Pan De Coco Recipe | How To Make Filipino Sweet Coconut Bread | Filipino Recipes Desserts

Pan de coco was one of my absolute favorites growing up in the Philippines. The ones in California are a little too sweet, so this is my own, sweetness-perfected recipe. 🙂

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Dough Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp sugar (coconut sugar is best)
  • 2 ½ tsp instant yeast
  • ⅓ cup warm coconut/normal milk
  • ¼ cup water
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature)

Coconut filling ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • ¾ cup unsweetened coconut shreds
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Coconut/chocolate filling ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp coconut sugar
  • ¾ cup unsweetened coconut shreds
  • ⅓ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Extra ingredient:

  • 1 egg

Directions:

  1. In your KitchenAid, start making the dough by adding in the flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, and warm coconut milk. Start mixing, and then pour in ¼ cup of water. If the dough is still dry, slowly pour in a little more warm milk. Do this just until the bits of flour have come together.
  2. Add in the unsalted butter. Knead the dough on the sand mixer on speed 4 for about 8-15 minutes. Check it periodically to see if the dough passes the “windowpane” test (if it stretches before it tears).
  3. Once the dough is ready, remove it from the bowl. Oil the bowl, and then place the dough back into it, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise to double its size. This takes about an hour.
  4. To make the coconut filling, take a saucepan and put it over medium-low heat. Heat up and stir together the coconut oil, coconut sugar, and a pinch of salt. Pour in the unsweetened coconut shreds and ¼ tsp vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Simmer this for a couple of minutes, and then pour it into a separate container. Set aside.
  5. To make the coconut/chocolate filling, take the same saucepan and turn on the stove to medium-low heat. Heat up and stir together the coconut oil, coconut sugar, and unsweetened coconut shreds. Turn off the heat, and add in the semi-sweet chocolate chips and ¼ tsp vanilla extract. Mix this up to melt the chocolate into the mixture. Set aside in a separate bowl.
  6. Once your dough has doubled in sized, take it out and push out any air bubbles from the dough. Then, roll it into a uniform log and split it into 16 even pieces. To prevent them from drying out during the next step, place all 16 pieces into a covered bowl.
  7. For each piece, flatten the dough and then use a rolling pin to stretch out the edges, making sure the middle is a bit thicker. Place about 1 tbsp of filling on that thicker part of the dough, and then pinch it closed, making sure the filling doesn’t touch the part of the dough that you’re pinching closed (otherwise, it WILL NOT CLOSE!). Flip it upside down, and form it into a ball (keeping it upside down). Poke holes into the top of the dough to allow air to escape from this side of the dough (to prevent leaky buns :). Repeat this process for the rest of the dough pieces, using whichever filling you like.
  8. For the filled doughs, allow them to rise for about 15-20 minutes, just until they’ve gotten a little puffy. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
  9. Whisk an egg and use it to brush the tops of the buns. Place the buns in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

WOWWW✨ This pan de coco looks amazing finished, and since they’re not too sweet, you could get carried away eating these.😋