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
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Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut milk, canned and full fat not low fat
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- Confectioners’ sugar optional
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease an 8×8 baking pan (If shipping, use a disposable foil pan.)
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the coconut milk, coconut oil, eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, shredded coconut, and baking powder, then add to the liquid mixture. Mix until just combined.
- Pour the 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 cake in the disposable pan and ship uncut.
- When cooled, the cake can be sprinkled with confectioners’ 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
Merete says
This cake came out delicious and moist, and it stayed like that for two days – I’m sure it would have stayed like that longer, but I don’t think it’ll ever last long enough at my house for us to find out 🙂
It was so easy and fast to make. I sprinkled some chocolate chips on top before baking it and it was heavenly. I can’t wait to play around with what other flavours to add when I make this again.
Wendy Sondov says
Hi Merete! Thank you for taking the time to share your delicious experience with this cake and for leaving a 5 star rating. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Your chocolate chips idea sounds great!
sarah chrismas says
I tried it this afternoon but it didn’t want to cook in the middle. It’s been in there an hour now and the centre is still doughy
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Sarah. Sorry to hear that your cake is giving you problems. It’s impossible for me to know exactly what went wrong. I know that the recipe, as written, has worked well for many people. My first question would be if you have a thermometer sitting inside your oven to check that it is heating properly (to 375). Then, I am wondering about your ingredients. Did you use canned, full fat coconut milk? Coconut milk in a carton is watered down and may not work with this recipe. Lastly, I wonder about the pan you are using. Are you using the recommended 8″ x 8″ square? A loaf pan will not bake in the same way, and if it works at all would take much longer to bake. I hope this helps.
Annie says
I thought this cake must be too good to be true when looking around for something to use up leftover coconut milk. It was bar far the easiest I found and to my surprise, it turned out amazing! So delicious! I used dessicated coconut because that’s all I had and I prefer the texture. Next time I am going to add drained crushed pineapple to the cake to add an extra element. I think this would also be amazing with a lime juice icing! So divine and so simple!!
Lyse says
This cake is absolutely divine! It was incredibly easy to whip up and came out with the most wonderful fluffy texture. I appreciated that it took exactly 30 mins to bake perfectly; no continuous re-inserting of toothpicks and taking in and out of the oven was required. 🙂
I only had sweetened coconut so I reduced the sugar to about 3/4 of a cup and the sweetness of the cake ended up being perfect. I’ll definitely be making this one again!!
Becca Gilgert says
I make this cake often. When I’m craving something more decadent and after the cake has slightly cooled, I poke holes in it and pour sweetened condensed coconut milk over the top. Its delicious, you gotta try it. T-you for this wonderful recipe! ~BG
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Becca! Your adaptation does sound amazingly decadent! The idea reminds me of a Tres Leches cake with all coconut milks! I don’t know if I have ever seen sweetened condensed coconut milk, but I’m going to look for it now! Thanks for sharing your adaptation!
Muringi says
Love. Love. Love. Success. Thank you
I love coconut milk. I always have leftover. My fave recipes are coconut rice(I could eat this all week long), rice flour coconut milk cakes and mahamri (beloved Kenyan and Tanzanian snack)
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Muringi! I am so glad you enjoyed the cake. As a coconut milk lover, I recommend you try my Coconut Milk Cookies too. 🙂 I am a coconut milk lover too and coconut milk rice is a favorite. After reading your comment, I immediately looked up mahamri, as I had never heard of them before. Now I am excited to try the little puffy donuts! I am so intrigued to taste them with savory foods as well as sweet! Thanks, for bringing them to my attention!
Joyce says
Thank you for this! I made this today but made it into a lighter “snack bread”. Instead of the coconut oil, I used 1/8 cup vegetable oil, and I cut the sugar amount to about 2/3 cup in total. Turned out perfect with a hint of sweetness. Moist and fragrant!
Wendy Sondov says
So delighted that you enjoyed the cake, Joyce! I’m glad your adjustments gave you the snack bread you were trying for! Happy baking!
Katheirne says
HI there!
Can you use coconut flour instead of All Purpose Flour?!?
Trying to keep this as healthy as possible 🙂
Thanks!
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Katheirne. No, I don’t think your cake would work with all coconut flour. Coconut flour is very dry and had none of the gluten to hold the cake together. You might be able to sub a little bit (1/4 cup?) , but I would start very small to see the effect.
Irena says
I baked this cake yesterday. I replaced sugar with coconut sugar. In addition, I sprinkled the top of the cake with almond flakes. Coconut sugar gave the cake a light brown color. The cake smells beautiful, it’s moist and very tasty. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Irena. I’m so glad that you are enjoying this cake! Thank you for sharing your substitutions and for leaving a 5 star rating. Happy baking!
FunmiO says
Just tried this recipe…deliciously moist🤗
Wendy Sondov says
I’m glad you enjoyed the snack cake! I would really appreciate it if you would leave a 5 star rating so that other readers will know to try this recipe too. Happy baking!
Jenny Trott says
Delicious. Definitely need to line the tin though!
Tina says
I didnt know what to make with the left over coconut milk that I had and came across the recipe. I love that the cake is easy to make and delicious. Everyone loved it. Simply good treat.
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Tina! I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! This recipe is a great way to use up extra coconut milk. I would really appreciate it if you would leave a star rating for this recipe, so that other readers will give this recipe a try! 🙂
Tina says
5 star treat 😀
Wendy Sondov says
Thank you!!!
A O says
Hi there,
This recipe looked great, but every time I try it, it doesn’t come out right. Thr center just doesn’t bake through and the cake doesn’t rise much. Ive tried multiple times and am following recipe exactly. What am I missing?
Wendy Sondov says
Hi, Tina. I’m sorry you are having trouble with this recipe. It’s hard to say exactly what might be happening, as I am not in your kitchen, but these are some questions. Are you using an 8″ x 8″ pan? (There is a photo in the blog post of my cake in the pan for reference.) Are you using the exact ingredients that the recipe calls for with no substitutions? Using another kind of oil or butter may not work in this recipe. The 2 large eggs and the baking powder are needed for rise. Is your baking powder expired? That said, this is a snack cake and not a tall loaf cake. As you can see in the photo, the cake doesn’t rise above the 2″ tall pan. The times given in a recipe are always based on an oven calibrated with an additional thermometer. Perhaps your oven is heating to slightly lower than 375 degrees and your cake will have to stay in the oven longer to bake through. Keep your cake in the oven until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. I hope this is helpful .
Jas @ All that's Jas says
That cake looks so fluffy! Wonder if I could replace the flour with coconut or almond flour. YUM!
Wendy Sondov says
Hi Jas. I am not a flour expert but I have used both coconut flour and almond flour in different recipes. I am pretty sure that all coconut flour would not work. The cake would be very dry. Almond flour might work but the texture would be completely different. Let me know if you experiment!