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This coconut bake, also known as Trinidad pot bake, is a traditional Caribbean bread that’s thick, slightly dense, and beautifully soft inside with a lightly crisp top.
Unlike sweet coconut loaves or cake-style breads, coconut bake is a yeast-based bread intended to be served with savory dishes such as saltfish, smoked herring, or fresh buljol salad. It’s equally delicious warm from the oven with butter or cheese.
Made with simple ingredients like flour, coconut milk, shredded coconut, butter, yeast, and nutmeg, this recipe creates an authentic bake that’s lightly sweet, rich with coconut flavor, and easy enough for beginners.
If you love making homemade breads like my multigrain bread, no-knead Turkish bread, or garlic naan, this Caribbean classic is another must-try.
What is coconut bake?
Coconut bake is not meant to be fluffy like sandwich bread or brioche. It has a slightly compact crumb with a soft interior and gently crisp exterior. It’s perfect for slicing or breaking apart to scoop up fillings.
Ingredients
- Flour: I used all-purpose flour. You can also use bread flour or a combination of the two. Keep in mind that bread flour will yield slightly chewier results.
- Yeast: I used active dry yeast. You could also use instant yeast (use 25% less).
- Coconut milk: Use store-bought or homemade coconut milk.
- Coconut: I used pure, white, peeled shredded coconut. If you want, you could use shredded coconut made from unpeeled coconut meat. It won’t affect the flavor at all, however, you’ll just have a few darker specks of brown skin in the bread.
- Butter: I used unsalted butter, but salted butter works, too. It’s best to take the butter out of the fridge in advance so it has time to soften.
- Sugar: I used light brown sugar.
- Salt and nutmeg: To season.
See the printable recipe card below for the full ingredients list and quantities.
How to make coconut bake
First, mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl – the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and spice. Then add the butter and mix it into the flour. I like using my hands for this to make it crumbly – it makes the dough easier to work with.
After that, add the shredded coconut and coconut milk. I warm the milk slightly until it’s lukewarm to activate the yeast.
Mix everything well. Knead the dough for a few minutes to fully incorporate all the ingredients.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Then cover the bowl and set it aside to rest for about 20-25 minutes before baking.
This bread should not rise as much as sandwich bread. Expect a moderate rise and a soft but slightly dense texture – that’s traditional.
After the first proofing, generously butter a baking dish or a regular baking tray. Place the dough in the baking dish and press it down to release any air bubbles.
As you press down, you can spread it out and make the ends a little bit thinner than the middle part.
Using a fork, poke holes all over the surface of the dough. After that, let it rest again for about 15-25 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC.
Bake the bread for about 20 minutes, or until it’s light golden brown. This coconut bake is so light and soft! It won’t be too fluffy, but it’ll have a nice crispy top.
Let the bread cool down before cutting so it’s easier to slice.
My tips
- Make sure the yeast hasn’t expired, so it activates. Otherwise, the dough won’t rise.
- Heat the milk until it’s lukewarm. You don’t want to make it too hot, though, just heat it until it feels comfortable when you pour a few drops on your wrist.
How to serve
This coconut bake recipe is served with a variety of dishes, including salted fish like Salted Cod Salad, but it’s also amazing with cheese, butter, or jam. Personally, I love it with butter as soon as it comes straight out of the oven!
Storage
Fridge: It can last up to about 4 days in the fridge. Wrap any leftovers in plastic wrap after they’ve cooled completely. Then put it in a storage bag. I like reheating or toasting any leftovers!
Freezer: Cool it completely and then wrap it in plastic wrap (whole or in individual pieces). It can be frozen for about 3-5 months. To thaw, just put it in the fridge, then reheat as needed or enjoy cold.
Related recipes
If you try this Trinidad coconut bake recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments below. I’d also appreciate a rating on the recipe card.
Coconut Bake (Trinidad Pot Bake)
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour all-purpose, bread flour, or a 50:50 combination
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup softened butter unsalted or salted, if preferred
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1 Tbsp sugar brown, coconut, white, etc.
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg powder
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl – the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and spice.
- Add the butter and mix it into the flour until crumbly.
- Add the shredded coconut and coconut milk (slightly warmed to activate the yeast faster).
- Knead the dough for a few minutes to combine all the ingredients well.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and set aside to rest for about 20-25 minutes before baking.
- Generously butter a baking dish or a regular baking tray.
- Place the dough in the baking dish and press it down to squeeze out all the air. As you press down, spread it out and make the ends a little bit thinner than the middle part.
- Using a fork, poke holes all over the surface of the dough. Then let it rest again for about 15-25 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Bake the bread for about 20 minutes, or until it’s light golden brown. Allow it to cool completely before cutting it.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just what I Ws looking for. Thank you for sharing!
Glad you liked it, Keshia! 🙂
Legit
Thank you!
I was looking for a fast, simple delicious recipe. And I’ve found it here. I tried your recipe for coconut bake. Thank you thank you thank you. It was perfectly stated and easy to follow. My bakes came out perfect, soft and delicious.
Glad you liked the recipe, Susan! Thank you!
Do you use sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut?
Hi Dee,
I use unsweetened shredded coconut!
I forget to give this recipe 5 stars.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Love this recipe it came out really good
Thank you for your comment, Maurissa!
I have no coconut milk.. can I use regular milk?
Hi Marie-Claire,
You can try using regular milk (full-fat is best) but just know that it won’t taste the same as it would with coconut milk as this and the shredded coconut is what gives this coconut bake its flavor.
Try this recipe today with salt fish salad (buljol).It was perfect. I followed the exact recipe. Thank you for this recipe. Would like to know if You would recommend using coconut extract to get that real Trinidad coconut flavor?
Thank you for your comment, Reynold. Glad you enjoyed the recipe. I thought it had a great coconut flavor without adding coconut extract. But I guess it could depend on the coconut used, so adding a few drops of coconut extract could help accentuate the flavor.
great recipe though i reduced the amount of liquid. I used 1 1/3 cups and it was wonderfully moist and fluffy!
Thanks for sharing, Maxine. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Lovely.
One question though, how much is 1 serving (in grammes)?
The nutrition information isn’t of much use if the serving size is unknown or vague, as in assumed that readers know.
368kcal in what weight of Coconut Bake!?
Hi Judith,
It depends on how you cut it – how small or big the pieces are. I cut mine into 8 pieces of about 125 g each so the information shown is for 1 of these pieces.
Please note that the nutritional information is calculated with an online database and, even though I provide accurate metrics, these figures should be considered only as estimates.