Coconut Bread

I won this coconut oil on a blog giveaway at Girls to Grow, it's a great mommy blog with lots of tips, info and mommy concerns. I have been wanting to try organic virgin coconut oil for awhile and was lucky to win a generous 32 oz jar. Tropical Traditions is a great company that offers many quality organic products, and offers many specials and blog giveaways. I bought some bamboo, red and black rice when they offered free shipping. I still want to try their coconut chips and coconut flour. I wanted to try the oil for cooking as well as skin care. it is also supposed to be pretty healthy for you. I first tried using it when making popcorn, and Maranda asked what that smell was. I thought it was great, but she wasn't so sure. It has a light coconut smell not overpowering at all. Then I thought I would check out more coconut recipes that they had on the website. Many use the coconut flour and coconut cream concentrate, they sound good, but I need more product.

I ended up finding this recipe found on at Caribbean Choice. I try to find recipes for sweet bread that doesn't use so many eggs or butter. This is a Jamaican recipe and I only made a few changes...I skipped the raisins and used the grated coconut in sweet syrup instead of peeling and grating a coconut.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup coconut milk
6 Tbsps. soft margarine, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 Tbsps. raisins, floured (I skipped this)
1/2 small coconut, peeled and grated (I had some canned grated coconut in sweet syrup instead)
I also added a little coconut essence for a little more coconut flavor, I wanted to really taste the coconut. Yum!

METHOD / DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven at 350°F/180°C
Sift dry ingredients in a bowl.
Combine sugar, beaten egg, coconut milk, melted margarine, vanilla, raisins and grated coconut.
Scrape mixture on a floured board and knead lightly to form a dough.
Shape dough and place into a greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done.

It was strange to place the bread in the pan after kneading it like this, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I spread the sweet coconut on top as well, hoping that it wouldn't burn. I had some sanding sugar that I added to the top too. The topping worked out well, I think next time I'll add more.

It was very good for breakfast and would be a great snack. You can spread it with a little cream, sweetened condensed milk, butter or jam...or eat it as is!

Mmmm...can you smell it? It didn't last long!