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.
Thank you so much for this recipe! The flavor was perfect and reminded me of my childhood. Since I have trouble finding mixed peel where I am, I took another reviewer’s advice and added 1 Tbsp of orange marmalade. Finally, to get the soft top we all know and love, I glazed the bun with a brown sugar simple syrup as soon as it came out of the oven. Thanks again for making this Easter extra special!
Thank you for sharing, AB! And I’m happy that it turned out great 🙂
I have a friend that wants me to make Spiced Bun because they know that I make bread. I am born to Jamaicans and had plenty Bun and Cheese as a child. Always store bought. Researching this today, most recipes use yeast. What is the difference here? Taste? Texture?
Hello Howard! Replacing yeast with baking powder didn’t affect the taste, it just made the bun rise faster but not as distinct. Let me know how your research goes and if you end up making one 🙂
Hi is there a way to cut back on the sodium and carbs
Yes. Cut back on the salt.
Hi !
I’m Definitely going to try this recipe… but I have soaked fruits!, where do I add that in the ingredients, can I replace the dried fruits with it?.. and would that be too much liquid ( what do I replace so it not to watery?
Thanks!!!
Hello!
Yes replace with soaked fruits, It would wok out just fine. It should be last thing you stir in. Mix until fully combine. Baked as instructed.
How long can this spice bun lasted for without been refrigerated
About a day. I have not had it last any longer than a day.
I made this twice now and double the ingredients so I could give one to my friend whose family absolutely loved it. I reduced the sugar as we prefer it not to be too sweet.
Can you please say what glaze you used, if any?
Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi Eileen!
Glad to hear it worked out well. I did not use any glaze for this recipe .
I would love to make this bun look yummy I love your recipe
It says 350 degrees but is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?
It is 350 Degrees F.
i am going to try this bun but i not sure what cherry to use can i use glaze cherry in the recipe thank you
Yes you sure can. Glad you to hear you want to try it out.
Can I use drained maraschino cherries on the top of the bread? (Will use dried fruit within the bread)
Yes you can .
Thank you, it’s in the oven now—smells heavenly!
Hi, thanks for the recipe. Please can molasses be replaced with black treacle?
Hi Chifu,
Yes it can.
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. I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I decided to bake and once in the oven I realized that I completely forgot to add baking powder! It’s halfway through the baking cycle. I know you cannot troubleshoot my mistake but do you think it will be edible? Do you think I should complete the entire bake time? Help?
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.