What Are Currants and How Can I Use Them?

If currants have turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use them with confidence and how to choose them, cook them, store them, what to substitute, and 321 recipes to try them in.

Nutrition

Food group

Currants are a member of the Fruits and Fruit Juices US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

How much do currants weigh?

Related

Fruits and Fruit Juices

Recipes using currants

There are 321 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Gloria's Best Gingerbread Cookies

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

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.

Best Buttermilk & Currant Scones

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

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 Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

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.

Sense & Sensibility Scones

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.

Kale Salad with Pinenuts, Currants & Parmesan

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

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 & Orange Muffins

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

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.

Singing Hinnies

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

Aunt's Portuguese Sweet Bread

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.

Grannys' Fruit Cake

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.

Merry Christmas Fruitcake

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.

Christmas Pudding With Vanilla-Bean Custard

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.

My Vegetarian Mince Pies

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.

Eggplant-Tomato Chutney

Eggplant tomato chutney: a savory-sweet relish of cubed eggplant simmered with tomatoes, garlic, currants, and tarragon vinegar. A Mediterranean-style condiment for grilled meats, cheese boards, or crusty bread.

Vegan Christmas Cake

Vegan Christmas cake packed with candied pineapple, cherries, citrus peel, raisins, and currants, bound without eggs or dairy. A long-baking holiday fruitcake for slicing into thin festive servings.

Cauliflower & Couscous Pilaf

In this recipe, we use whole wheat couscous instead of rice, we add orange juice and currant, so the pilaf is sweet too.

Sharon's Buttermilk Scones

These scones have a fine, dense crumb with a little orange and cinnamon - a delicious combination of texture and flavour.

Creole Christmas Cake

This very rich cake from the West Indies is ideal for those who prefer not to ice their Christmas cakes.

Grandma's Cranberry Scones

Grandma's cranberry scones studded with tart fresh cranberries, currants, and bright orange zest, made tender with buttermilk. Buttery wedge scones for breakfast or an afternoon tea treat.

Brandy Christmas Fruit Cake

Get the jump on your Christmas baking by making this classic fruit cake now. Wrap it well and it will be perfect to serve, or give as a gift, on Christmas Day!

Cinnamon Currant Scottish Oat Scones

Buttery oat scones studded with plump currants and dusted with cinnamon sugar. These Scottish-style treats bake up with crisp edges and tender, flaky centers in just 15 minutes.

Ginger Pine Nut Biscotti

These homemade biscotti will impress everyone, it is good for a breakfast or snack, with a cup of coffee or tea.

All 321 recipes