Butter Flaps (Coco Bread)

Butter Flaps or Coco Bread are soft, layered, butter-filled breads baked to tender, golden brown perfection. In Guyana, this wonderful bread is called butter flap and in Jamaica, it is called coco bread. The recipe for both breads is exactly the same with one simple difference between the two. Learn how to make butter flaps and coco bread with this easy recipe!

Guyanese Butter Flaps

This recipe brings me right back to my childhood when I peeled away layers and enjoyed every buttery bite and I am happy to share it with you so that you can share this delicious bread with your family.

In Jamaica, a delicious patty is sandwiched between layers of bread. When I was in undergrad I bought a beef patty and coco bread almost every day because there was a popular Jamaican chain restaurant a block away from campus! Those were glorious days.

Why You’ll Love This Butter Flaps and Coco Bread Recipe

• Easy: This recipe requires some patience but the instructions are so simple.
• Delicious: This bread is loved throughout the Carribean islands because it’s tasty. It’s soft, airy, and tender, with a hint of warm buttery, sweetness.
• Versatile: Pair this sweet bread with a savory entree, sauce, cheese, or enjoy it as is!

What is Coco Bread?

Coco bread is a staple bread in Carribean households. It is a folded bread characterized by its sweet taste. It’s an anytime snack that can be served with a variety of foods. It’s most commonly eaten with a slice of sharp cheese of Jamaican beef patties.

Ingredients for Butter Flaps/Coco Bread

If you frequently bake bread, you probably have everything you need already stocked in your kitchen.

• All purpose flour: The basic structure of the bread.
• Rapid rising yeast: Make the bread with just one rise.
• Salted butter: You need it for the dough. Ensure it is room temperature, not cold butter or melted butter. If it is just soft enough, it will seep into the dough as it bakes.
• Warm water: This temperature results in softer bread.
• Sugar: For a hint of sweetness. Use more or less to taste.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Coco Bread

Combine Wet Ingredients and Dry Ingredients

Begin by adding sugar to warm water. Stir until all the sugar crystals dissolve and then set the mixture aside.

Add flour and rapid rising yeast to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk or your fingers to combine. Then rub ½ cup of salted room temperature butter into the dry ingredients using a fork, until a crumbly texture forms. (You may also use your fingertips.)

Make a well in the center of the ingredients and add the sugar-water solution. Mix until the sugar-water solution and dry ingredients come together to form a soft dough

Rest Dough

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until a smooth dough ball is formed. Place the dough ball into a greased bowl, cover, and let it sit in a warm place to allow the dough to rise until the dough doubles in size. This should take about 45 minutes

Knead Dough

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a minute before cutting the dough into 8 to 10 pieces. If you are making coco bread I recommend cutting your dough into 8 pieces. If you are making butter flaps cutting the dough into 10 pieces will make perfectly sized butter flaps.

Coco Bread vs. Butter Flaps

Roll each piece into a smooth round ball. Then roll your dough out into a round disk about 3/16th of an inch thick for butter flaps and 1/4 inch for coco bread.

For Coco Bread

Add 2 teaspoons of room temperature salted butter to one half of the rolled out dough leaving a bit of space at the edges. Then fold your dough in half. Press the edges to seal. Repeat until each coco bread is folded.

For Butter Flaps

Add 2 teaspoons of room temperature salted butter to one half of the rolled out dough leaving a bit of space at the edges. Next, fold the dough in half then add another teaspoon of butter to half of the folded dough, then fold again so that the dough is now in quarters. Then press the edges to seal. Repeat until all the butter flaps are folded

Just Before Baking

Damp your hands with warm water and brush over butter flaps or coco bread to remove any flour on the surface. Then bake your butter flaps/coco bread on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes

Remove them from the oven then brush them with some butter, cover them with a kitchen towel, and allow them to cool completely before serving.

The Butter Flap / Coco Bread Video Tutorial

Substitutions & Variations

• Coconut Milk. Instead of water, you can use coconut milk for this recipe.
• Food Coloring. In Guyana, most baker shops add yellow food coloring to the butter so that it is prominent in the layers. They do this to mimic an orange colored salted butter that was used in the original butter flap recipes.
• Butter Flap with Cheese. After assembling the butter flaps, add half a slice of sharp cheddar cheese to the center of the folded bread and proceed to bake for cheesy bread.

