Jamaican Easter Spice Bun
Warm holiday spices, soft bread, and dried fruit come together in the popular Jamaican Easter spice bun. Absolutely delightful any time of year, so why wait for Easter?
Easter is the time of the year when Christians abstain from meat and flock towards bread, vegetarian goods, and fish. I’m happy to say I’m one of those Christians. When I was growing up, the Lenten Season, especially on Fridays, was a time we consumed bread and water until sunset. Hot cross buns were reserved for Good Friday, and my siblings and I waited for them impatiently. It was the highlight of our celebration.
Gosh! I miss those days… I always have a fondness for spiced bread, and this recipe takes the cake. The good thing is that we can enjoy it year-round. However, it’s extra special, sweeter, and studded with dried fruit for Lent, especially on Good Friday. This is the sweeter, denser Jamaican take on the ever-popular hot cross bun.
You can find as many different adaptations to the classic recipe as there are cooks – made with or without yeast. I’m ashamed to say I totally went overboard, trying different variations, and they’re ALL worth making at home.
Using Guinness Stout
My preferred version has a modern twist — Guinness — substituting some of the liquid ingredients with something more complex. Stout (a darker, more intense beer) gives it an incredibly rich brown color. The image below is sans Guinness, and you’ll notice it has a lighter color.
For those who’ve never baked with Guinness, you’re in for a treat! Its complexity definitely adds depth of flavor to baked goods with mild notes of cocoa and a strong malt flavor. The bread will not taste like beer.
How to Make Spice Bun Bread
- Mix the sugars and wet ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients and toss the dried fruit in, then mix the wet and dry ingredients.
- Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan, add the cherries on top if desired, and bake. Make a pot of coffee, slice up some sharp cheddar cheese, and enjoy!!!
Easter Spice Bun Variations
This unique bun studded with dried fruit takes about 15 minutes to prep. Wonderfully fragrant spices from nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice, with molasses and browning sauce, make quite a flavorful loaf. Here are some popular variations.
- Replace the baking powder with a packet of yeast and let it rise in a warm place for the traditional airy texture.
- Personalize the dried fruit mixture or leave it out completely. Raisins, prunes, dates, figs, apricots, apples, peaches, pears, pineapple, cherries, mango, papaya, and kiwifruit are just some fruits on a long list that go well in this recipe. I didn’t include cranberries, blueberries, or strawberries because something about the sound of them doesn’t match the spice blend.
- Make it with or without Guinness stout. If you can’t get it, any stout will work. Another quick substitute is the same amount of root beer or cola, then halve the sugar to compensate for the extra sweetness. Coffee also adds bitterness and color if you can’t get stout or don’t want alcohol in the house.
- For a vegan twist, replace the egg with a tablespoon of ground flax or chia seeds and a tablespoon of water.
- Increase the spices for more intensity or reduce them for a milder bread.
- Brush the finished spice bun with a rum glaze for extra indulgence.
Tips and Notes
- Browning sauce is a Caribbean seasoning used to darken sauces, stews, meat, and even baked goods. If you prefer a lighter bread, then cut back on the browning sauce or eliminate it completely.
- While spice buns are traditionally made in a loaf pan because the batter has too much liquid to make buns with it, you can fill the wells of a muffin tin for cute little cupcakes. Simply reduce the baking time by half.
What to Serve With Jamaican Easter Spice Bun
Traditionally, spice buns are served with sharp cheddar cheese to balance the sweetness. If you’ve ever had cheese on apple pie, you know what I’m talking about. Then brew up some coffee or tea, put out the butter and jam (or an avocado), and you have a breakfast or snack fit for a king.
More Sweet Easter Delights to Try
If you’re looking for light, airy hot cross buns, I’ve got you covered, along with more tasty sweets to enjoy.
- Hot Cross Buns
- Italian Easter Egg Bread
- Challah
- Tea Cakes (top them with jelly beans before baking for a quick Easter treat)
- Hummingbird Cake
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”4acyCzvg” upload-date=”2019-04-01T04:00:06.000Z” name=”Jamaican Easter Spice Bun” description=”Jamaican Easter Spice Bun — Highly Spiced Jamaican bread, soft, tender studded with raisins and fruits . Absolutely delightful anytime!”]
