Coconut Tea Bread
I know it’s supposed to be all about pumpkin right now but at the risk of everyone reading this hitting unsubscribe, I have to be honest and share a dirty little secret with you: I’m not really a huge fan of things pumpkin!😘 Sure, I’m happy to take a bite of a pumpkin bar slathered in cream cheese frosting, but the actual pumpkin flavor and the allspice that generally accompanies it, not so much. So today, as we head into the last weekend of October, I offer up this not very Halloweenish, but very delicious Coconut Tea Bread. Stay with me, my friends!
As meh as I feel about pumpkin, I totally adore all things coconut and this simple little loaf has it in spades. There’s both coconut milk in the batter and a generous amount of toasted coconut too!
Which means that there’s plenty of coconutty goodness in every bite!
Plus, it comes together quickly and easily and is one of those lovely little loaves to have around to make the weekend more special.
So…whether you’re happily sipping a pumpkin spice latte right now or hanging on for dear life until Thanksgiving is over and peppermint makes its joyous return, bake up a batch of this tender coconut loaf and have a fun and safe Halloween! See you in November!
Coconut Tea Bread
Makes one 9x5-inch loaf
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Bake Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Ingredients
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus a little more for greasing the pan
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 ½ cups sweetened, shredded coconut, toasted
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top of bread (optional)
The Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with softened butter. Set aside.
2. While the oven is preheating, toast the coconut on a rimmed baking sheet. Check after 5 minutes and give it a toss, then let it cook for another 2-3 minutes, toss again and return to the oven for another couple of minutes until it is golden brown and crunchy. Remove and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and zest. Pour in the coconut milk and whisk together well.
4. Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and use a rubber spatula to fold everything together well, until the batter is smooth. Fold in the toasted coconut.
5. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, smooth the top and sprinkle some turbinado sugar all across the top (if using). Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, then turn the pan and bake for another 30 minutes. Insert a cake tester into the center of the bread. If it comes out clean and the bread looks golden brown, you can remove the bread from the oven. If the tester has any gummy crumbs attached, bake for another 10-15 minutes until a tester comes out clean. If you notice the top getting too dark, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.
6. Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely. Slice and serve.
7. Leftover bread well-wrapped in plastic wrap will keep at room temperature for several days.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen. I added turbinado sugar to the top of the bread but cut the pineapple butter. The bread is great as is—it really doesn’t need anything extra.
