Coconut Bread

coconut bread

It’s been over a week now, and I’ve managed to eat breakfast every day. I’ve even enjoyed it! Whether it’s a bowl of cereal with yoghurt (I have a strange aversion to milk on cereal, is that weird?), my favourite crusty Italian bread toasted, or even just a delicious juicy peach from the fruit bowl, its nice to establish a routine in the morning, and breakfast is a good one for all the right reasons.

The weather has been pretty dismal, last week especially. It hardly feels like February at all. When it’s pouring rain outside, there’s nothing I like better than baking. I made this coconut bread one evening when the oven was still warm from dinner. It comes together quickly with minimal washing up (no need to bring out the mixer), and cooks in about an hour while you watch TV. It was perfect, because the next morning was drizzly and dark and I stayed in bed quite a lot longer than I should have.

Which brings me to my point – sometimes, breakfast needs to be portable. Whether eaten on the run or saved until you have a second to sit down, this coconut bread will be the highlight of your morning. I’m inclined to take Bill Granger’s advice and “keep slices in the freezer for workdays when you’d rather be in the Caribbean.”

I made this coconut bread once before, but thought a few minor modifications could make it better. This time I used shredded coconut, with a little less cinnamon. I swapped ½ cup of plain flour for wholemeal, but feel free to use the whole 2 ½ cups of plain flour if you’d like. The addition of coconut essence was also used to enhance the flavour. Next time I might use coconut milk in place of milk. A mashed ripe banana, some lime zest, chopped dried cherries or grated chocolate would also go very nicely in there, and I’m looking forward to trying other variations on this great breakfast recipe soon.

Coconut Bread
Adapted from Sydney Food by Bill Granger
Makes 8-10 thick slices

• 2 eggs
• 300mL milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coconut essence
• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ cup plain wholemeal flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2/3 cup shredded coconut
• 75g unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (375°F) and line a 21x10cm loaf pan with baking paper.
2. Lightly whisk eggs, milk, vanilla extract and coconut essence together in a small bowl.
3. Sift flours, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Add sugar and coconut and stir to combine
4. Make a well in the center and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined. Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, being careful not to overmix.
5. Pour into prepared load pan and bake for 1 hour, or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer
6. Leave in the pan to cool for 5 minutes, and remove to cool further on a wire rack. Serve in thick slices, lightly toasted

10 Comments on “Coconut Bread”

  1. I’m not a fan of coconut, but that breakfast (esp. with the peaches) sure looks yummy 🙂
    Sorry the weather couldn’t be nicer though 🙁

  2. Ah, the breakfast resolution. I’m trying hard to form the same habit though am having less success than you. On particularly busy mornings just eating fruit makes my belly rumble worse than eating nothing. Must have carbs! 🙂
    Love this recipe. Haven’t made it for a while. That may change today.

  3. This looks like a great base for a dessert, but a translation question for you – do you know if shredded coconut is the same as what we’d call desicated coconut (pieces about rice grain sized and dry)? Thanks!

  4. Mark, I shouldn’t complain too much about the weather. We needed the rain because of the drought that stretched on for several years.

    Wendy, I’m back at uni next week so we’ll see how I go with the breakfast resolution then!

    Golly, desiccated coconut is a bit different. Shredded is long, thin strands of coconut that look like this. I have tried it with desiccated before and it was okay, but it has a nicer texture with the shredded coconut.

  5. Wow, Lisa, your food looks so good! Wonderful blog!

    I have printed that recipe but haven’t baked it yet – I’m in love with all things Bills, so I won’t wait that long to try it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *