A spin on the classic banana bread – with chocolate and coconut!
This is how desperate I was to make banana bread: it was 10:00 pm the day after Christmas, and I had the perfect number of ripe bananas on the counter – but no chocolate in sight, which, as you know, is a big problem. Banana bread without chocolate is like a s’more without a marshmallow. I frantically called my brother who was conveniently out of the house to stop at the grocery store to get some chocolate. Of course I was not thinking because all near grocery stores are closed the day after Christmas. The next stores that came to mind were Target and Walmart, which were also conveniently closed. Luckily I thought of the convenience store at the gas station, which was open! So my brother grabbed the last two bags (what are the chances?) of Nestle semisweet chocolate morsels off the shelf. And now you have this banana bread recipe. You’re welcome.
Let’s just say this banana bread is the best cake-y bread I have ever tasted. Maybe it was because I was really hungry while making it, but the texture, taste, and combination of flavors are soooo good. I never knew chocolate, coconut, and banana went so well together…
In my opinion, the best part about this banana bread is the addition and combination of coconut and canola oils. For one, the coconut oil enhances the toasted coconut flavor of the bread, and the canola oil makes the bread super moist. Step aside butter, these oils are taking over.
This bread, although, in my opinion, is best in loaf-form, can of course be made into muffins. Also, if you’re a nut fan, adding walnuts or pecans would give a good crunch to the bread!
So, basically, there is no excuse to make this bread – it’s easy and requires only a few leftover bananas (don’t even have to be that ripe!), chocolate, and coconut. If made into muffins, they’re also perfect to serve at parties. Serve, and enjoy!
Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- 4 semi-ripe bananas
- 1 tbsp of honey
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
- 1-1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of light, packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of buttermilk
- 1/2 cup of coconut canola oil
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 6 oz of semisweet chocolate morsels
- 1/2 cup of sweetened shredded coconut
- 3 tbsp of unsweetened toasted coconut flakes
- Preheat oven to 400? F. Place bananas on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle honey and sprinkle cinnamon on bananas. Roast bananas for 25 minutes until brown and caramelized. Remove from oven, let cool, and mash. Reduce oven temperature to 350? F. Grease a 9″ loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
- In a small bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a bowl attached to an electric mixer, add eggs and brown sugar. Beat until well combined. Add buttermilk, coconut canola oil, and vanilla extract, and beat until combined. Add mashed bananas to mixture, and beat until combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, and beat until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips and sweetened shredded coconut. Pour batter into loaf pan, and sprinkle toasted coconut flakes on batter. Bake banana bread for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool, serve, and enjoy!
