A new recipe for a new year—and while this batch didn’t quite rise to expectations, it was not without its merits. The dough was unusually slow to proof (my yeast is under suspicion, pending a viability test), and ultimately baked up with a tighter, denser crumb, more reminiscent of soda bread than the light, fluffy texture I was aiming for. Still, they were warmly spiced and deeply flavorful, and I was glad for the chance to finally put a stash of long-forgotten Sunsweet prunes to good use. If nothing else, I’m relieved they stopped short of becoming hot cross rocks 😮‍💨