Jamaican Coco Bread

Coco bread is a soft and slightly sweet Caribbean bread made with flour, yeast, coconut milk, and a little bit of sugar. 

Coconut milk is a surprisingly wonderful addition to this bread. It adds a tiny hint of coconut flavor that is almost indiscernible. It's more fragrance than flavor and the coconut flavor is super mild. In fact, if you aren't told about the coconut milk, you might not even be able to tell. 

However, the coconut milk seems to make the dough completely manageable yet light. I'll be experimenting with it in enriched breads for sure! 

This bread is so soft and fluffy. You roll it out and fold it before baking it so that you can open it to fill it with your favorite sweet or savory fillings. For breakfast, we filled it with cream cheese and sour cherry jam, and for lunch, we used it to make savory sandwiches. 

From what I understand, this bread is traditional in Jamaica, as well as the rest of the Caribbean. Evidently, one of the favorite ways to enjoy it is to fill it with a beef patty or pasty from a patty shop... basically a hand pie wrapped in a bread roll. Doesn't that sound like comfort food?

Another favorite filling is Jamaican meat loaf, where you stuff the dough with cooked minced spicy beef and bake. This reminds me of a Nebraskan runza, but spicier. 

Ingredients in Jamaican Coco Bread:

Flour: I used bread flour, but all purpose flour would work too. 

From the Pantry: Instant yeast, salt, and sugar: For the sugar, you will only need three tablespoons for 8 buns. 

Coconut Milk: Use full fat coconut milk. 

For Brushing the Dough: Melted coconut oil and butter. 

 Tips For Making Coco Bread:

First, the dough will seem like it's too sticky, but once it had risen, it will come together and be easy to work with. While you can flour your work surface when rolling out the dough rounds to shape and fold the bread, I found it wasn't necessary. The fat in the coconut milk seems to prevent sticking. 

Be sure to brush the dough rounds with the melted butter and coconut oil mixture before folding them into half rounds. This will prevent the bread from adhering to itself while baking. 

You can easily make all eight of the rolls on one half sheet pan, even if they rise enough to touch each other. 

While it's best the day that it is made, coco bread will keep for about 3 days at room temperature. You can also individually wrap the cooled breads in plastic wrap and freeze them to be thawed and reheated later. 

Also, slightly stale coco bread can be freshened by reheating in a toaster oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes. You can also reheat one in the microwave for about 15 to 20 seconds. 

The Bread Baking Babes are making Jamaican Coco Bread this month. Our host is Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen. 

After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the Bread Baking Babes' creative takes on Jamaican Coco Bread! 

Jamaican Coco Bread

Yield: 8 Breads

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 20 MinInactive time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 3 H & 20 M

Coco bread is a soft and slightly sweet Caribbean bread made with flour, yeast, coconut milk, and a little bit of sugar.

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 242 grams (1 cup) coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 50 grams (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 390 to 420 grams (3 cups) bread flour
• 1 teaspoon table salt

For Brushing the Dough

• 1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, hand-whisk together the coconut milk, instant yeast, sugar, and melted butter. Let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk in the egg.
3. Add the flour and salt and knead with the dough hook for about 8 to 10 minutes on medium low, until you have a smooth and elastic dough that is tacky.
4. Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a greased dough rising bucket. Cover, and let rise until doubled, about 90 to 120 minutes.
5. At the end of the rising time, mix the melted butter and coconut oil.
6. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape them into balls. Roll each ball out into 6 inch rounds, about 1/4 inch thick. Brush each with some of the melted butter/coconut mixture, fold them in half, and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise until puffy, about 45 minutes.
7. While the shaped rolls are rising, heat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the center of the oven.
8. When ready to bake, remove the plastic wrap and brush each roll with more of the butter and coconut oil mixture.
9. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until golden.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

360

Fat (grams)

18 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

13 g

Carbs (grams)

43 g

Fiber (grams)

2 g

Net carbs

41 g

Sugar (grams)

5 g

Protein (grams)

8 g

Cholesterol (grams)

40 mg

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The Bread Baking Babes' Versions of this Jamaican Coco Bread:

A Messy Kitchen

Judy's Gross Eats

Blog from OUR Kitchen

Bread Experience

My Diverse Kitchen