Many times you will find a recipe that calls for toasted coconut, I know I have several recipes on Cosmopolitan Cornbread that use it. But how do you toast coconut and get it just right? Here’s how I do it.
To begin, preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
Spread your shredded coconut out on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and give in a stir, spreading it back out when you are done.
Bake for 5 more minutes. Again, stir then spread out. You will probably not seen any color developing on the coconut yet. That is normal. The first thing that happens, is the shredded coconut dries. Once it is dried, that is when the color starts developing. Just like making normal toast from bread.
Bake for 5 more minutes. This time when you pull it out, you’ll likely see some color. Give in another stir and spread it back out.
This time I only bake the coconut for 2 more minutes. If you want more color, you can make that 3 or 4 minutes, but watch your coconut very carefully. It will go from toasted to burnt in the blink of an eye. For me, the total baking time of 17 minutes is just right every time.
Let the coconut cool and use it any way you like.
You can also toast coconut on the stove top using a skillet. Place the coconut in a skillet that is large enough to spread it out in. Cook it over medium heat, stirring every minute or so until the color develops as you like. Toasting the coconut in the oven gives you much more even color, but doing it on the stove is a quick alternative.