Coconut Bubble Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've been searching for something new to serve for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. When you've cooked as long as I have, novelty can be a problem. I've whisked and woked my way through lots of kitchens and have seen food fads come and go, then come and go again. Ming Tsai, Emeril Lagasse and, worse yet, Jamie Oliver have aged before my eyes, so perhaps you can understand why I'm vexed that it's so hard to find something really new for the holidays this season. It once was a very easy thing to do. Alas, that is no longer true. I decided I'd have to cast a wider net to find what I was looking for this year. If it could be eaten, didn't bite back and came with a readable recipe, it became fair game in my hunt for the new or novel. A fairly general query led me to a wonderful site called The Knead for Bread and there I found this lovely yeasted coconut bread. While there are many recipes for coconut quick breads, this was the first I'd seen for one leavened with yeast. I wanted a sweet bread that could be toasted for a holiday breakfast and this recipe was perfect for my needs. I did make some minor changes to the recipe after tasting the first of the loaves I baked. I added coconut extract to the ingredient list to give the bread a more pronounced coconut flavor. I also removed the grated coconut from the dough but left it in the topping. The bread is delicious and it has a wonderful crumb. It makes marvelous toast and will be perfect for a holiday breakfast. If you prefer, the bread can be pulled off in hunks and eaten out of hand, gorilla style. I know you will like this. Here's the recipe.

Coconut Bubble Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of The Knead for Bread

Ingredients:
Dough
2/3 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 to 2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoon milk powder
4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
4 cups all-purpose flour
Topping
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon butter, soft
2 tablespoon coconut(finely chopped)

Directions:
1) In a large bowl add coconut milk, lukewarm water, butter, coconut extract, sugar, milk powder, yeast, salt and egg. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add half of flour and continue to mix till smooth. Gradually add in remainder of flour. When it becomes difficult to mix, dump onto a work surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Oil bottom and sides of a bowl. Add dough and turn to coat all sides with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour, or until double in bulk. Cut dough into two equal pieces. Take one piece and cut into 16 more pieces. Roll the first eight piece of dough into a ball and place into the bottom of an 4-1/2 X 8 greased loaf pan. Now, roll out the other 8 pieces of dough and place them on top of those already in pan. Do the same with the other large piece of dough and you should end up with two loaves. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for about an hour or till the dough reaches about 1 inch from the top of the pan.
2) To make the topping, mix flour, butter, sugar and coconut together in a small bowl. Using your fingers mix till the mixture becomes a crumble. In a separate bowl combine the egg white and the tablespoon of water. Beat with a wire whisk till foamy. Brush the tops of the loaves with the foam and then sprinkle with the crumble topping. Place into a 350 degree preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Yield: 2 loaves.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Christmas Stollen - The English Kitchen
Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Rolls - Two Peas and Their Pod
Lemon Pull-Apart Loaf - Buttercream Barbie
Quick Brioche - Piece of Cake
Day Before Cinnamon Rolls - Cookie Madness
Hot Cross Buns - Buttercream Barbie

This post is being linked to:
Wild Yeast - Yeast Spotting