A while ago I purchased coconut for my Nanaimo Bars…well, bags were on sale *Buy 1, Get 1 Free* and thus two bags of shredded coconut made their way into my cart.  Then, as if by fate, last week I came across Bill Granger’s Coconut Bread recipe and knew it was why I had purchased that second bag.

Look on just about any serious food blogger’s website and you’ll sure find it there.  It is a classic recipe for good reason.  Its moist, rich, and simple to put together.  This is certainly *company bread* if there ever was.  It can be served any time of the day, but since it is best toasted it makes for a very special breakfast.

Enjoy!

(My original version…)

Coconut Bread

adapted slightly from Seven Spoons
who adapted it slightly from
Bill Granger’s

(Note:  The following recipe makes 1 loaf.  I doubled mine to make one plain loaf and one chocolate chip loaf.)
Ingredients -

• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used soy)
• 1 tsp vanilla (I used 1 tbsp vanilla because I *heart* vanilla…)
• 2 1/2 cups flour, more for dusting pan
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon (I upped this to 3 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup superfine sugar  (I only had regular sugar on hand)
• 5 ounces flaked coconut – around 1 1/2 cups (I ended up using sweetened shredded coconut.  I have read that people use all types of coconut here with good results…unsweetened, sweetened, flaked, shredded….)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (I used vegan ‘butter’)
• Soft butter for greasing the pan (I used olive oil spray)
• Semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate or any other add-ins if you desire it…I think dried fruit would be lovely in this bread as well.
  

Directions –

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla seeds (or liquid vanilla). Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the sugar and coconut. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and slowly add the egg mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in the melted butter, being careful not to over-mix.  (This is also where you would stir in any additional ingredients you would like…I mixed in 1/2 cup high quality bittersweet chocolate chips into one of my loaves.)

4. Grease and flour a 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. (I sprayed my loaf pans with olive oil spray and then created a sling out of parchment paper.  (I got the idea from Seven Spoons!) This makes it MUCH easier to get the bread out of the pans.  See picture below.) Pour in the batter and bake in the preheated oven until the loaf is golden and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, around 1 hour.  (I ended up having to bake mine a bit longer than this….around 65-70 minutes, I believe.)

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in its tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack. (This is where you can just pull up on your parchment sling.) Position it again side up to cool a bit more.
6. Slice thickly and toast, or serve as is. (This bread is amazing toasted with some butter.  I have also seen people like it with a dusting of powdered sugar or various jams and marmalade.  This bread also freezes very well.)

(My chocolate version…)