Crunchy Mama’s Coconut Bread Bites (Paleo, Gluten Free)

Crunchy Mama’s Coconut Bread Bites (Paleo, Gluten Free)

 

I rarely jump for joy these days. Mostly, this is due to me being 27 weeks pregnant so I am carrying a lot of weight up front. Today this little baking experiment did make me do a little jump (and without triggering an earthquake alert at the USGS either). It may be my favorite baked treat yet and I hope after reading this, you go and make it IMMEDIATELY!

I got inspiration for trying this out when I saw pĂŁo de queijo, a popular Brazilian cheese bread. The idea of a little ball of yummy gluten-free “bread” goodness was very appealing. I wanted to see if I could make a sweet coconut bread using the same base of tapioca flour dough and it has turned out really well – Crunchy on the outside and chewy and coconut-y on the inside. I am considering renaming these to Crunchy Mama’s Coconut Amazeballs.

In a small saucepan over low to medium heat, bring coconut milk, butter and coconut nectar (or raw honey) to a slow simmer.

simmer coconut milk, butter and coconut nectar

Add this to a mixing bowl with the tapioca flour and mix until everything is combined. Leave this to cool for 5 minutes.

Flour and milk mixture

Then, mix in the egg and shredded coconut with your hands. You can add more tapioca flour if this is too sticky.

Dough

Form cute little 1′ balls and place on a baking tray.

ready to go in oven

 

15-20 minutes later in a 400 oven, you should have these very lightly browned scrumptious coconut bread bites.

Crunchy Mama's Coconut Bread Bites

You’ll need:

  • 1 1/2 cups Tapioca flour
  • 1/2 cup full cream organic coconut milk
  • 1 TBSP grass fed butter
  • 1 TBSP coconut nectar (or honey)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2/3 – 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Measure tapioca flour, set aside in a medium bowl.
  3. In a small saucepan over Low-Medium heat, cook the coconut milk, butter and coconut nectar until it begins to simmer (Do not let it boil).
  4. Add saucepan mixture to the tapioca flour. Combine and let cool for 5 minutes.
  5. Add egg to the bowl and mix with your hands until you form a dough. It will be quite sticky.
  6. Add shredded coconut to the dough and mix until you form a ball. You can add some tapioca flour if the dough is still too sticky.
  7. Form into 1′ balls and set on a baking tray
  8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the balls are lightly brown.

The only problem with this snack is not being able to stop eating them – the three of us cleaned up the whole batch in about 10 minutes.

Crunchy Mama's Coconut Bread Bites


Comments

  1. I tried making these tonight, but they didn’t quite turn out as expected. For some reason, they didn’t have that cake-like quality that your’s does in the first picture. Instead, mine ended up like a Japanese mochi ball with a crispy outside. It may be my oven’s too hot and they cooked too fast. I tried popping them back in for an extended time, but it didn’t work. Anyhow, I’m not discouraged enough to quit.

    By the way, I love the recipes you share.

    • The inside is meant to be little chewy but not like a mochi. You are probably right that it cooked too quickly. You could try lowering your oven temp to 350 or 375 and baking for 20-25 minutes.

      Thank you for your support Shelley and I hope you have success with Round 2.

      • I tried one this morning. They were more like yours. It may have been they just needed to cool off, more. Next time, though, I will consider lower the oven temperature and letting them bake a little slower. They sure would be good with a little chocolate drizzle!

  2. I am limited with some ingredients… What brand of coconut mil and coconut nectar please

  3. Do you think almond flour could work? I don’t have any tapioca on hand and need these NOW! 🙂

  4. Oh…my…goodness. I believe I see monkey bread in my future.

    My 18-year-old son thanks you from the bottom of his heart.

  5. What would you recommend to replace the egg in this recipe? I’d love to make these, but I am egg-free.

    • Hmm I haven’t tried it myself but some friends allergic to eggs will use things like commercial egg replacements, flaxseed oil or applesauce as a replacement. You may have to experiment with the quantities though.

  6. Um,ya…..there is definitely a problem with this recipe. THEY DON’T LAST! Mine just came out of the oven and they are gone.

    Amazing!!! When you add the stove top mixture to tapioca, did it look like glue or play-doh? Obviously I did it right, but just curios on your bc there is no pic. Thanks…..glad I found you.

    • Hey Angela. Yes it was quite sticky when the mixture went into the flour. My hands were too sticky to grab the camera for that shot 😉

      Glad it turned out, We LOVE this snack over here

  7. How long do these keep? Do you refrigerate to help them last longer or is it better to store at room temperature? I would like to make these and mail them to college son but even the mail takes 3-4 days. What do you think? Thanks!!

  8. I forgot to purchase canned coconut milk. Can i use So Delicious unsweetened organic coconut milk?