Jamaican Coco Bread

It’s another month, and another Bread Baking Babes bread post. You might have noticed that we’ve recently been baking once every two months rather than every month. We decided to do this as it was easier for us. This month it was my turn to pick a bread and chose Jamaican Coco Bread/ Coconut Milk Bread.

Jamaican Coco Bread are soft, fluffy and slightly sweet half mooned shaped coconut buns from Jamaica. They’re common across other countries in the Caribbean too. Jamaican Coco Bread supposedly gets its name from the generous amount of coconut milk in the dough. Its folded shape can be pulled open easily making it perfect for sandwiches. Jamaicans like these buns best stuffed with creamy cheddar cheese or a beef patty. Jamaican beef patties are flaky pastry pockets with spicy beef filling.

Jamaican Coco Bread are somewhat like the Chinese Baozi or steamed Bao buns to look at. These can be eaten on their own or sandwiched with vegetable or meat fillings. I would also suggest a filling of mild cheddar cheese and thin slices of apple or apple-ginger jam.

These Coconut Milk Breads are a staple, sold everywhere on the islands and make for a filling meal-on-the-go. No quite knows the origin of this slightly sweet little breads. It is thought to have been invented by the local population of slaves and indentured labourers who worked on Caribbean sugar plantations. They were poor and had to make the most of whatever little they had. It’s not surprising that some of the best things come out of adversity.

Coco Bread is made from a slightly sweet, yeasted enriched soft and elastic dough. The dough is proofed and then portioned and shaped into balls. These are rolled out into about 6-inch circles that about 1/4-inch thick. A mixture of melted butter and coconut oil is brushed over the dough circles, and they are folded over in half. This keeps the flaps of dough a little separation, making it easy to open them for sandwiches. A little more of the butter-oil mixture is brushed on top and they’re allowed to rise a little. After proofing, we portion the dough into balls, and roll the balls into rounds. Then they’re baked till golden brown.

In any recipe that requires coconut milk, freshly squeezed coconut milk gives you the best flavor. However, canned or packed full fat coconut milk works just fine. You can use reconstituted coconut milk powder as well. What you need is thick coconut milk but not coconut cream which tends to be much thicker.

The breads are typically large enough to make a sandwich, so the recipe below should make 8 Coco Breads about 6-inches in diameter. Make 6 of them if you want slightly larger ones. Some people roll the dough quite thin (about 1/8-inch thick or so) while others roll it out a little thicker. I prefer mine rolled out about 1/4-inch thick so they puff up a little more on baking.

Soft, fluffy and slightly sweet folded half moon shaped yeasted coconut sandwich buns from Jamaica.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Resting Time 2 hours 40 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 25 minutes

Course breads

Cuisine Jamaican

Servings 6 Jamaican Coco Buns

Ingredients

For the Dough:
1 cup lukewarm thick coconut milk
1 tsp instant yeast
3 tbsp sugar
50 gm unsalted butter melted
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
For Brushing on the Dough:
25 gm unsalted butter melted
2 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions

Pour the lukewarm coconut milk, melted butter, sugar and yeast into the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix and leave for about 5 minutes. Add the egg, and the flour and salt.
Knead until you have a soft, smooth and elastic dough that is no longer sticky. Add a spoonsful of flour, if and as necessary to achieve this consistency. The dough should spring back slightly when you press it down gently.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat well. Loosely cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let it double in size. This should take about 2 hours or so depending on ambient temperature.
Mix together melted butter and coconut oil in a small bowl.
Lightly dust your countertop with flour and lightly knead the dough. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Shape each into a smooth ball and then roll out to 1/4-inch thick circles (bout 6-inches in diameter), or thinner if you prefer. Brush the surface of the dough circles with the butter-oil mixture. Fold over exactly in half into half-moon shapes.
Place the folded dough on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the folded dough with some more of the butter-oil mixture. You can also brush the tops of the folded dough with just melted butter or coconut milk, if you prefer.
Loosely cover them and allow to rise for about 30 to 40 minutes. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C (350F) for about 15 minutes or till they’re golden brown and done. Let them cool on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm, plain or as a sandwich,