Coconut Rock Buns (recipe)
Coconut rock buns are a nostalgic treat for me. I vividly remember saving up my allowance, as a child ,to buy them from the lady who sold baked goods out of the back of her station wagon every Wednesday afternoon at my prep school. Now and then I would stray from my old standby and purchase a sugar bun or currant roll, but invariably I always returned to my faithful friend, the coconut rock bun. I don’t know why coconut rock buns appeal to me so much. I think in part it’s because of the contrast of the homely rough-hewn exterior which belies the soft airy texture of the insides. Or maybe it’s the sweet sugary crust which perfectly complements the coconut infused, raisin-studded flavours? Who knows? It may take a lifetime of consumption for me to find the answer 
By the way when I was in the process of making these my mother kept inquiring as to what I was doing. When I kept repeating I was making rock buns she kept mumbling ’she ain’t never hear bout no rock bun’… 
Once completed however she bit into one and immediately said ‘Is toto!’. Well, needless to say I just blinked blankly. She had to explain that as a kid she ate this baked good in Jamaica a lot and knew it as ‘toto’ (pronounced TOE-TOE). When I looked it up though every Jamaican site I found referred to toto as a cake, and the pictures indeed looked like a cake. When I showed them to her she shook her head emphatically and kept repeating ‘toto is not no cake, I don’t know what they doing nowadays now though’.
So now I’m curious. Is toto the name for Jamaican rock buns? Is toto really a coconut cake? Did the definition shift at some point? I may never get my answers but I’m like Curious George and will keep digging 
Note:This entry has been submitted to Sugar High Friday: Going Local
Coconut Rock Buns
Recipe from: GraceFoods.com
Makes 6 rock buns
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
½ cup soft margarine
½ cup brown sugar
4 Tbsps. raisins
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 medium eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tsps. milk
½ cup shredded coconut
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven at 360°F / 190°C. Grease baking sheet.
2. Using the finger tips, rub fat into sifted flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add sugar, raisins, baking powder and coconut, mix in evenly.
4. Beat eggs and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and combine then add milk slowly.
5. Combine mixture with the hands until a moist dough is formed.
6. With a spoon and a fork, divide dough into equal pieces and shape each piece into a “rocky cone” on the greased baking tray.
(Although the recipe doesn’t call for it at this point I sprinkle the buns generously with brown sugar )
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until done.
Just looking at the photo, I knew immediately that I would make these. I love their “rocky” exterior, and I love coconut. These look like a perfect breakfast! (And I love your description of your conversation with your mom!!)
Oh, I love rock buns! It reminds me of England… I’ll have to try them with coconut. Very different!
Toni & Rosa – Thanks
I hope you get a chance to try them, I think they’re very yum 
And Toni, my mom is a hoot 
Sarina, I LOVE rock buns! My mom would bake them every weekend for us and make homemade mauby
Yum! This looks so great! I have never eaten Rock Buns. Are these like mini (and tastier) versions of African coconut bread?
OMG, you must have been reading my mind. I have my coconuts and I have been dying to make me some rock buns. Now I will definitely have to make some.
Cynthia – aren’t they just childhood personified
yummmmmmm with mauby and i may go into a happiness coma 
Chris – could be quite possibly
my impression of coconut bread is that it is more similar to our coconut sweet bread but i may be wrong 
give it a try 
Helen – YES!
hehe glad to give you an extra nudge into making them hehehe 
I’ve made them ,absolutely delicious, enjoyed by all. I took the liberty to steal ideas from other recipes for Rock Buns and added Cinnomon ,glace fruit cut into tiny slivers , all spice, just a very small amount of each and the result was so good apart from the fact ,just left them in the oven too long . Incidentally did you meet the vendor outside St. Josephs convent P.O.S? my Mother in law remembers buying rock buns there after school in 1930!! Can’t be the same vendor no station wagons in those days but it shows how life can remain the same , must be a good spot!!
thanks for sharing this – i can just see your mom through her comments. vivid pictures. fantastic. the rock buns sound lovely. so much better to spend your allowance on that than boring hubbabubbas
I love Rock Bun. My family makes toto all the time (we are Jamaican). Although I have eaten toto all of my life, I just discovered Rock Bun while in Jamaica this summer. I am completely HOOKED – I love coconut and brown sugar in any form so Rock Bun is right up my alley!
LOVE IT!!!
Patti – hehe no my vendor was at the UWI Prep school in St. Augustine in the 80’s
hehe So glad you enjoyed your own variations on the recipe! 
Johanna – What’s a hubbabubba?
*intrigued*
SMS – I miss Jamaica, I can’t wait to go there again one day
Katy Rae – I’m Glad!!
They are not the same. The toto is indeed more like a cake and it does not include the raisins.
I have never tried to make rock buns until a co-worker approached me because i make other bake products. I followed the recipe step by step and the results were amazing. Right now i am getting orders by the dozens because everyone enjoyed them so much.
Thanks for this recipe.
Hey, i’m not a fan of raisins so is there anything else i could use instead of the raisins?
Alot of people that i bake do not like raisins, so i take the raisins from the recipe and add a cherry at the top after placing them on the sheet pan. It gives a pretty color.
when I go to jamaica i love them , thanks
I would like to know if I can substitute the eggs with something else, one of my relatives is vegan and would like to try this recipe
Just found your site ….love the rock buns recipe. Being from Guyana, I know these would go well with some home-made mauby. Thank you for evoking such wonderful child hood memories…Shout out to B.H.S
This is dah first ting u learn fi bake inna home economics in JA. U can leave out dah egg cause u all ready using baking powder
I will try these. I have been thinking of making them for quite a while but did not have a recipe. Also, I seem to think that in Trini we called them Coconut Drops.
Hello everyone,
While searching for a rock cake recipe I hit on your picture and recipe and love all the chat. I live in Canada amd keep on searching for North of England Recipes, or from anywhere where the recipe exists.
My last searches were for Malt Loaf, the sticky, fruity sort, and Fish Cakes. Look around at all the recipes. Give us a picture.
Your rock cakes look fantastic. My mother was always making them for myself and my two brothers. They were better after the war when we could get coconut and raisins. I am definitely going to make some.
Happy memories. Norman H Kendrick.
Toto and rock buns are two (2) separate things. however the ingredients are similar. your rock buns do look yummy.
My background is Jamaican and I know these as rock buns as well. I’ve never heard of toto. I add candied cherries to my rock buns along with raisins and people are always asking for more. You can do this as a substitute for raisins also. yummy
i think i’ll make these this week! great childhood memories
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