Triple coconut bread, made with coconut milk, oil, and shredded coconut – and it’s dairy and egg-free! This type of coconut bread is from the Caribbean and is a quick bread, not yeast leavened, so it’s easy even for beginners.

I was born in Toronto and then lived in a small town north of the city for a couple of years, until I was eight, and my best friend there was Trinidadian. Her family made coconut bread and would give me a loaf every once a while, or I’d just eat it at their place, and then when we moved to Manitoba they wrote the recipe down for me. About 20 years later that original coconut bread recipe is long lost, but I remember the flavour and texture of the bread perfectly.

This comes pretty close, even though I’m pretty sure the ingredients are a bit different. It’s more cake-like than anything but a totally acceptable snack without having to worry about crashing on sugar. Note that this is just lightly sweetened, but it’s mildly sweet thanks to all the coconut.

For some more fantastic low-sugar quick bread recipes, try this coconut banana bread sweetened with fruit, easy spelt banana bread, or date-sweetened vegan carrot bread.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Coconut milk: the most important thing in this recipe is to use full fat coconut milk from a can, no substitutions. It won’t work with another, lighter milk.
• Shredded coconut: this should be unsweetened, and either shredded or desiccated, but not flaked.
• Coconut oil: a reader has noted that she’s made this with olive oil and it worked out, but I find that an oil that’s solid at room temperature makes for the best texture.
• Spelt flour: substitute plain white flour if preferred. I don’t recommend making this with gluten-free flour. I use either whole grain or light spelt, or a mix between the two, and both work well.

Step by Step

Step 1: mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

Step 2: add the milk and other wet ingredients to another bowl and whisk to combine.

Step 3: add the coconut milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Step 4: transfer to a greased loaf tin.

Step 5: bake the loaf until golden, about an hour.

Step 6: cool fully, preferably overnight, before slicing.

Recipe Notes

Greasing the tin instead of lining it with parchment results in a nicer, golden outside crust. You can line it if you prefer.

I always use beeswax wrap to wrap up any loaves or other baking and it works perfectly, without the plastic. You can also use a container of some kind if preferred. Much like pain d’epices, the loaf slices more nicely the following day, and has a more even sweetness.

If your loaf is crumbly or seems dry, it’s likely due to one of two reasons: either another type of milk was used, or the dry ingredient measurements were incorrect. I highly recommend using the weight measurements as flour in particular is so hard to measure accurately with cups.

Sometimes the coconut milk mixture can look a little curdled. This is usually due to the ingredients being a little cold, and the fat in the milk hardens a bit and floats. It will mix into the loaf, but if you’re worried, you can gently heat it to melt the cream.

A glass loaf tin, as pictured, typically needs the full 60 minute baking time and does cause a little extra browning around the edges – which I like. Thinner metal tins might require a little less baking time, but a skewer test (insert a wooden skewer, if no crumbs stick, the loaf is ready) is always helpful.

How to Store

Storage: cool completely before wrapping well. Keep the bread out at room temperature for up to three days.

Freezing: cool, then place the loaf in an airtight container. Freeze for up to three months. It does tend to crumble a little more when sliced after being frozen, but not too much.