Carrot-Coconut Bread

As promised, here's my recipe for Carrot-Coconut Bread. This is a sweet, dense bread. The recipe makes 8 small loaves at once and is a great "office gift" when made in foil loaf pans. I got the recipe years ago from a friend of my mother's who ran a little bakery business out of her home.

A note about shredding carrots: I can't imagine making this without a food processor! One recipe takes 4 cups of shredded carrots, which is about a pound and a half unshredded. I scrub the carrots with a vegetable brush and trim the ends, but don't usually peel them, although you certainly can if you like. I shred the carrots using the the shredding disk on my food processor. If yours has two shredding disks, like my old one did, use the finer disk.


Carrot-Coconut Bread

Makes 8 small (approx. 5 ½" by 3 ½") loaves

4 c. flour
2 c. sugar
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
¾ t. cloves
¾ t. nutmeg
½ t. ginger

6 eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
2 t. vanilla
4 c. shredded carrots
14 oz package coconut
2 c. chopped walnuts
2 c. golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease loaf pans.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a very large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat eggs until fluffy and light-colored. Add oil and vanilla. Stir in carrots, coconut, walnuts, and raisins.

Add combined dry ingredients. Using a large, strong spoon, stir into carrot mixture. The batter will be very thick. If it seems like you can’t get all of the flour mixed in, let the mixture sit for a few minutes, then stir some more. (Next time, beat the eggs longer - I've discovered this really makes a difference!)

Divide mixture among greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until nicely browned.

These freeze really well – 8 of the loaves will fit in a 2½ gallon ziploc bag.