Gluten-Free Coconut Cranberry Bread
Gluten-Free Coconut Cranberry Bread. A light, gluten-free, bread that is perfect for snacks, serving as a dessert, or enjoying with afternoon tea.
Gluten-Free Baking with Coconut Flour
One of the hardest things about giving up wheat or going gluten-free is foregoing comfort food.ย When I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1995, I craved pizza.ย I longed for muffins and cookies.ย But the tiniest molecule of wheat gave me hours of running to the bathroom, burning stomach pain, and exhaustion.ย In the 30 days of cooking from scratch challenge (#30fromscratch), many of the participants are avoiding wheat or gluten in their food.ย For some, it’s a health mandate, and for others, it’s by choice.ย If you are one of those people, I’ve got some good news.
I’ve recently discovered coconut flour — a low carb, high fibre alternative to wheat flour.ย While, like all gluten-free substitutes, it lacks the structural integrity of gluten, it performs better for me than many starchy substitutes.ย It also does this without adding a significant carbohydrate wallop to your low-glycemic, or low carb diet plan.ย Coconut flour varies according to the source and maturity of the coconuts that it is made from.ย It is the by-product of coconut milk production.ย Thus it is mostly fibre, with a small amount of protein, and fat — most of this being extracted with coconut milk.ย You actually can make it at home, by making coconut milk from dried coconut flakes.ย Extracting the oil and milk well by pressing.ย Then drying the pulp and grinding it in a Vitamix or food processor.
General rules for working with coconut flour
Because coconut flour is not starch, it has its own rules when working with it.
- Use 1/4 to 1/3 coconut flour when substituting coconut flour for wheat flour in a recipe
- Use 4 to 5 eggs per cup of coconut flour in your recipe
- You can make flax jelly or chia jelly to use as an egg replacer in your recipe for some of the eggs, or add ground flax or chia seeds and let them soak up some of the moisture in your recipe before beating in the coconut flour
- When using it as a sauce or pudding thickener it will have a gritty texture instead of the smooth texture of starch-based sauces
- It has a sweetness to it so you can cut back on sugar by 1/3rd to a 1/2
- It absorbs a lot of liquid in your recipe.ย Allow the coconut flour batter to rest for at least 15 minutes before adding more flour.ย Too much flour will make your baked goods very dry.
- Date sugar and dried fruits help to retain the moisture in baked goods made with coconut flour
- Using honey instead of sugar in a recipe made with coconut flourย helps to hold the baked goods together.
Gluten Free Coconut Cranberry Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Gluten Free
- Method: Baking
Description
A light, gluten-free, bread that is perfect for snacks, serving as dessert, or enjoying with afternoon tea.
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 c. flax seed, freshly ground
- 8 eggs, beaten lightly
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup. coconut oil, melted
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. Himalayan salt
- 1/2 cup cranberries, dried
- 2 tbsp. coconut, shredded (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Mix eggs, coconut flour, flax seed, honey, and coconut oil together.
- Beat well.ย Allow the batter to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- It should be the consistency of a thick muffin batter.
- Add more flour if it is too liquidy,ย 2 tbsp. at a time.
- Allow to rest for 10 minutes between additions to allow the coconut flour fully absorb the liquid.
- Add salt, baking powder and dried cranberries to the batter.
- Spread in a greased bread pan, about 3/4s full.
- Sprinkle coconut on top.
- Place loaf in the middle of the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350F.
- Reduce heat to 325F and continue baking an additional 15 to 25 minutes until centre is done and top of loaf is golden brown.
- Don’t over bake.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Gluten-Free Coconut Cranberry Bread
1 cup coconut flour
1/4 c. flaxseed, freshly ground
8 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup organic honey
1/4 cup. Virgin coconut oil, melted
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Himalayan salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp. shredded coconut (optional)
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix eggs, coconut flour, flaxseed, honey, and coconut oil together.ย Beat well.ย Allow the batter to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.ย It should be the consistency of a thick muffin batter.ย Add more flour if it is too liquidy,ย 2 tbsp. at a time.ย ย Allow it to rest for 10 minutes between additions to allow the coconut flour to fully absorb the liquid.ย Add salt, baking powder and dried cranberries to the batter.ย Spread in a greased bread pan, about 3/4s full.ย Sprinkle coconut on top.
Place loaf in the middle of the oven.ย Bake for 30 minutes at 350F.ย Reduce heat to 325F and continue baking an additional 15 to 25 minutes until the centre is done and the top of the loaf is golden brown.ย Don’t over-bake.ย
Allow it to cool completely before slicing.
Results:
The loaf is high in fibre and very filling.
There is a light coconut fragrance when it first comes out of the oven but there is no coconut taste in the finished baked goods unless you add additional coconut to the top.
