Coconut Milk Snack Cake is ideal for after-school snack, coffee breaks, and late night study sessions. Lightly sweet, with a soft, tender texture, this cake is back-to-school fuel!
I didn’t plan on a series of four recipes using coconut milk. The Thai recipe for Coconut Milk Cookies fell into my lap because I am forever intrigued by cookbooks with international cookie recipes. Every culture has baked goods developed to stay fresh as long as possible, and I’m hunting for them all! For those searching the internet for coconut milk recipes, the Coconut Milk Cookies have been very popular. So to meet the demand, I continue to find ways to use this delicious ingredient. The cookies were followed by Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Pound Cake and Coconut Milk Toffee Blondies. This recipe for Coconut Milk Snack Cake was a lucky fail turned into a win.
As I was working on the recipe for coconut milk blondies, one version looked like a fail when I took it out of the oven. Though beautifully golden with a heavenly smell, the supposed-to-be blondies had risen while baking. The texture was sure to be un-blondie like. I was disappointed, until I tasted this creation. Definitely not blondies, the cake is simultaneously sturdy enough for shipping yet soft and tender, with such a lovely vanilla-coconut flavor, that adding frosting would be a crime.
To mail Coconut Milk Snack Cake in a care package, I recommend baking in a disposable foil pan and wrapping the cake in the pan, uncut. The foil pan provides protection. Leaving the cake uncut, keeps the cake from drying out while shipping.
Coconut Milk Snack Cake was never destined to be a blondie. It’s a delicious, easy to make (no mixer needed), snack cake that compliments a glass of milk or a mug of coffee or tea. With a shelf-life of about 7 days, Coconut Milk Snack Cake can be enjoyed all week as an after-school snack, or shipped to your favorite college student for a sweet start to the semester!
MORE COCONUT MILK RECIPES
Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
Coconut Milk Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, canned full fat, not low fat
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut shredded
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease an 8×8 baking pan (If shipping, use a disposable foil pan.)
- Open the can of coconut milk and combine the contents THOROUGHLY. The thick, heavy fat separates from the thin milk and MUST be recombined before using. This is most easily done in a blender, food processor, or electric mixer, but can also be done with vigorous whisking. When the fat is completely blended with the liquid the consistency should be similar to dairy cream or milk.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the homogenized coconut milk, melted coconut oil, eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, shredded coconut, and baking powder, then add to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting or storing. If shipping, leave the cooled cake in the disposable pan and ship uncut.
- When cooled, the top of the cake can be sprinkled with powdered sugar (optional).
- Wrapped well or stored in an airtight container at room temperature, Coconut Milk Snack Cake remains fresh for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
Pat Leathers
Very tasty, easy to make. I added the coconut extract and it was delicious.
Beth
The flavor is good and the level of sweetness is just right. However, the cake was more dense than I expected. Mine was about half the height of the picture. I know my baking powder is still good because I have used it in other recipes. I used King Arthur All Purpose Flour. Thoughts?
Wendy Sondov
When another reader had a similar problem, I thought it might be due to different coconut milk brands. So, I bought a variety of coconut milk brands to try to recreate the density problem and was unable to do it. I'm aware that it can occasionally happen, but don't know why for sure. My thoughts are first that the flour be carefully measured (spooning it into the measuring cup not scooping which can compact the flour) and second that the coconut milk is well blended (often the fat separates from the milk and must be shaken very well before using).
kerry
Has anyone tried this cake recipe without egg? Using maybe flax, chia, banana, or egg-replacer?
Looks yummy!
Donna
Do you think chopped walnuts added would work?
Wendy Sondov
I think you could mix chopped walnuts into the batter, but I haven't tried.
APWC
Delicious, tasty, hits the sweet spot without being excessively sugary.
I changed a couple things and it came out wonderful still. Rich in flavor. My little ones loved it!
Super easy to make and fairly fail proof, although I wish I knew what the color and texture of the egg, sugar batter was supposed to be and how long to whip it up for. Thanks for the recipe!
Wendy Sondov
I'm glad you are enjoying the recipe! Nothing gets whipped in this recipe. The egg-sugar batter is just stirred by hand until combined. The color will depend on how yellow your egg yolk is. You aren't whipping to change color or texture.
Maude
I have several co workers who are gluten free. Can I use almond flour instead?
Wendy Sondov
I have never tried this cake with almond flour and don't know if it would work. My guess would be that you would have more luck with a gluten free flour blend (like the ones made by King Arthur Flour or Bob's Red Mill), but the texture would be different.
Cheryl
I didn’t see any comments from people who made it into a layer cake. Is the texture of a “snack cake” similar to that of a layer cake?
Wendy Sondov
Cheryl, this snack cake is light and fluffy and I think most layer cakes have a denser crumb. I'm not sure if this cake would hold up to layering.
Wandolyn
I made it without the shredded coconut cuz I didn’t have any but I was craving sweets so bad and I had everything else. It’s came out dense and milky almost like flan. It was delicious. I gotta try with the shredded coconut next time.
Marisa Silva
Didn’t have shredded coconut. Added cinnamon. Yum consistency. With the cinnamon tasted like the inside of a snickerdoodle
Jen
Very light and fluffy, great treat! Only a hint of coconut, I was hoping for more coconut flavour. I'll add some coconut extract next time!
Wendy Sondov
Hi, Jen. This cake has a very mild flavor. The very first note on the recipe card explains that the flavor is almost neutral, and that for more pronounced coconut flavor, extract should be used.
Stephanie
So nice! I only had half a cup of coconut milk left so did half cows milk and baked it in a loaf tin at 180 for 40 mins. Perfection, thanks so much!
Min Lee
I made this cake today and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Shelita
Hi
Can you eliminate shredded coconut. I don’t like the texture of coconut but I love the flavor.
Wendy Sondov
Yes. You can bake this snack cake without the shredded coconut.