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container. They last in the fridge for about 1 week. For longer storage, freeze for up to 2 months.

To reheat, brush them with butter and warm them up in the oven at 350°F for 5-7 minutes.

Tips for the Best Butter Flaps

• If the dough is too sticky to work with, be very careful about how much extra flour you add to the dough. While testing this recipe, I made a batch with a pretty stiff dough and the end results were a pretty stiff coco bread
• When shaping the coco bread, roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Then brush with butter and fold in half. This will make a really thick coco bread, just like the ones I enjoyed in New York.
• Don’t add too much butter. During one of my batches I thought, the more butter the better, but the butter just oozed out of the dough, flooded the pan and the dough just fried in the butter, making the bottom of the butter flaps crunchy. It was tasty but not what I was going for.
• Doing some baking? Try more Guyanese bread recipes that bake at the same temperature, like Plait Braids and Tennis Rolls.

FAQ

Butter Flaps / Coco Bread

Althea Brown

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Butter Flaps or Coco Bread are soft, layered, butter-filled breads baked to tender, golden brown perfection. In Guyana, this wonderful bread is called butter flap and in Jamaica, it is called coco bread. The recipe for both breads is exactly the same with one simple difference between the two. Learn how to make butter flaps and coco bread with this easy recipe!

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 326

Course Bread

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Equipment

• ▢
  Large Mixing Bowl
• ▢
  Baking Sheet

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon of rapid rising yeast
• ▢ 1/2 cup of salted butter for the dough + 2 cups more for coco bread and 4 cups more for butter flaps (at room temperature)
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups of warm water
• ▢ 1/4 cup of sugar

Instructions 

• Add sugar to warm water and stir until all the sugar crystals dissolve then set aside
• Then to a large mixing bowl add the flour and rapid rising yeast. Mix together well, using a whisk or your fingers
• Next, rub ½ cup of salted room temperature butter into the dry ingredients using a fork, until a crumbly texture forms. You may also use your finger tips
• Then make a well in the center of the ingredients and add the sugar-water solution
• Mix until the sugar-water solution and dry ingredients come together to form a soft dough
• Next turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes to form a smooth dough ball
• Place the dough ball into a greased bowl, cover and let sit in a warm place to allow the dough to rise until the dough doubles in size. This should take about 45 minutes
• Preheat Oven to 350 °F
• Then turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a minute before cutting the dough into 8 to 10 pieces. If you are making coco bread I recommend cutting your dough into 8 pieces. If you are making butter flaps cutting the dough into 10 pieces will make perfectly sized butter flaps
• Roll each piece into a smooth round ball.
• Then roll your dough out into a round disk about 3/16th of an inch thick for butter flaps and 1/4 inch for coco bread

For Coco Bread

• Next add 2 teaspoons of room temperature salted butter to one half of the rolled out dough leaving a bit of space at the edges.
• Then fold your dough in half. Press the edges to seal
• Repeat until all the coco breads are folded

For Butter Flaps

• Add 2 teaspoons of room temperature salted butter to one half of the rolled out dough leaving a bit of space at the edges.
• Next fold the dough in half then add another teaspoon of butter to half of the folded dough, then fold again so that the dough in now in quarters. See video.
• Then press edges to seal
• Repeat until all the butter flaps are folded

Before Baking

• Damp hands with warm water and brush over butter flaps or coco bread to remove any flour on the surface
• Then bake on the middle rack of the over for 20 to 25 minutes
• Remove from the oven then brush with some butter, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to cool completely

Nutrition

Calories: 326kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 6gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 94mgPotassium: 67mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 356IUVitamin C: 0.001mgCalcium: 13mgIron: 3mg

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The information listed in the recipe card is an estimate provided by an online nutrition tool. The tool evaluates ingredient names and amounts then makes calculations based on the number of servings listed for the recipe. It is provided as a general guideline and not as a precise calculation. For precise nutrition information please feel free to add the ingredients to your preferred nutrition calculator or consult a doctor or licensed nutritionist.

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