For those foregoing gluten or wheat-based baking, coconut flour offers comfort, convenience, and the pleasure of eating baked goods without the trauma.
Some other things to consider:
If you are allergic to eggs, coconut flour might not be the best choice.ย Guar gum or xanthan gum are often used to give structure to gluten-free flours.ย I haven’t tried using guar gum instead of eggs with coconut flour.
Adding apple sauce or another high in pectin fruit might increase the structural integrity of coconut flour and allow you to reduce the number of eggs used and the amount of sweetening.ย It’s on my list of things to try.
Other Favourite Gluten-Free Recipes
‘The Very Best Gluten-Free Brownie Ever’
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Coffee Cakeย ย
Thanks for the info. On using coconut flour. Can’t wait to use it.
Yummy
I have been dying to try some recipes that call for coconut. My son and I have allergies to all grains but rice.
Yumm, Paleo treats! baked goodness.
Glad this draw is open to Canadians ๐
My family loves baked goods, this basket could lead to some wonderful new, healthy breads!
Peach cobbler
I love making desserts with coconut oil!
Real nice giveaway.
I would experiment with all of the different recipes from the coconut oil cookbook I got for my kindle.
I would try some of my recipes that I use alot, mainly my Banana loaf and Apple and Cinnamon cupcakes! xx
I give Tropical Traditions pet coconut oil to my dogs. It’s a wonderful way to make sure they’re getting enough oil in their diet.
I’ve never used coconut flour, but I would like to try it.
The first thing that came to my mind was pancakes and I’m not really a pancake person. Skimming thru the other posts there’s so many good things to try that others have mentioned. I’ve never used any of the Coconut products because I’m not a fan of coconut but am becoming more interested in trying them.
Desserts! These ingredients look so yummy.
I would love to win. Thank you for the opportunity.
I would so love to try some of these products!
My daughter is gluten-free, and wants to start her own bakery business. I would love to win this for her to help her out.
I think I would try macaroons for my husband.
The Cranberry Quick Bread looks and sounds delicious. I’ll definitely be making it!
I’m looking forward to trying coconut flour, but need to get it without my hubby’s knowledge. He refuses to eat coconut, although I started cooking with coconut oil and revealed the fact after he LOVED a dish I made. ๐
I am wheat free but also low carb, so excited to try coconut flour! I would love to make a delicious baguette style bread for french toast.
Hmm after reading your post I am wondering if this is our problem in the family. I have some flours here that are gluten free and need to learn to use them. DH and daughter complain of stomac pain but I was thinking it was dairy… now I am wondering. Were ok with eggs so I cold use the coconut flour here.
Linda Finn
faithfulacres7@gmail.com
Trying cocunut oil now in my cooking – would LOVE to try my hand at ANY baking project! I’m not on the #30fromscratch, but I wish I was! We had hot dogs the other day and everyone in the house got sick!
I’d love to hear about your experiences cooking with coconut cream. It’s a new product to me but I love anything coconut. Great blog!
I’d love to see if I can adapt my pumpkin bread recipe.
You can never go wrong with a good ole cake
My husband is diabetic, so baking has been missing from our kitchen. I would love to try some new items to see if I could bring back something I love to do and enjoy.
I made the brownies! Even tho I think I may have overbaked them a little, they were
awesome. I substituted xylitol for the sugar. My family and I have almost eaten the whole pan already. Definately a recipe to keep!
I would love to try the cranberry loaf!!
Yum, banana bread followed by your yummy looking brownie recipe.
I have been wanting to try some of these products for a while, it would be great to win them!!
Yum! The brownie recipe looks delicious! We are gluten free and I am entering the world of baking with coconut flour and so far what I have tried is pretty good!
I LOVE Tropical Traditions…. I use the coconut oil for all my needs in my kitchen as well as all my homemade product needs such as my lip balms…. Just made sugar free peppermint patties this weekend and use it to make my homemade chocolates. Yummmm. Thanks for offering… Blessings…. Tam (MWJ)
I’ve only been gluten free for a month and am finding it depressing, especially when it comes to sweets. I’d love to try some coconut flour brownies!
I have only just started using coconut oil and I love it. Getting a. chancd to try other coconut products would be great!
I would like to make the brownie recipe you recently shared!
Just found out how bad our ‘wheat’ is now and we have decided to try many different types of flour to change our intake levels. We use coconut manna and oil in many things, I never thought to use the meat of the coconut as a flour substitute. I cannot wait to make food using this and cutting out more and more common wheat out of our diets. Thanks!
I would start my adventures into gluten free baking for my autistic son. Maybe do the gaps diet with him for a while.
Definitely baking your cranberry quick bread! Thanks!
