Jamaican Easter Bun Recipe
Jamaican Easter Bun is a rich, spiced bread and a particularly popular Easter treat! This recipe doesn't use yeast, so there's no proofing - just mix, bake, and enjoy with a slice of Tastee Cheese!
You can even enjoy it simply on its own, with slices of avocado, or toasted with a smear of butter. For more quick and easy baking recipes, try this Biscoff bundt cake, this banana sheet cake, or this easy banana and chocolate cake!
Recipe Overview: Jamaican Easter Bun
✅ Recipe Name: Jamaican Easter Bun
🕒 Ready in: 1 hour & 5 minutes with only 15 minutes prep!
👪 Serves: 1 loaf
🍽 Calories: 239 calories per serving (estimated)
🥣 Main Ingredients: stout beer, all-purpose flour, butter, brown sugar, eggs, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice
👌 Difficulty: Easy! Mix and bake!
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Why You'll Love This Jamaican Treat!
- It's easy to make! This easter bun recipe is a quick bread, so it doesn't use yeast or need to proof! Simply mix and bake
- It's a Jamaican classic! Bring true Jamaican flavor to your kitchen with this easter bun recipe. Spiced bun is an easy, cheap, and popular snack in Jamaica and even more so during Easter time.
- It's easy to customize! Can't find Dragon Stout? Use Malta or Guinness - both of which are or have non-alcoholic options. Prefer no raisins? Just skip the mix-ins!
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Key Ingredients
Stout beer. Dragon Stout beer is a Jamaican brand and the traditional choice for easter bun. It has a sweet and rich flavor. If you don't have Dragon Stout available in your area, Malta and Guinness are good substitutes.
Molasses. Adds more depth to the flavor of Jamaican easter bun and helps to give it its rich color.
Brown sugar. Complements the flavor of the spices and adds moisture to the bun.
Mix-ins. The most common mix-ins for easter bun are raisins and Maraschino cherries. Some people also add fruit cake mix but I prefer not to since they don't since they don't soften much after baking.
How to Make Jamaican Easter Bun
- Step 1: Soak the raisins in the Dragon Stout beer to plump them.
- Step 2: Cream the butter with the brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, and spices.
- Step 3: Add the eggs.
- Step 4: Drain the Dragon Stout, raisins, and the dry ingredients and mix again!
- Step 3: Pour the batter into a loaf pan and top with halved Maraschino cherries as desired. Bake at 325°F for 50 minutes.
- Step 4: Brush with the Dragon stout glaze and cover until completely cooled.
FAQs
Sunken mix-ins are typically a result of a loose batter or slippery mix-ins. To avoid each, be sure to follow the recipe and avoid adding any extra liquid, which would result in a looser batter. Also, don't skip tossing the raisins in the flour after draining them well.
Traditionally, Jamaican easter bun is enjoyed with cheddar cheese, particularly Tastee cheese, but it's just as delicious on its own. Some Jamaicans also enjoy it with a smear of butter or a slice of Jamaican pear (avocado).
The best substitute for Jamaican Dragon Stout is Malta, since it is rich with some sweetness. Malta is also a great non-alcoholic option. The next best substitute is Guinness beer, which also has a non-alcoholic version!
Ainseanlea's Top Spiced Bun Tips
- Mix only til combined. This prevents too much gluten from forming, which would give a tough and dry result.
- Measure by weight. It's more precise, especially when it comes to flour, which is easy to use too much because of packing into measuring cups, and the beer, which foams and can result in using too little.
If you insist on measuring by volume, make sure you spoon the flour into the measuring cups, then level and wait until the foam subsides for the beer to ensure you've used enough. Pack the brown sugar. - Cover the bun with plastic wrap as it cools. This prevents the bun from drying out by helping to trap moisture that would otherwise escape as steam.
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Homemade Jamaican Easter Bun
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 325° F
- Add the raisins and stout beer to a small bowl and allow the raisins to plump up. This takes 15-20 minutes.You can speed this up by microwaving the mixture for 30-45 seconds then covering them for 10-minutes or until cooled.90 grams seedless raisins, 115 mL Dragon Stout beer
- Combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt in separate bowl and set aside.195 grams all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a mixing bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, molasses, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, ground ginger and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until the mixture is easily spreadable.170 grams dark brown sugar, 170 grams unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon molasses, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture and beat again until just combined.2 large eggs
- Drain the raisins well, adding the leftover Dragon Stout to the mixing bowl contents. Add the raisins to the flour mixture set aside earlier and toss with a spoon so the flour coats the raisins.
- Add the flour/raisin mixture to the mixing bowl and beat on low speed just until combined.
- Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick spray and a parchment paper sling for easy removal and pour the easter bun batter in the pan.
- If using, arrange the halved cherries in a line down the middle of the loaf.3 Maraschino cherries, halved
- Bake at 325℉ for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Add the melted butter, Dragon Stout beer and brown sugar to a small bowl and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 2 tablespoon Dragon Stout beer, 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- Brush the glaze on top of the easter bun right after removing it from the oven.
- Cover the bun and allow to cool completely before slicing.
- Store on the counter in a bread box or a loosley sealed zip-top plastic bag for up to 6 days.
Nutrition
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Mix only til combined at each step to avoid a tough and dry easter bun.
- Measure by weight. It's more precise, especially when it comes to flour, which is easy to use too much because of packing into measuring cups, and the beer, which foams and can result in using too little.
If you insist on measuring by volume, make sure you spoon the flour into the measuring cups, then level and wait until the foam subsides for the beer to ensure you've used enough. Pack the brown sugar. - Cover the bun with plastic wrap as it cools to prevent it from drying out.
- The best substitute for Dragon Stout beer is Malta, which is also non-alcoholic. Next best is Guinness beer. Guiness also has non-alcoholic options available.
