Toasted Coconut Bread With Maple Syrup

Let’s just call this the BEST breakfast ever! Freshly baked coconut bread, thickly sliced, and I mean thickly sliced! Put into the toaster until warm and slightly crisp, spread with butter and then drizzled with maple syrup. I don’t think I need to carry on talking … OK, just one more thing, the smell of this coconut bread baking in the oven will permeate the entire house, leaving you and anyone who enters, with an intense sense of well being, just saying!

Makes 8 -10 thick slices

Ingredients –

• 1¹/₂ cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 300ml milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla essence
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 165 g desiccated coconut
• 75g Unsalted butter, melted

For serving –

• Butter
• Good quality, organic maple syrup
• Grated cheese – optional, but highly recommended

Recipe –

• Preheat the oven to 180 C
• Grease and flour a loaf tin – 20x 20cm (or what ever you have)
• Melt the butter in the microwave for 1 minute
• In a bowl lightly whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla essence together
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cinnamon and baking powder
• Add the sugar and coconut to the flour and mix until combined
• Gradually add the egg/ milk mixture to the flour and mix until just combined
• Add the melted butter and stir, do not over stir the mixture
• Pour into the greased tin and bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean
• Remove and cool on a rack for 10 minutes and then remove from the tin and cool further

Dee’s notes –

• The grated cheese works well for a savory touch to the bread
• You can have this any time of the day, my family have been know to have this for breakfast, lunch and tea time
• I know it’s not the healthiest, but see it as an occasional treat
• It’s even nicer with a cup of coffee or tea
• Kids love it
• If you really want to be ridiculous, I mean that in the best way, add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream onto the hot toast and then drizzle with maple syrup
• Do use good quality maple syrup; the real deal is so much nicer than the cloyingly thick and sweet synthetic stuff.
• The best part is, no need to wait for the butter to come to room temperature like in most cake baking recipes, just pop the butter in the microwave. Voila!