I would definitely try some of your dessert recipes with the coconut flour–mainstream carbs and sugars are my major downfall on the path to good health, and I would love to try something new, but I feel that my budget won’t allow the experimentation at the moment.
I’d make Chocolate Chip Cookies with the ingredients in the Tropical Traditions baking gift basket
I would make some breads and would like to experiment with peach cobbler!
I would love to try the Coconut Creme Concentrate! I have seen some wonderful recipes, on the Tropical Traditions website, that use that…especially the candies and puddings!! ๐
I would bake banana bread with chocolate chips!
I love using coconut flour in banana bread!
We love it all, make bread for my husband with very low carbs for the atkins diet.
I would love to win!
These brownies would be the first thing I make.
Just started using coconut oil yesterday and am looking forward to trying things with coconut flour!
Interestingly, brownies was already my favorite coconut flour recipe… Now I can’t wait to try yours and compare! ๐
I have never used Coconut flour, but it sounds intriguing! thanks for the give-away!
a cake to start
I would LOVE to get this basket! I use coconut oil for everything from personal care to cooking! I can’t wait to experiment in the kitchen with all the new products!
Bread!! I love a good bread fresh from the oven
I miss having fresh bread since my husband gave up grains. I would love to have some recipes and resources to try. So much of our eating used to include grain based items; pizza, breads, sweet treats, etc.
Thanks for hosting the giveaway and giving someone a chance to try something new.
As a mother of 2 children with celiac disease, I so get it. Great tips for using coconut flour which is a staple in our home.
I’d make coconut brownies with a honey buttercream chocolate frosting!
I would like to make that paleo bread. Love tropical tradition already
I would love to make brownies and banana bread!
I am looking forward to learning how to use the coconut products!
Would love to try a banana muffin or some kind of pancake. The Cranberry Quick Bread looks good too.
I purchase everything fro Tropical Traditions, they are my only stop for coconut products and raw honey. In fact, my honey is almost out as is my pint size coconut oil, as is my coconut flakes I use to make coconut milk, so this would be a spectacular gift basket!! ๐
I wish to try the brownie recipe, I have a weakness for chocolate. I have never used coconut flour.
Of course the first thing I would bake would be your Joybilee Farm Cranberry Quick Bread
Something yummy…been making coconut & flax seed bread plus flax seed & coconut flour crackers for a family member who is on a low carb diet.
I love coconut oil, but have never tried coconut flour. I’m intrigued.
I love coconut and am anxious to try coconut flour…hearing that it has the most fiber of all the flours ??
I would make a breakfast bar, easy to take with me, on the run, my lifestyle!! Thanks.
I can’t wait to make the yummy moist gooey brownie recipe!!! One I made in the past from a pkg recipe was way too dry, yours looks amazing. Although I can’t eat sugar at this time, my husband has been asking for a nice chocolate treat and it has been months since I baked something nice for him. I can’t wait to surprise him and he can take some to work to share with others that bring nice treats occasionally.
I would try your bread it looks yummy!
Oh so many yummy things to make, it’s too hard to choose just one!
I would make Gluten Free Brownies.
I love coconut oil and coconut milk but haven’t tried coconut flour. I think I would try some lemon / almond poppy seed muffins. Your cranberry bread sounds very yummy too. Thank you for the giveaway! It would be a blessing to win! =)
I have been wanting to get into baking more with coconut flour! I love, love, love the Tropical Traditions coconut oil too!
I am looking forward to making bread and pizza dough!
I would love to try baking with coconut flour!!!
Sounds good! Yum.
I’d love to win this! I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease and it’s been a struggle being gluten-free, because finding ingredients to bake from scratch are really hard to find in my area, so I usually end up getting processed foods, which I’m trying to get away from. This would be an amazing win for me! ๐
I think your recipe for the cranberry bread looks wonderful – I think that is what I would make. Sort of try it out so I can perfect it for the holidays. I am allergic to wheat – it gives me terrible earaches! Coconut flour would be new for me so I would need to practice lots! YUM!
Brownies.
I wold like to try making banana bread with coconut flour. Have already begun using the coconut oil and I love it. I heard the other day that coconut oil is good for a sunscreen.
i would make a recipe i found for coconut energy balls.
I love Tropical Traditions. I have been using the coconut oil and have lost 30 lbs since Jan. Brownies , pancakes and pizza crust would be my first things I would try to make
I use coconut oil for everything! Can’t wait to try coconut flour!!
Their coconut oil is fantastic!
