Jamaican Easter Spice Bun — Highly Spiced Jamaican bread, soft, tender studded with raisins and fruits. Absolutely delightful anytime!
This is the time of the year, when Christians abstain from meat and flock towards bread and meat-free goods. I am happy to say I’m one of those Christians. Growing up, during the Lenten Season, especially on Fridays we would only eat bread and water until sunset. Hot cross buns were only reserved for Good Friday and my siblings and I waited for them impatiently. It was the highlight of our Lenten Season. 
Gosh! I miss those days… I always do have a fondness for spicy bread — this Jamaican Spice Bun is no exception. The good thing is it’s eaten year round. However, the Easter Spice Buns are made extra special- sweeter, and studded with dried fruit for the Lenten Season and especially on Good Friday. This is the Jamaican sweeter take on the ever popular hot cross bun.
You can find as many different adaptions to the classic recipe as there are cooks – made with or without yeast. I’m ashamed to say I totally went overboard – trying out different variations and they are all worth making at home. 
My preferred version has a modern twist to it — Guinness — substituting the liquid ingredients of milk for something a little tastier… Guinness Stout. Giving it an incredibly rich brown color. This one below is sans – without Guinness. 
This is made with half Guinness and half milk. 
For those that have never baked with Guinness I think you are in for a treat! Guinness contains a lot of complex flavors and definitely adds depth of flavor to baked goods with mild notes of cocoa and a strong malt flavor- making this bread truly unique and delightful. This amazing bread takes about 15 minutes to prep and is studded with raisins dried fruit. And wonderfully fragrant spices from nutmeg, cinnamon allspice, together with molasses and browning sauce. Yes! Quite a flavorful bread – sure to tantalize your taste buds.
Traditionally, this is served with hard cheese or you can make a cheese sandwich.
Notes
- Browning is a Caribbean Sauce that is used to darken sauces, stews, or meat and even baked goods. If this is too dark for your liking then you might want to cut back on the browning – or eliminate completely.
Looking for a light airy Hot Cross Bun then check this out!
Hot Cross Buns Recipe
Enjoy!!!!
Watch How To Make It
Jamaican Easter Spice Bun — Highly Spiced Jamaican bread, soft, tender studded with raisins and fruits . Absolutely delightful anytime!
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (or 50 grams)
- ¼ cup honey (or 85 grams)
- 1 teaspoon browning.
- ½ Tablespoon Molasses
- 1- teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 cup Guinness Stout
- 1 egg
- 1- cup dried fruits cherries, raisin
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1/2- tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 1/2 Teaspoon spice combination Nutmeg- (3/4 teaspoon), Cinnamon ( 1 teaspoon) and ( 3/4 teaspoon) all spice)
- 1 cup cherries optional to top bun
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with baking spray; set aside
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the following ingredients: brown sugar, granulated sugar, honey, browning, Molasses, vanilla, melted butter Guinness Stout and egg
- In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon allspice and salt, lightly mix. Then throw in the dried fruits
- Then combine wet and dry ingredients until thoroughly
- Scrape down sides.
- Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan , add cherries on top if desired – bake for about 60-75 minutes or until a tooth inserted comes out clean.
- Let it cool before slicing.
This recipe was so tasty and the texture was moist. I added some red label wine! But I like my Bun a bit more dense. It was more of a cake. I may have to decrease the baking powder or use stout that doesn’t have so much carbonation? Feedback please.
Hello Jo! Glad you loved this recipe. Yes, definitely you could make it denser by reducing the baking powder to 1 teaspoon. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi ! what is the difference between molasses and the browning ? the taste is almost the same? can I replace the browning by the molasses ?
Thanks you !
H Axele. Molasses is a sweet byproduct of refined sugar, while browning is made up of concentrated vegetables and seasoning. They each bring a unique taste to this special cake. You could still leave out the browning… the cake will still taste delicious. 🙂
Question what is browning that is called for in this recipe?
Hi Kristin!
Browning is a sauce that is used to darken stews, sauces, or meat and even baked goods. If this is too dark for your liking then you might want to cut back on the browning or you could eliminate completely.
Hello, very excited to try this recipe! The first bun it’s in the oven now. However, there’s a bit of confusion for me. From earlier comments you said the total spices it’s 2.5 teaspoons. But you listed cinnamon twice in the recipe. There’s another 0.5 tablespoon cinnamon listed in the recipe, should that be included on top of the 3 spices combination?
Thank you!
Hello,
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I have updated recipe to make it clearer. Hope it helps.
Thank you so much for this recipe I live in Germany and because of the pandemic Easter was the last thing on my mind. My mom suggested I baked, this recipe was so easy. My family loved it. I will not buy a bun again ever. Thank you
Hi
I made this yesterday. I was delighted . Unfortunately i didn’t have Guinness. Today it’s still yummy but a little dry. i wrapped it in plastic wrap. Is there something i did wrong. When the quarantine is over I intend to try Guinness. Thanks for a great recipe .
