I live off-grid in a tiny hut you need a canoe to get to – then I feel like Tom Jones with screaming fans in my day job
HE’S a top baker who’s whipped up TV appearances, four cook books and an invite to the White House thanks to his delicious recipes.
Coinneach Macleod, affectionately known as the Hebridean Baker, also has more than 400,000 social media followers and has designed football strips for Celtic.
But downtime for the talented 50-year-old, his partner Peter MacQueen, 47, and their adorable Westie Flòraidh couldn’t be more different.
The couple spend five months of the year living completely off grid in a tiny hut that can only be reached by canoe.
They have no electricity or running water, and enjoy foraging for food.
Coinneach, from the Outer Hebrides, told Fabulous: “So basically, we keep two canoes under the bridge. We’re a bit like trolls, keeping our things under the bridge.
“And then it’s about a 20 minute canoe, a beautiful paddle up to our cabin. And it’s a lifestyle myself and Peter absolutely love.
“There’s something about the northern hemisphere. You’ve got the cabin life in Canada, you’ve got the hytter life in Norway. So it’s very natural for people in our kind of latitude to have this kind of outdoor life.
“And it’s sort of been lost a wee bit in Scotland. But we call the lifestyle hutting, having a hut.
“Hutting means that you have a place which is for your family. It can never be rented out or put on Airbnb, it’s only you and your family.
“It can only be 30 square meters or smaller. And it cannot be connected to electricity or running water, all those kind of things.”
He added: “But you can still make it luxurious. We have a beautiful big stove that keeps us warm, and I’ll be making my pancakes in the morning on that.
“We have an orchard of fruit trees around us, and our veg plot.”
And while hutting us supposed to be an occasional thing, the baking star admits he would live there full-time if he could.
“It’s just such a joyous way to live”, he sighs happily.
“The only thing is if you want to watch Strictly or RuPaul’s Drag Race, or you think I really fancy a Double Decker. That’s the challenge. It’s a long way.
“But we do make do and it’s amazing.
“And I can share a slice of my culture through baking without ever leaving my cabin. It takes us away from the hectic life of being in the city and as far away from the modern world as possible.
“It’s important to keep the traditional recipes alive.”
But baking is for sharing, you don’t create mouth-watering treats just for yourself.
So it’s unsurprising that Coinneach’s Scottish recipes and tips for slow living have racked up tens of millions of views on TikTok and Instagram.
And it’s the humble clootie dumpling, a traditional steamed Scottish pudding, that sparked it all almost five years ago.
During lockdown, Coinneach started posting videos of recipes he learnt from his beloved aunt Bellag who, at 96-years-old, still bakes every day.
He became a viral sensation almost overnight after a reporter for glossy mag Elle spotted his clootie dumpling video and hailed his accent for sounding “like how I imagine a piece of shortbread would talk when it comes out of the oven”.
Coinneach, Scotland’s best-selling cookbook author for three years in a row, said: “To go from zero to four months later being offered a book deal. I was like ‘goodness, can I do this?’
“It was as overnight as you could get, if you know what I mean, in a wonderful way that people just saw something in what I was doing, be it through the recipes, the stories, the lifestyle and the culture that they saw would resonate.
“I’m just delighted that I can be in people’s kitchens.”
He doesn’t just interact with fans through their phones and tablets though, happily donning his kilt to travel the world and share his passion for Scotland in person.
He said: “I’m just back from my seventh sell-out US tour, which I still can’t believe.
“The week before I left, I got a letter from the President of the United States inviting me to the White House. And I was so honoured to go.
“We call our traditional thatched stone houses on the island black houses. And I was thinking to myself, that’s how my mother and father grew up, in black houses.
“So I literally went from the black house to the White House, and what an experience it’s been to get there. But it was such an honour.
“I sometimes feel like Tom Jones, like I literally walk into these [book tour] arenas and there’s 300 people screaming, so excited to see me and I’m like, oh my goodness, how did my life turn out like this? But I love it.”
The celeb baker, a regular guest on This Morning, starts filming for his own TV show next year and has two more US book tours booked, so 2025 is set to be busier than ever.
But Coinneach joked: “I would also love a day on the sofa. That is also scheduled in the diary.
“There’s something about Hebridean folk. We do like to work hard. Although I don’t know if I’d ever call this work.
“It’s a total joy to do what I do.”
He added: “There is something about just having that lovely contrast, knowing I can go on these really fun adventures but when I do go home, you know, with Peter, with Flòraidh, everything just kind of calms down again.
“I’ve been lucky to have met just so many amazing, amazing people along this journey and I’m looking forward to continuing.”
Coinneach’s incredible story has been showcased as part of TikTok’s ‘It Starts With Us campaign, which celebrates inspirational creator successes that start on TikTok, and are a catalyst for real world impact off the platform.
He said: “I loved being part of it. To be chosen as one of three people on TikTok in the UK and that they thought my storyline was one that resonates was amazing.”
- Coinneach’s new book – Hebridean Baker, the Scottish Cookbook – is available to buy now.