Trinidad Coconut Roll Recipe
Growing up in Trinidad we didn’t buy much candies. It just wasn’t in our family’s budget to get expensive candies. One thing I remember growing up there is the number of sweets my mom used to bake for us every week. My dad however was always planting all kinds of fruit trees so we always had something to snack on.
This year for Christmas my sister challenged us to focus on recipes that reminded us of home. Ones we grew up with and enjoyed all year round. She however had a handy Carribbean recipes cookbook and I only had my Coconut Milk Fudge recipe that I’ve mastered, well aside from Curry Chicken. However for family occasions my mom always makes the Curry Chicken and fudge was a no-brainer for me. I wanted to try something different so I started searching the web for a recipe for coconut tarts.
Living in Trinidad we had two coconut trees in our yard, so we would use freshly grated coconuts for this recipe but since I didn’t want to waste time looking for them in the store I purchased Baker’s Grated Coconut in the packs. It worked perfectly with the recipe.

Dough rolled out with coconut filling
The key to pulling this recipe off well is the amazing short dough crust. When I started looking for recipes online I could only find tarts like mini tarts baked similar to pie. That wasn’t what I wanted. I couldn’t rely on my mom for help with the recipe because since her stroke, she doesn’t remember most of the meals she prepared back when we lived there. I searched and searched till I found the perfect recipe I could tweak to make the dough for the rolls.

Coconut Roll ready for the oven
With this dough you can either use it to make rolls or cut them in rounds to make tarts. I liked making the rolls because it seemed like I ended up with more. One bit and I was instantly back in Trinidad, as a young girl in my mother’s kitchen.
I couldn’t wait to take these to my family’s Christmas dinner. I knew they would be a hit with my family. My brother was the first to take a roll, since he had to leave early. Once everyone tasted them they were gone before I knew it.
These are super easy to make and they store well in an air tight container. It doesn’t require to many ingredients, so it’s a very affordable treat to make for your family. Check out the recipe below and if you grew up on these and try the recipe let me know how it goes.
[gmc_recipe 31030]