I would love to try coconut flour! I already love the oil!
this would be a great recipe to get back into baking since my surgery
I use coconut oil for so many things in my home! I have recently made a whole bunch of body products for my family (lip balm, sunscreen and body lotion) and use it for cooking everyday. I haven’t baked with coconut flour for a really long time though. Would love to try the cranberry loaf ๐
Although I’ve not been told to quit eating foods containing gluten I am trying to cut back on them because I understand gluten can cause inflammation in the body and can aggravate some chronic illnesses like Rheumatoid Arthritis. I’d love to win this gift basket in order to try out my baking skills with a gluten free product.
I love your coconut oil, but I’ve never used coconut flour. I would use the coconut flour to make chocolate chip pie and many other goodies! Thanks for offering the giveaway.
Have been wanting to try coconut oil and coconut flour since I first heard about them. Thinking some banana bread would be delicious! I am learning to cook and my husband is teaching me – I know, at 52 it’s about time!! Well, the kids are all out of the house and it’s a good time to learn!
I’d love to win!Yum coconut!Perhaps a cake or loaf.
I have heard many good things about products from coconuts; flour, oil, milk, etc, and I’m excited to start using them in my cooking. We are also slowly removing gluten from our diets, so because I’m new to all of this, I think that I would be safe and bake your Cranberry Quick Bread.
Since I’m a cranberry grower, of course, I’d make something with our Maine cranberries….probably Cranberry Upside Down cake! ๐
I LOVe coconut oil. Have used coconut flour and sugar on occasion. Love the health benefits, even in baked goods. I’ve made a coconut flour cake in the past that was awesome.
I love coconut oil & have wanted to try out coconut flour!
Winning this would be such a blessing!
I use their coconut oil nearly daily and have their shredded coconut pieces “at the ready” to add to all sorts of things. I think I’m interested to do more with the oil, like toiletries and beauty items.
I love Tropical Traditions and I’ve used their coconut flour to make a raspberry cake I took to a church group and they loved it.
Awesome contest! Thank you!
My Daughter has Galactosemia and can not have dairy, so coconut products are a blessing!
I can’t wait to try this. I adore cranberries!
I love trying new things and recipes to help myself be healthy.
We’ve made coconut flour brownies that were great.
Thank you so much! I’ve never given much thought to anything coconut because I don’t like coconut. But I am willing to try it ๐
Coconut flour doesn’t taste like coconut.
Thank you for all you do!
Thanks for experimenting for us!
I love coconut, I used to buy whole coconuts as a child with my allowance ( my sisters and brothers would buy candy) and hoard it. I am going to try my hand at a coconut cake with coconut cream whipped for an icing, sprinkled with a layer of fine coconut.
That sounds yummy. Let me know how the icing turns out. I haven’t tried whipping coconut cream yet.
I am excited to try this recipe! Thank you!
I’ve got a recipe for raspberry scones I’m just dying to try.
I hadn’t thought of the pizza crust. I’m wondering how tortillas would turn out. We have some gluten issues in our family, and are beginning to experiment with different flours. Banana bread is something else that would probably turn out well, with the high moisture content of the bananas….would be fun to try. Thanks for teaching us about coconut flour…thanks for the entire series on cooking from scratch! We’re having fun learning!
I LOVE Coconut Cream Concentrate–I substitute for half of the PB in PB cookies and it’s delish! Love Tropical Traditions but out of my price range right now … and would love to try the coconut flour … Thank you Chris!
That’s an awesome idea to substitute pb with coconut cream. And coconut is so good for you. I’ll have to try that.
I love your ideas and the information you share. This is exciting as I am not able to consume wheat in any form either (took me years of misery to figure out why) so having a ‘bread” recipe of any type is as you say wonderful for when I need comfort food and something a little heavier in my tummy ๐
Thanks for all you share!
Joyce
I’m interested in trying the Cranberry Quick Bread.
I would love to try your cranberry bread, plus a pizza crust recipe I found using coconut flour. I would also just love to experiment and try many different recipes that I miss that use regular flour!
I use coconut oil already, but have have never seen (or noticed anyway) coconut flour. I’m excited to try it now and experiment with it. Thanks for the I formation and inspiration!
I’d like to try my friend’s recipe for Coconut Cake (original recipe calls for coconut flour).
I sent this information on to my parents. My mother has major issues with flour. I’m hoping this can be something she can use that will allow her to enjoy some of the things she used to be able to enjoy. Thank you for this opportunity. ๐
Thanks Chris for the wonderful information.
I can’t wait to give it a try.
I would make some kind of bread.
I would bake something old ( I have been making macaroons since I was little ) and try something new like Chris’ cranberry coconut flour loaf.
I would make pizza and a birthday cake. Thanks!
I would first try your recipe for Cranberry Quick Bread.
I would love to win this gift basket. I am new to using coconut oil and am excited to learn and try so much more. I would love to try making zucchini bread with coconut flour and coconut oil.