Coconut Rolls Recipe | Yeast Bread Recipes

As a kid, i ve never liked bread. Coimbatore has this famous bakery called Iyer and Co. which probably sells the best vegetable puffs in the entire universe. Back in the 90s, it costed 5 bucks a puff and if Daddy was home on a weekday, when i came back from school, then i knew i was in for a puff treat that day. I used to heartily tuck in to that buttery puff and then wash it down with a tall glass of bournvita.
On days, when daddy couldnt make it to the bakery on time to grab a piece, ( mind ya, the puffs disappeared as quickly as they arrived), he would bring home something called thengai bun. That was another favorite of mine. Soft fluffy buns stuffed with sweetened grated coconut and raisins.

Then i grew up, went to college. Got married. Got myself a husband and then an oven. And then i began baking my own breads, i suddenly realised how much i miss those thengai buns and the vegetable puffs. While vegetable puffs is quite a strenuous process which is evidently kept aside for a day when i have nothing but time on hands, i made these coconut buns yesterday into some pull apart buns. And oh my, how nostalgic it felt to make them and eat them. Mr.P was over the moon when he ate it and i was over two moons! So, here s the recipe.

Recipe For Coconut Rolls
( Pull apart rolls stuffed with coconut and raisins)

Prep Time: 10 mins to make the dough
                  1 hour for the first rise.
                  10 mins to make the filling
Bake Time: 15 to 20 mins
Bake Temp: 200 C
Makes 7 rolls
Source: My kitchen notes and adapted loosely from here

Ingredients

All purpose flour 2 cups
Instant yeast 2tsp
Sugar 6 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
Warm milk 1/2 cup
Coconut oil 4 tbsp
Coconut oil for greasing

Stuffing

Coconut 3/4 cup freshly grated
Cardamom 1 pod
Raisins a handful
Tutti fruity a handful
Sugar 2 tbsp

Milk for brushing
Coconut oil for brushing

Directions

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast well.
Add the warm milk and knead into a smooth pliable dough. Takes about 3 to 4 mins.You may have to add about 1 to 2 tbsp of more milk if the dough is too dry or 1 or 2 tbsp flour if the dough is sticky.
Once done, cover with a clean damp kitchen towel and let rise until double in volume. Takes anywhere between 1 to 2 hours depending on the weather. It took 45 mins here.
While the dough is rising, prep the filling.
In a blender, place the cardamom pod and grated coconut and blend to a coarse paste without adding any water.
Transfer to a bowl, add tutti fruity and raisins and mix well using your fingers. Set aside.
Once done, grease a 6″ cake tin generously with coconut oil.

Punch the dough down.
Divide the dough into 7 equal parts.
Shape each part into a ball.
Gently stretch the ball into a circle of 3″ diameter using a rolling pin.
Place about 1 tbsp of the filling in the middle of the circle and pinch the sides together.
Now, place the ball into the greased pan pinched side downwards.
Repeat for the rest of the dough, placing the rolls into the cake tin and making sure you dont overcrowd them.
Let rise for about 10 mins. The dough wont double. But doesnt matter as we are using instant yeast here.
During this time, preheat the oven to 200 C.
As soon as the oven gets preheated, brush the rolls with milk and oil generously.
Bake for 15 to 20 mins or until the rolls get browned on the top.
Once done, let cool completely on a cooling rack.
When cooled, invert.

Start pulling out the loaves and tuck in!
This goes to Roxana s Bake Your Own Bread