Thanks for the recipe. The local Caribbean shop was all out so I tried your recipe so my Jamaican husband and father-in-law could have Easter bun for Easter.
Because of the quarantine though, I didn’t quite have all of the ingredients. No allspice in the house. I substituted pumpkin spice powder for the mixed spice. Probably not in the same ratio and in addition to the cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, pumpkin spice also has some ginger and cloves in the mix. And no cherries or citrus peel. Only had raisins and dried cranberries. Still turned out pretty well though. My husband said he could taste the pumpkin spice though thought this could be a new tradition for Halloween! I’ll try with just cinnamon and nutmeg for round 2, until I can get my hands on some allspice.
One thing, my fruit seems to collect flour in the crannies that didn’t mix out no matter how hard I tried. I had hoped I got most of it and the rest would bake out but when slicing the bread, I could see pockets of white with some of the fruit. Did I do something wrong?
Put the fruit in after you’ve mixed the wet with the dry.
Recently moved to area with no Jamaicans I’m so happy that I found this recipe. Taste better than any store bought bun!!!!
Thank you! So happy to hear that from you.
No store-bought bun this year due to statewide quarantine so made this for my family…they loved it and my Jamaican husband proclaimed it the “real ting!” I added a tablespoon of marmalade to the batter to give it some citrus flavor because I had only raisins and dried cranberries on hand. I think homemade Easter bun will be a new tradition! THANK YOU!
oh That is so neat. Marmalade..yes I remember my British days. I will try that too. Thanks Amy.
Can I use malt instead of Guinness?
Yes you sure can.
Hi,
You said recipe has milk. No milk. Did I see wrong or is there one with milk?
Hi. This recipe has 3 versions: 1) using Guinness as stated in the recipe box, 2) swapping Guinness with milk or 3) half cup Guinness and half milk. Hope this clarifies it.
Ok. Thanks.
Hi I visit your site all the time, I LOVE your reveres. I am preparing to bake my Easter bun for my family but i am a little confused about the spices. When you say 2 1/2 Teaspoon spice combination Nutmeg, Cinnamon and all spice. Is it 2 1/2 tsp each spice? Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hi Jenean,
The total amount of spices should be 2 1/2 teaspoons . Hope this answer your question. Thanks for all your support .
It’s kind of confusing when the spices aren’t broken down to their individual measurements. I don’t know how much of each to put to get 2 1/2 teaspoons. It’s left up to guessing.
Hi Carolyn,
I have updated recipe to make it clearer. Hope this helps
Great recipe! I used it for Easter and want to make it again for a neighbor for thanksgiving. Can i use rum instead of guiness, or will that flavor not work well?
So you really mean to substitute 1 cup of rum?!!!
I tried your recipe….and loved the outcome each time. While the texture is great the top of the bun is hard ( without being burnt)…..any tricks to get that soft top ( a la original Jamaican Spiced Bun )?
I found this same issue first time. Put some water in the bottom of oven. Made a difference.Been
Great recipie.
Awesome recipe !! Can you recommend an alternative for Guiness stout?
Goya Malta
port wine
I made two loaves for Easter and they came out PERFECT! Such an easy recipe and fun to make (even the batter smells good). I’m half Jamaican so I was looking for a recipe that was similar to the traditional flavors of spice buns. This is very close! Family enjoyed !
I will be trying this recipe for the weekend festivities. However, I would like to make them in square muffin pans. Should I bake for the time shown above? Or should I shorten the bale time?
Hi Laura,
I would shorten the baking time. Start checking after 30 minutes.
What is browning?
Hi, Dianna. Browning is a Caribbean Sauce that is used to darken sauces, stews, or meat and even baked goods. If this is too dark for your liking then you might want to cut back on the browning- or eliminate completely.
Great recipe! Dragon stout is also a good substitute for Guinness. I also don’t use the eggs, but it does get dry after a day or two.
I have just finished eating a sample slice my work colleague made last night and I’m about to give it a try over the Easter weekend. The cherries just burst in the mouth – love it.
So glad you love it, Jackie. Thanks for dropping by. 🙂
I loved it
This is not a traditional easter bun. The butter and stout need to be “warmed” on the stove.
Hi I normally use stout but not eggs gets dry after a few days …can you tell me how to keep this bun moist
Hi Rose, It’s best to eat it about 1-2 days after baking . Tightly wrap in plastic paper , place in zip lock bag , then store in fridge. You may freeze , if desired.
Hi! This looks perfect for me – I’m a teacher, sharing the traditions of a Jamaican Easter with my class. If I were to leave out the Guinness, would I just do a straight swap for milk? Thanks so much, Tomi.
Hi Tomi,
Yes you would. Am sure your class is going to enjoy this one .
Happy Cooking!!!
I swapped the Guinness with Barq’s Root Beer soda and it turned out great!