17 cake dough recipes

Fig and cherry cobbler with dried figs, cherry pie filling, cinnamon, and drop biscuit topping. A bubbly, old-fashioned fruit cobbler that starts hot and finishes at moderate heat.

German plum cake (Zwetschgenkuchen) layers fresh plum wedges over a yeast-and-baking-powder dough, finished with cardamom sugar. A late-summer Bavarian classic for coffee hour.

Persimmon chocolate chip cookies: ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp folded into a spiced cookie dough with chocolate chips, walnuts, and dates. Soft, cake-like cookies with autumn-spice warmth in every bite.

Pineapple coconut coffee cake with a yeasted dough base, pineapple preserves, and flaked coconut topping. Only 3 ingredients plus the dough. Great warm or at room temperature.

Buttermilk coffee cake with a streusel-style cinnamon-clove crumb topping made from the same dough. A tangy, tender 9x13 cake that doubles as breakfast or afternoon coffee snack. Stir in raisins or nuts. Freezes beautifully.

Soft banana cookies with brown butter penuche frosting: mashed ripe bananas in a cake-like dough, topped with a boiled brown sugar icing that hardens into a shiny, fudgy shell.

Mince-meat cookies made with a tender cake flour dough rolled thin, filled with cooked mincemeat, and sandwiched together. A vintage holiday filled cookie that makes 36.

Cherry cheese coffee cake on a yeasted bread base with cream cheese filling, cherry pie filling, raisins, and a brown sugar streusel top. Uses frozen bread dough for the shortcut.

Overnight coffee cake built from frozen bread dough, butterscotch pudding, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Assembled at bedtime, baked fresh in the morning, and pulled apart by hand.

Soft, cake-like apricot cookies with jewel-toned jam centers that bake up tender and light. Chopped dried apricots in the dough add chewy bits of fruit throughout each cookie.

Old-fashioned almond butter coffee cake made with yeast-risen dough and crowned with buttery almond topping. Warm spices of mace and cardamom make this sweet bread irresistible for brunch.

Old-fashioned cake doughnuts infused with reduced apple cider and warm spices. Pat the dough to half-inch thickness, cut and fry until golden, then dip in cider glaze while warm.

Grandma Thorpe's currant pancakes are griddled rolled biscuit-style pancakes studded with dried currants, buttered hot, and dusted with sugar. A British-Welsh heritage breakfast or tea-time treat.

Crispy cinnamon butter cookies topped with walnut halves, made from a simple slice-and-bake dough. Egg yolk-enriched for extra tenderness with warm spice in every bite.

Crisp cocoa-almond cookies filled with white chocolate ganache. Slice-and-bake dough makes shaping simple, and the thin, snappy wafers pair beautifully with the creamy filling.

Spiced Christmas ornaments mix cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves with applesauce into a fragrant no-bake dough rolled and cut into holiday shapes. A homemade craft that scents the tree for years.