Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Coconut Bread - a quick and easy treat!

This is my all-time favorite "quick" bread. You can make it in full-size loaves, as directed in this recipe - or make mini loaves, or muffins of any size. If you change the size of whatever you're baking, do everything the same way as in the recipe below - BUT be sure to check for doneness a lot sooner: smaller breads will cook much faster than the large loaf.

MAKES 1 LARGE LOAF (9” X 5”) OR 3 DISPOSABLE LOAF PANS

2 3/4 cups, flour
1 cup, sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon, baking powder
1 teaspoon, salt
1 1/4 cups, shredded coconut - toasted and cooled
1 1/2 cups, milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons, peanut oil
1 teaspoon, coconut extract
Oil for coating loaf pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into mixing bowl. Add toasted coconut and blend well.

In a separate bowl, combine milk, egg, oil and extract, and blend well. Add this mixture to dry ingredients, all at once, and stir briefly to blend. Do not over-mix. Turn into oiled pan(s).

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on pan size. (When a skewer, inserted in the middle of the loaf, comes out clean, the bread is done.) Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out loaves and cool on a cake rack, to room temperature, before slicing.

This bread is even better (and easier to slice neatly) after several hours.

Wrap well in aluminum foil for storage.

P.S. I can’t tell you how good it is toasted by the slice, and buttered!

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