Meyer Lemon Coconut Bread

The best cure for a cold winter day is baking something that uses a lot of fresh citrus. Citrus is in season during the winter and will always infuse a bit of bright spring sunshine into your kitchen. This Meyer Lemon Coconut Bread is a currently favorite of mine that is both delicious and easy to make – two attributes that I love to have in any recipe!

This quick bread has some wonderful flavors to it. The meyer lemons not only give the bread a wonderful overall lemon flavor, but they add a subtle tangerine-like sweetness that you wouldn’t get from ordinary lemons. The coconut gives the bread a great texture and it contrasts very well with the bright lemon. It is delicious and very addictive – especially if you are a fan of citrus and coconut to begin with!

Fortunately, this bread is exceptionally easy to make. You do need to spend a minute or two juicing your meyer lemons before you start, but the batter itself can be mixed up in one bowl, so you can have the whole thing in the oven in about five minutes. The finished bread is very tender, with an fairly open crumb, and you get a subtle chewiness from the coconut. Since the bread is so tender, it is best to wait for it to cool completely before slicing it so that you get neat, clean cuts. This bread is good on its own and makes excellent toast, if you cut your slices fairly thick, ideal for finishing with a smear of butter.

Meyer Lemon Coconut Bread
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tbsp meyer lemon zest
3/4 cup meyer lemon juice
1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8×4-inch baking pan (a 9×5-inch pan will give you a flatter, but just as delicious, loaf).
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in vegetable oil, egg and lemon zest. As you whisk the ingredients together, add in the lemon juice and continue to whisk until no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
Whisk in shredded coconut.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean and the top of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Allow loaf to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf.