Quick Coconut Bread

This is the quick bread for those of us who despise the taste of bananas. It's also the quick bread for those of us who don't really plan ahead. Don't have the time to wait for the bananas to ripen? Don't want to grate zucchini for long periods of time?  No worries.

When my roommate left for the grocery store one block away, I hadn't even pulled the ingredients for this bread out of the pantry. By the time he returned with a small bag of groceries, I was slipping the bread into the oven and cleaning up the dishes.

And the results? Delightful. The bread had just the right amount of sweetness in it, and it didn't crumble too much when sliced. The crust was delightful golden. A light taste of cinnamon wove through each slice, catching me by surprise, and the coconut was a perfect textural contrast.

It was delicious eaten fresh from the pan, and it was an even bigger treat toasted with butter for breakfast. For the ten minutes this took to make and clean up from, this bread will be made regularly.



Quick Coconut Bread
recipe adapted from The Wednesday Chef

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut (I used 1 cup of sweetened coconut and 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Butter (for greasing the pan)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and coconut. Make a well in the center, and stir the egg mixture (eggs, milk and vanilla) into the flour mixture gradually, until the ingredients are just combined.

Add the melted butter to the mixture and stir until just smooth. Do not overwork.

Butter and flour a loaf pan. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake the bread until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This could take from 45 minutes (my oven) to 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours, depending on your oven. Start checking it at 45 minutes and adjust from there.

Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove it. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve: Cut the bread into thick slices. Eat fresh at room temperature, or toast the bread and top it with salted butter. Or get even fancier with a little jam (I think apricot or raspberry would be delightful with the coconut).

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