How to Make Soft, Buttery Jamaican Coco Bread (2024)

Updated: Feb. 20, 2024

If you enjoy a good dinner roll, then you'll love Jamaican coco bread.

This bread is one half of the most popular lunch in Jamaica: patty and cocoa bread. Prepare a Jamaican beef patty with onion and spices, then bake a batch of homemade Jamaican coco bread and prepare your taste buds for a trip to the tropics.

What Is Coco Bread?

Jamaican coco bread is a buttery, subtly sweet folded bread. It gets part of its name from the coconut milk used to impart tropical flavor. Without coconut milk, the ingredients for coco bread are surprisingly similar to fluffy American dinner rolls.

Like many traditional Jamaican foods, coco bread was born out of a need to make simple yet tasty food. This recipe is presumed to have been created by an enslaved person with few ingredients on hand. The result is a coconut-flavored bread that makes a hearty accompaniment to just about anything.

Coco bread is a major part of the Jamaican experience and is widely popular with local school children and working adults. It’s easy to understand why. This subtly sweet bread makes a perfect sandwich when paired with fish, vegetables or jam.

How to Make Jamaican Coco Bread

This recipe makes about 6 pieces of bread.

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon rapid rise yeast

Directions

Step 1: Prepare a baking sheet

Line a large baking sheet with greased parchment paper.

Step 2: Proof the yeast

Candi Rookwood-Clarke for Taste of Home

Heat the coconut milk until warm. Then add the yeast, sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the milk and stir until combined.

Step 3: Make the dough

Candi Rookwood-Clarke for Taste of Home

Sift the flour into a medium bowl and add one teaspoon of salt.

Then, slowly add the coconut milk mixture while stirring the flour. Keep stirring and flicking the dough off the sides of the bowl until a ball of dough is formed.

Once formed, place dough into a greased bowl, cover with a clean cloth and allow it to rise for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Step 4: Cut and roll the dough

Candi Rookwood-Clarke for Taste of Home

Once risen, press or punch the dough to release air. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into about 6 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.

Roll each dough ball with a rolling pin until it’s spread to about the size of a dinner plate and about ¼ inch thick. Brush the surface of the dough with remaining melted butter, then fold the dough in half and brush the top.

Place dough on the prepared pan and repeat the steps for the remaining pieces. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes before baking.

Step 5: Bake

Bake at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes until nicely browned on top. Serve warm.

Jamaican Coco Bread Recipe Tips

What do you eat with Jamaican coco bread?

In Jamaica, coco bread is commonly had with Jamaican patties. Whether you prefer a beef, chicken or cheese patty, opt to complement your patty experience with coco bread to make a filling sandwich.

Apart from patties, coco bread can also be enjoyed in the form of meat loaf. This is not like traditional meat loaf, though. Instead, the coco bread is filled with your choice of cooked and seasoned ground beef, callaloo, ackee or cheese.

Can you make coco bread in advance?

While coco bread is most tasty when served fresh it can still be baked in advance and reheated to restore its warmth. If it’s being prepared a few hours ahead of serving time, store your bread in the refrigerator to maintain the freshness and pop them into the oven for a few minutes on low heat and your guests won’t be able to tell the difference.

How do you store coco bread?

To store a batch of coco bread, put in an airtight freezer bag and keep in the freezer for future use. To refresh your Jamaican coco bread, lightly toast in a toaster oven at 270° for 5-10 minutes.

Like most bread, coco bread is not meant to be stored for prolonged periods. Eat your coco bread within 7 days of baking.

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How to Make Soft, Buttery Jamaican Coco Bread (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making soft bread? ›

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Get More Info Here ›

What makes bread soft and tender? ›

Usually it's gluten (a product of the protein in flour) that determines bread's texture. Bread where gluten plays a prominent role will be chewier. When the gluten level is lower, or when gluten is tamed by the addition of “softeners” like milk, butter, eggs, or oil, the bread will be more tender.

Discover More Details ›

How to make bread fluffy and not dense? ›

Dense or heavy bread can be caused by not kneading the dough enough, not letting the dough rise enough, or using too much flour. To fix this issue: try kneading the dough for longer or allowing it to rise for a longer period. You can also try adding a little more liquid to the dough or using a higher protein flour.

Keep Reading ›

What is Jamaican coco bread made of? ›

Coco bread is the Jamaican answer to American-style yeast rolls. The bread is made with flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter, and coconut milk.

What do they put in bread to keep it soft? ›

Commercial dough conditioners. They will help to lock moisture in the flour and keep bread and baked goods moist longer. What is put in commercial bread that makes it last so long? I made a sandwich last night with bread that had a "best by" date of exactly 3 months ago.

Know More ›

What is the secret of soft dough? ›

Milk powder.

Instant milk powder makes bread dough super soft and fluffy and also helps to give it a good rise. It also contributes to the dough staying nice and soft after baking for a little longer than a recipe that does not use milk powder.

Read On ›

What to add to make bread more moist? ›

For example, fats like butter or oil can help keep moisture in, while sugars will help to caramelize on the outside and create a golden crust. These ingredients can also play an essential role in keeping your bread moist when added in smaller quantities.

Learn More ›

Does butter make bread softer? ›

Butter, technically a dough enrichment, tenderizes bread dough and limits gluten development, yielding a softer, more tender crumb and a richer flavor. The butter in this sourdough babka dough makes the interior tender—and delicious. Photo by Maurizio Leo.

Does letting bread rise longer make it fluffier? ›

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

Show Me More ›

What does baking powder do in bread? ›

As with baking soda, the purpose of baking powder is to create air bubbles that give your baked goods their light, airy texture. There are two types of baking powder: single action and double action. Single action baking powder creates the carbon dioxide bubbles upon contact with moisture, similar to baking soda.

What kind of bread is most commonly used in Jamaica? ›

Coco Bread - a popular staple bread in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean made primarily with flour and coconut milk, then slightly sweetened just to tickle your tastebuds. Buttery, slightly sweet with a spot on firmness on the outside and softness on the inside.

Learn More Now ›

What is Jamaican hard dough? ›

Hard dough bread, also called hardo bread, is a Caribbean cuisine bread similar to the Pullman loaf or pain de mie, although hard dough bread tends to be sweeter. The dough consists of flour, water, yeast, salt and sugar. Additional ingredients such as treacle, molasses, and vegetable shortening can be used.

How to reheat jamaican coco bread? ›

Place coco bread on a baking, brush with melted butter. Place the baking sheet with the buttered coco bread into the oven and let them reheat for 7-10 minutes or until warm and fluffy. Once reheated, remove from the oven, let cool and then serve.

See Details ›

How do bakeries make such soft bread? ›

Consistency: Bakeries often use machines to ensure consistent kneading and proofing times. This consistency is key to producing the same soft texture batch after batch. Special Ingredients: Many bakeries use dough conditioners or enhancers, which improve the texture and extend the bread's shelf life.

How do you make bakery bread soft? ›

Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place on a baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes. In the microwave: Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place it on a microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 10 seconds.