This blog post was originally published in February 2016 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Jamaican Easter Spiced Bun
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (85g) honey
- 1 teaspoon (5g) browning sauce
- ½ tablespoon (9g) molasses
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (236ml) Guinness stout
- 1 egg
- 1 cup (170g) dried fruit (cherries, raisins, apricots, etc.)
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- ½ tablespoon (4-5g) ground cinnamon
- 2½ teaspoons (4g) Easter spice blend (1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¾ teaspoon allspice)
- 4 tablespoons (60g) melted butter
- 1 cup (120g) candied cherries (or fresh, frozen, maraschino, canned, etc.- optional to top the bun)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease a loaf pan with baking spray, and set it aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar, honey, browning sauce, molasses, vanilla extract, Guinness stout, and an egg until combined.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Then toss in the dried fruit, making sure the fruit is coated with flour and doesn’t stick together.
- Then mix the wet and dry ingredients until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you mix to make sure all the flour has been incorporated. Add the melted (or softened) butter and stir well.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top with the cherries if you want, and bake for 60-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the bread cool before removing it from the pan. Optionally brush it with a sugar or rum glaze, slice, and enjoy. Enjoy!!!
Tips & Notes:
- Have the wet ingredients at room temperature for easier, smoother mixing.
- Toss the dried fruit in the dry ingredients (break up any clumps) before mixing the batter so they stay evenly distributed and don’t stick together.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the ingredients used in the recipe.
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
You can also substitute the Guinness Stout with Root Beer or Coke.
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!
Hi,
your recipe allows for us to change the servings which is great. I was wondering what serving amount I should select if I am using a reg loaf pan.
Thank you!
Hi Susan,I would go with 8-10 servings .
Hi can I blend the fruits , cuz I don’t like feeling the whole fruits in cakes or breads and how would I incorporate the blend fruits
I haven’t tried it myself though, but I don’t see why it won’t work. So yes you can. Please do let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy! 🙂
Going to try this! Is there a ration of the spices for the 2 1/2 teaspoons spice mix?
I am going to try this recipe but one question…do you cover the pan with foil? Do you add water in a pan in the over to keep the Bun moist? I really hate a hard outer crust if you will!
Hi Fay. I don’t do those, however the bun still comes out moist. But perhaps you can cover it with foil halfway through the baking.
Thank you. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Awesome!
I made this, its in the oven as I write Can’t wait to try it. I did find though that I had to heat the liquid ingredients through a bit, as the butter went solid again and looked awful but was ok once warmed through.
I was so looking forward to making this for 2 Jamaican friends coming to my home on Scotland next week for a holiday. I have had this Easter Bun whilst staying in Jamaica and loved it.
I converted the measurements by tapping on the metric button on the recipe page as I don’t have American cup measures.
I did think that 7.39g of cinnamon and 12.32 g of the mixed spice combination was excessive but that is what the conversion said.
The cake once cooked was a disaster so at nearly midnight I made another batch and googled tablespoon to gram conversion and it says 14g = 1 tablespoon ( butter that is for grams of butter. 1/2 tbls of cinnamon does not weigh 7grams.
I then at nearly midnight made another batch using tbls and teaspoons for the weighing of the spices but completely forgot to do that for the baking powder and put in the weight in grams 9.86g – hence another disaster as cake completely sunk and will end up in the bin.
Better weight measurements are needed if converting from US to metric.
Hi Fiona,
I am So Sorry to hear about this.
Will look into it.
Thanks for the feedback
Hi
I made this bun for the office last week and it was well appreciated. Everyone loved the taste the Guinness that you get as an after taste, just flavorful.
Love it. Another great recipe
It’s Easter Sunday and I woke up wanting bun and cheese! My husbands family is Jamaican ❤️ I am Dutch and we also use many of the spices in our specullaas cookies.
I doubled the recipe. I didn’t have any beer so I used cherry coke with a bit of rum, ACV, and even some balsamic vinegar. I used less sugar and honey because of the coke. I tasted the batter and it was the right sweetness for me. The cake turned out amazing. The only thing I think I would change is to add more allspice or something as I would have liked flavour. Maybe not using beer was part of the problem too I’m not sure. Thanks for the recipe!