Having recently purchased Jim Lahey’s wonderful book My Bread, I was eager to try out a new no-knead recipe. Investigating the pantry, I spied a bag of coconut that had been sitting there for far too long, and a bag of chocolate chips that had been opened by the Long Suffering Husband.
Uh oh. The LSH will allow cookies, crackers and chocolate chips to remain untouched for a time, but at a certain point, the “statute of limitations” comes into effect. This means that if I haven’t used it, I lose it. Also, once something is opened, it rapidly disappears. All this activity takes place invisibly. I think he has found a way to eat while he’s asleep. On second thought, it’s probably while I’m asleep.
At any rate, the situation called for decisive action, so I settled on Jim Lahey’s Coconut Chocolate Bread. Lahey’s no-knead breads take very little work, but you have to plan ahead, which is a deal breaker for a lot of people. I don’t always remember to put the bread up 18 hours in advance. Still, the results are well worth the trouble. I dumped everything in the bowl and mixed it.
Right away, I suspected something was wrong. The dough seemed very stiff, not loose the way Lahey dough normally is. The loose dough allows the yeast to work its way through, developing the gluten so that you end up with that slightly elastic texture which good bread has. But this was a new recipe. I had never tried a Lahey bread with additions, so I didn’t worry too much.
The next day when I checked the dough, it was still stiff. It had risen, but it didn’t have the trademark bubbly surface. Checking the recipe, I realized that I had put in all the coconut at once, instead of retaining half to add while shaping it. My main worry at this point was that the bread would turn out cakey instead of bready, due to insufficient development of the gluten. That’s when I veered completely off Lahey’s instructions, and decided to bake it in a loaf pan instead of a pot. If it was going to resemble a tea bread, I wanted a nice soft crust. I dumped the bread in the pan and let it rise for another hour. We are experiencing a very cold winter, so I used a heating pad wrapped in a towel–a tip from a bread-baking friend.
Cast adrift from the mooring of my recipe, I had to figure out what temperature to use and how long to bake it. I settled on 350F (176C) for an hour, which would be normal for a loaf of quick bread. At the end of the hour, it was not as brown as I wanted, so I gave it another ten minutes.
Words cannot express how good this bread smells while it’s cooking. And it tastes amazing. With all that coconut, the texture is a bit chewy and dense, like a macaroon cookie, but with the flavor of good bread too. If I make it again, I’ll follow the same procedures. The Long Suffering Husband, by the way, waited until I was in bed, and then went to the freezer and pulled out the container of bread and ate two more slices. It was silly of me to think it would last long enough to need freezing.
It looks (and sounds) yummy!… I’ll have to give it a shot soon (maybe this weekend?)…All the best to you, Aquileana ⭐
Let me know if you try it!
Tasty!! 😉 A very interesting breakfast 😀
Many thanks! I will definitely make this again, and I might try it with Silk Coconut milk as the liquid instead of water.
Nothing like something going wrong to test a cooks mettle. Nice work LM, a delicious looking brekkie indeed.
Thank ye kindly! I have hidden away one slice in the freezer where the LSH cannot find it. I’m leisurely considering my options for when to eat it 🙂
oh this is wicked of you indeed!!! Coconut and chocolate are 2 of my favourite flavours and together just heavenly! Now i want this soooo badly! If you have any recipes that involved the 2 like the bread above please throw my way!
Also can i ask anyone for a good banana bread recipe with nuts? All i can find in shops is banana bread with dates and i don’t want sweet on top of sweet i wants nuts with it! Eternally grateful for any suggestions!
You’re making me go look for a Bounty, evil women you! and the ones i like with dark chocolate area nearly impossible to find!
I am a banana bread lover too, but I cannot find the recipe that I remember from my childhood (nuts, no dates!). Every time I make it, it’s a little too dry. And I don’t get that many chances because I buy bananas but they get scarfed down by the LSH before they are ripe enough to make bread.
same problem here because i actually like to eat them a bit under-ripe so never have any that would do for a banana bread 🙂 I’ll dig one up as i really crave it now 😉
Oh yes, I like my bananas with a tiny tinge of green still on them. They are tastier that way, I think.
“My main worry at this point was that the bread would turn out cakey instead of bready”
…you lost me right there!
LOL. I knew when I wrote it that you would disapprove 🙂 Bread has its attractions too! This loaf came out with the toothsome elasticity of good yeasted bread, and the richness and moistness of cake–even though the recipe includes no eggs or butter! The coconut and chocolate were enough to make it very luscious.
I strongly doubt there’s any left for me to verify those claims….
Too right 🙂
you’re so cruel! i’m halfway between breakfast and a late (7 p.m.!) dinner date and the fact you showed SAUSAGES with the bread, is, well, still somewhat cruel. :0 ~
what is Nilgiri tea?
Nilgiri is a black tea from the Tamil Nadu region of India. It’s very aromatic. Good stuff!
I have always had a weakness for sausages, and being a vegetarian has not slowed me down 🙂 There are some really delicious choices these days.
What I wouldn’t give to rush on down to your house right now and snag a slice of that gem! And I love when food science works in your favor in the kitchen. I’m all for going off recipe. You never know what truly remarkable treasure springs out of an unexpected stick in the spoke.
Must. Have. Cake-bread.
Usually the results of my experiments are not so brilliant. It reminds me of that scene in Young Frankenstein when Igor brings him a brain. After putting it in the Creature, the Doctor asks whose brain it was, and he says, “Aby Normal.”
abby. abby somebody. abby …