flour required.

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.

James Beard's persimmon bread folds ripe persimmon puree into a spiced quick-bread batter with cognac, mace, raisins, and walnuts. Legendary holiday bread adapted for the bread machine.

Emily Dickinson's black cake, a dense Victorian fruitcake with brandy, molasses, raisins, currants, and citron spiced with cloves, mace, and cinnamon. Baked low and slow.

Hearty pecan oat quick bread with brown sugar, mace, and nutmeg baked in cans for a rustic round loaf. A simple stir-together batter that slices beautifully after an overnight rest.

Pfeffernuesse are traditional German Christmas peppernut cookies, fragrant with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and a hint of black pepper, studded with citron and almonds and a touch of brandy. A heritage holiday cookie.

Bran hermit cookies spiced with cinnamon, cloves, mace, and nutmeg, studded with raisins. A rolled and cut old-fashioned spice cookie with a wholesome bran twist.

Berkshire fruit cake packed with raisins, currants, and citron in a spiced molasses batter with cinnamon, cloves, and mace. Baked low and slow for 4.5 hours.

Banana nut bread made with whole wheat and white flours, ginger and mace, plus chopped pecans and dates folded in. A spiced, fruit-and-nut-loaded quick bread that's denser and more interesting than the standard.

Old-school dark fruitcake soaked overnight in brandy and orange liqueur with figs, apricots, currants, walnuts, and pecans. Makes four loaves; ages beautifully.

A warmly spiced sweet potato loaf sweetened with molasses and honey, made with whole wheat flour and loaded with walnuts. Moist, fragrant, and naturally wholesome.

Moist persimmon bread studded with walnuts and raisins, lightly spiced and finished with a touch of bourbon. The persimmons keep the loaves tender for days.

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.

Holiday fruit cake bakes candied pineapple, red and green cherries, golden and dark raisins, pecans, and oats into a nutmeg-mace spiced loaf. Wraps and keeps for weeks.