Banana Coconut Bread
In an attempt to clean out our freezer, I was faced with a common delima. What do I do with these frozen bananas? Sure, I could have just thrown them back into the freezer where they’d sit for who knows how long. But I decided instead to bake with them.
I decided by coworkers would appreciate some banana bread to go with their coffee in the morning, so I started flipping through some cookbooks. I’ve really been trying to use my cookbooks more frequently. I have a tendency to just go straight to my Google Reader or other online avenues for finding recipes.
I opted for this recipe from Joanne Chang’s Flour. Her recipes are always a hit. My Go-To Chocolate Cupcake Recipe is from her. And she beat out Bobby Flay on Throwdown for her sticky buns.
As expected, this recipe yielded a moist, flavorful banana bread. Since I didn’t have any nuts on hand, I tossed in some toasted coconut instead. The coconut provided a unique texture and a subtle hint of coconut. One of my coworkers told me the banana bread was delicious. After having a second piece, he came and said “it’s not just delicious, it’s exquisite!”
One Year Ago: Blackberry Raspberry Pie Bars and My Go-To Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Three Years Ago: Steak Fajitas with Chimichurri and Drunken Peppers
Four Years Ago: Crispy Yogurt Chicken and Lime Meltaways
Five Years Ago: BBQ Dip and Cookies and Cream Cupcakes – Take 2
I am submitting this for this month’s What’s Baking, hosted by Jenna of Jenna’s Cooking Journey. This month’s theme was Quickbreads!
Banana Coconut Bread
Banana bread gets a unique twist with the addition of toasted coconut.
Yield: Serves 12
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup toasted coconut
Directions:
Set oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.
Drizzle in oil.
Add mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and coconut.
Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Recipe adapted from Joanne Chang's Flour
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love blueberries in pancakes and waffles. They’ve gotta be good in cinnamon rolls too!
Yum! I have always wanted to make my own cinnamon rolls but have always been a tad nervous about he process!!! These look amazing with the blueberries!!
P.S. I found your blog today when you posted that you were from Boston on Tina’s blog! I am from just outside of Boston too!
these look amazing. I love cinnamon rolls, and this combo sounds great!
Can you tell me how to make the frosting?
I love the blueberry, I tried swapping them with raspberries and they were just as good if not better. Love the base recipe.
I made these today cheating with crescent roll dough. They were amazing!
Da bomb! Brilliant, as well as yummy:)
Thank you! I will make an impression at brunch tomorrow..lol
Made these for Easter breakfast (blueberry cinnamon rolls, hardboiled eggs, and thick sliced ham slices). What a delicious treat! I don’t know if I’ll ever go back “regular” cinnamon rolls again! I cut the recipe in half. Perfect amount for my husband, myself, and 3 teenaged boys. Honestly, I can’t say enough about this recipe. These rolls are worth every minute spent making them. To avoid having to get up so early, I saved the second rise for the morning. After slicing the rolls and placing them in the greased pan, I covered them tightly with plastic wrap and placed them in the fridge overnight. I took them out of the fridge and let them set at room temperature to rise for about an hour before placing them in the oven. They were perfect! Thanks so much!
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2014 @ 2:50 pm
So glad you enjoyed them!! I’ve done the second rise the next morning as well.
Forgot to mention that a step was left out of the recipe: it never tells you to sprinkle the rolled out dough with sugar and cinnamon mixture (& 2 T flour?).
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2014 @ 3:01 pm
Thanks for pointing this out. I updated the recipe to reflect this.
Hi there – I was wondering if this dough would be okay to freeze? I’m a novice when it comes to anything baking related!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:14 pm
I have blogged about freezing cinnamon rolls here: http://www.beantownbaker.com/2011/01/pumpkin-cinnamon-rolls.html I like to par-bake them, then freeze them, then finish baking them when you want them.
I found that the cinnamon was over powering. I will add 3 tsp next time 4 Tablespoons was way to much.
Is there any kneading involved???