Coconut Bread

I had a bag of shredded coconut (sweetened) lying around, and decided to look for some recipes to use it up. I didn't feel like going out to the store to purchase any extra ingredients, so I limited myself to recipes with ingredients I already had. I came across this recipe for Coconut Bread on allrecipes.com and made a couple alterations. It needed a bit longer in the oven then the recommended 50-55 minutes. My loaf spent closer to 60-65 minutes in the oven before a toothpick came out clean after being inserted into the center of the bread. I also didn't have almond extract, so I substituted an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup flaked coconut **

** I used shredded coconut, I'm not really sure what the difference is.

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer.
• Add the egg and vanilla and almond extracts.
• Add the flour in thirds, alternating with the cup of milk. 
• Fold in the coconut.
• Pour the batter into a greased loaf tin.
• Bake 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Place the loaf on a wire tray to cool before serving.

The bread turned out to be moist and sweet, an ideal accompaniment for a cup of coffee or tea. 

I plan on trying this recipe again, with the almond extract because I love anything almond.

Irish Soda Bread

This is actually my mom's recipe, and she's from Ireland so it's pretty authentic. When I was younger, I didn't think I liked Soda Bread because whenever we had it at school on St Patrick's Day it was really dry with lots of seeds and raisins in it. But, I've come to realize that my mom's Soda Bread is far superior to whatever we had in elementary school. The soda in Soda Bread is baking soda, not any carbonated beverage, like one of my 6th grade classmates thought when I brought it in to share on St Patrick's Day. It's easy to make, so I hope you'll try out the recipe in honor of St Patrick. 


Ingredients:

• 4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 C Sugar
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 oz Butter (Room Temperature)
• 1 C Raisins
• 2 C Buttermilk

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Combine dry ingredients.
• Rub in butter by hand.
• Add raisins.
• Add buttermilk and mix.
• Pour batter into 2 (1 lb) loaf tins. 
• Bake for 45 minutes. 

To serve, slice and spread with butter. You could also add jam, but I like it best with just butter and a steaming mug/cup of Irish tea. Lá Fhéile Pádraig!