The Best Trinidad Coconut Bake Recipe: Simple and Easy
Trinidad coconut bake is comfort food meets savory bread. It’s soft and fluffy with a slightly crispy top and is especially great for breakfast with favorites like saltfish buljol, eggs, cheese, stir fried veggies and even choka.
My simple coconut bake recipe is tried and true and I’ve been making it for decades now. It comes out great every single time!
While I do prefer using a fresh brown coconut, you can substitute shredded coconut from the freezer section or dried shredded coconut with coconut milk. Nothing beats the fresh stuff though!
When you’re done with this Trinidadian coconut bake, stop by my bread recipes for hops bread and coconut sweet bread.
Table of contents– What is Trinidad coconut bake
– Coconut bake ingredients
– Video
– How to make coconut bake
– Recipe
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What is Trinidad coconut bake
Trinidad coconut bake is a traditional Caribbean savory bread made with grated brown coconut, flour, yeast and other simple ingredients. It is enjoyed in Trinidad and Tobago for breakfast with healthy sides, though you can have it for dinner too.
The bread is a dense one with great depth of flavor and not as crumbly as traditional bread and dinner rolls.
Coconut bake ingredients (what you need)
Equipment for coconut bake with fresh coconut
A small pairing knife or coconut meat extractor would be helpful to remove the coconut from its shell. You can also use a blender to grind the coconut with warm water.
How to make coconut bake
This video is on my Youtube channel:
How to make coconut bake in the oven (step by step)
Making coconut bake at home is simple and easier than it looks. Here’s the full step-by-step method, from cracking the coconut to pulling the fresh bread out of the oven!
Extract the coconut
Crack open the coconuts. To do this, hold the coconut over a bowl or the sink and strike the center of the coconut hard using the back of a cleaver or small mallet. The shell should crack and coconut water should spill out into the bowl. Continue the strikes until the coconut has cracked completely open. By the way, the water is drinkable.
Remove the white coconut meat using a small paring knife or a coconut meat extractor. Insert the knife between the meat and the shell and move slowly, twisting slightly to pry the meat out.
Blend
Cut the coconut meat into small pieces (you can peel the brown skin on the back of the coconut if you like). Add the pieces to your blender or food processor with about two cups of warm water. Blend until the coconut meat becomes fine. If you are using shredded coconut and coconut milk as the substitutes, you can warm the milk gently before adding to a blender with the shredded coconut. Blend together and continue on.
Proof the yeast
Add the yeast to the warm blended coconut and set aside to proof for about 15 minutes.
Mix the other ingredients
Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and nutmeg to a large bowl. Give everything a good mix. Rub softened butter into the dry ingredients. When you’re done, the ingredients should resemble a coarse mixture.
Form the dough
Add the blended coconut with the yeast to your dry ingredients. Keep a half cup of warm water on the side just in case you need a little extra liquid. Extra flour will come in handy too.
Knead everything together until a soft, smooth dough forms. This will take some time and a little elbow grease but you want to develop the gluten bonds in the dough. Cover the smooth dough and leave to proof for about 30 minutes or so.
Roll out
Remove the cover and punch down the dough. Divide it into two. Roll each one out until it is three quarter of an inch thick. If you want the bake thinner, roll out until it is half an inch thick. Place in a buttered tray or dish or cast iron pan. Poke holes in the top with a fork. These allow the gases to escape when baking.
Cover the bakes and leave to rest for another 15 minutes or so. Preheat the oven at 400°F while you are waiting for that fifteen minutes to pass.
Bake
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes. The bakes are done when the top has browned and the center is cooked all the way through. When they’re done, remove from the heat. You can brush the tops with melted butter at this point to keep the bakes soft and fluffy. Cut into wedges or squares and serve hot.
What do you eat with coconut bake?
Coconut bake and saltfish is the classic Trini breakfast pairing! But, since it is a bread, coconut bake is incredibly versatile and works well with
- Saltfish buljol – popular pairing
- Smoked herring – another Caribbean breakfast staple
- Scrambled or fried eggs with a slice of tomato
- Cheese and butter – with hot bake out of the oven is comfort food heaven and a little nostalgic.
- Fried plantains and avocado
- Tomato choka or stir-fried vegetables
- Deli meats — I love mine toasted with turkey, cheese, and red onions (basically a Trini panini)
Soft Trinidad coconut bake recipe
Trinidad coconut bake
Ingredients
- 1 brown coconut or ¾ cup finely grated coconut meat
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 4 ½ cups flour
- ½ tsp baking powder (optional)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ cup cookeen or butter (softened)
Equipment
- food processor or blender
Instructions
- Crack open brown coconut. Remove the meat. Cut into pieces (optional: remove the brown 'skin').
- Add warm water and brown coconut pieces to blender or food processor.
- Blend until relatively smooth.
- Add yeast to the blended coconut. Set aside to proof for 10 – 15 minutes.
- Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl – flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and nutmeg.
- Rub butter into the dry ingredients until it has a coarse texture.
- Add blended coconut and water to the dry ingredients.
- Knead to form a soft, smooth dough (about 5 to 10 minutes of kneading).
- Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
- Remove cover. Punch down.
- Divide dough into two.
- Roll out each dough ball until it is ¾ inch to ½ inch thick (based on your preferences).
- Use a fork to poke holes in the dough (so it does not rise much while baking).
- Place in a buttered tray, baking dish, or cast iron pot.
- Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven at 400°F.
- Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until a golden brown color develops on the top and the center is fully cooked.
- Remove from heat.
- Brush with melted butter (optional) and cut into wedges or squares.
- Slice in half and serve hot.
Great recipe
Easy to do it yourself
Made this twice and both times it came out really good and soft. I prefer peeling the brown stuff off the coconut too.
I have tried several coconut bake recipes but this one is the best ever! The bake was so fluffy and nice. I usually don’t write recipe reviews but had to write this one.
Awww yayy!! I’m glad you’re enjoying the bake. Hubby bought a panini press recently and let me tell you paninis with coconut bake are 10/10!!
Excellent recipe. I substituted a few things I used sprouted spelt flour, coconut oil for butter and maple syrup for sugar. It still came out fantastic. My family loved it. Thank you so much for sharing 💕