A delightful afternoon tea loaf baked with lots of coconut, raspberries and basil. This Macaroon Bread is quite unique and inspired by the famous chewy, coconutty macaroon cookies. When toasted, it goes extra crispy and crunchy due to all the coconut and is absolutely delicious with butter!

 

Macaroon Bread - Cook Republic

 

Macaroon Bread - Cook Republic

Thoughts On Eight Years Of Blogging

I am at crossroads today. I look back at the road I have walked for eight years and I can see it scattered with food, sparsely at first and in abundance as the road catches up to where I stand. The first stretch seems to be covered with floppy cakes, burnt cookies, ugly looking curries shot at awkward amateur angles, garish plates, mismatched linen and words that seem too eager to please. As the road moves along, things start looking slightly more stylish in a very understated way. The food develops a personality, the pictures tell a story, awkward angles are banished, lighting gets moody and there is candid honesty and tone in the words that adorn this road. Words that are liberating and suggest that I am having fun. Because that is what I have been doing for the past eight years.

 

Slowly and unsurely at first but then with a conviction that fires my being, I am blogging and having the time of my life. Eight years today! In eight years I have taken two sabbaticals. The words left me then. I wasn't sure where I would end up. But they came back and so did I. Both times.

Blogging is an amazing concept. Most people do it for the love of it. And then the peer pressure sets in, expectations start inching up and the anxiety starts stripping the fun away.

Don't let it. 

 

It still happens to me all the time and I sit myself down and tell myself "Doesn't matter if only 200 people out of the 6303 people on Facebook read your post and only 11 of them liked it! You would still write it even if no one read or liked it, wouldn't you?". The answer is always yes. So I step away, make myself a cup of coffee and resist the urge to now check the number of Instagram likes to my newest photo post.

 

As human beings, we are naturally hard-wired to push ourselves harder to succeed and achieve more. Success gives us happiness but it also gives us adult acne (guilty!) and stress-related acid reflux (you know you are out there!). I realized a while ago that in this overcrowded blogging world of one-minute attention spans and posts fighting to be seen, it is very important to not lose sight of why we started blogging in the first place.

For us. 

To feed our souls. 

To share and learn. 

To have a platform for the ideas and philosophies we carry within us. 

To capture and share glimpses of our lives through pictures.

Stripped of all social media followings and rankings you would still blog, wouldn't you? Then you must really allow yourself the freedom to Blog As If No One Was Reading. Because no matter how long you have been blogging (five weeks or five years), nothing will give you more peace and satisfaction than blogging as if no one was reading. Blogging just for you. So, have fun and don't lose sight of why you started your blog. That is what I intend to do as I pick an arm of that crossroad I am at and set off on another delicious adventure, cooking and photographing with a head full of curiosity and a heart full of wishes.  I want to learn so much more. I want to share so much more. And I want to do it with you, minus the adult acne!

 

A Loaf Of Bread Inspired By Macaroon Cookies

I love macaroons. With a double oo. Coconutty. Warm. Crisp on the outside. Chewy on the inside. Not very sweet. This Coconut Berry Basil Loaf is inspired by macaroon cookies and so I call it Macaroon Bread. It is a simple more-ish bread I baked the other day with frozen raspberries, coconut and fresh basil leaves. Delicious warm and toasted with lots of butter. The base macaroon bread recipe is yours to adapt and put your name on.

The recipe is quite simple, bulked with almond meal and coconut with some flour. It is also a straightforward mix-and-bake concept. The coconut creates a divine texture and adds a very tropical flavour to the bread. For that reason, I feel this bread would render really well to pineapple pieces mixed in instead of berries as well. Something to try out in the future.

I hope you bake this and love it as much as we do. Much love! x

 

Toasted Coconut - Photo & Styling, Sneh Roy

 

Berries - Photo & Styling, Sneh Roy

 

Macaroon Bread - Cook Republic

 

Macaroon Bread - Cook Republic

 

 

Recipe

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Coconut Berry Basil Loaf - Cook Republic

MACAROON BREAD

5 from 1 vote
A more-ish bread for afternoon tea bulked up with almond meal and shredded coconut. Not very sweet with a delightful berry and basil combination, this bread is best toasted and served with butter.
Print Recipe Rate / Comment
Author: Sneh
Course // Baking
Cuisine // Vegetarian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 2 cups desiccated coconut, toasted
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1 cup wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 3/4 cup coconut milk
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup frozen raspberries/berries
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil leaves
  • extra raw sugar for topping
  •  

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 180C. Grease and line an 8 X 5 inch loaf tin with baking paper.
  • Place coconut, almond meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix to combine.
  • Add coconut milk, egg and vanilla. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until completely combined. Stir through raspberries and basil. Spoon batter into the prepared tin. Sprinkle with extra raw sugar.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 45 to 55 minutes until cooked through. Switch off the oven and let the bread sit in the hot oven for another 5 minutes before removing and cooling in the tin completely.
Did you make my recipe?I'd love to hear how you went! Tag me on Instagram @cookrepublic