24 gingerbread recipes

British-style fruit and nut gingerbread loaf with treacle, raisins, chopped almonds, and warm spices. A dense, sticky bake with buttermilk for a tender crumb and deep molasses flavor.

Healthy gingerbread men with whole wheat flour, bran, and artificial sweetener. Low-calorie holiday cookies with orange juice and warm spices, crisp and guilt-free.

Soft gingerbread cookies with molasses, hot coffee, cinnamon, cloves, and ground ginger. A rollout cookie dough for gingerbread men with a tender, cake-like texture instead of a crisp snap.

Old-fashioned peach gingerbread upside-down cake: molasses-spiced gingerbread baked over fresh sliced peaches, then topped with butter-glazed peaches and a preserves brush. Late-summer dessert perfection.

Christmas spice cookies: rolled-and-cut holiday cookies with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and molasses. Soft or crunchy depending on bake time. Makes four dozen.

Halloween gag cookies rolled in Grape-Nuts and served from a clean litter box with a scoop. Chocolate and gingerbread dough logs shaped like, well, you know. Harmless fun.

Paul Prudhomme's black muffins: dark, deeply molasses-rich whole wheat muffins studded with toasted pecans. A Cajun bakery treat with a crumb that's almost gingerbread.

Golden raisin bread with bread flour, whole wheat, wheat germ, cinnamon, and ginger. Bread machine dough that can be baked in the machine or shaped into two loaves by hand.