Jamaican Coco bread

Jamaican Coco bread is a traditional Jamaican pastry made from flour, sugar, coconut milk, and butter. It has a soft texture and a delicate coconut flavor. It is often served with Jamaican patties (filled pastries).

Very few people in Jamaica bake their own coco bread. There are numerous bakeries there that are somewhat different from bakeries in Germany. These bakeries (e.g., Juici Patties) offer coco bread and a variety of patties.

The preparation isn't very difficult, though. The most important thing is enough time, because yeast dough needs time. If you'd like to try making Coco bread, I have a simple recipe for you here.

You can serve it as a side dish with jerk chicken, fill it with tofu, or serve it as bread with stews.

Ingredients
500 g flour
1 packet of dry yeast (equivalent to 20 g of fresh yeast)
250-300 ml coconut milk from a Tetra Pak, not from a can.
1/2 tsp salt
3 tablespoons of sugar
A little butter for spreading

preparation
Place the flour in a bowl, make a well in the center with a spoon, and add the dry yeast along with a large pinch of sugar and a little lukewarm water (about 3 tablespoons). Cover the yeast-sugar mixture with a little flour and let it activate for about 15 minutes, until bubbles appear. Add the remaining ingredients (except the butter) and knead the dough until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It should still be moist enough that you need flour for your hands (otherwise it will be sticky). If the dough is a hard ball with cracks, it is definitely too dry. Knead the dough again on a floured work surface and shape it into a ball. Cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 1-2 hours in a warm, draft-free place. It should double in size.

Divide the dough into several roughly equal pieces. The larger the pieces, the larger the loaves will be. 500g of flour will yield at least 6-7 large or approximately 10-11 smaller Coco breads.

Let the dough balls rest for another 15 minutes.

Roll out the dough balls into rounds and brush one side with melted butter. Fold in half and place on a baking sheet. Repeat until all dough balls are used. Let the dough rise again for 10-15 minutes. Brush the tops of the Coco bread with melted butter and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°C (350°F) using conventional oven settings (fan oven not recommended).