Banana Bread with Toasted Coconut + Chocolate Chips
May 13, 2015 Leave your thoughts
Hello everybody! The adventures of a soon-to-be-senior in high school continue, featuring some food, some homework, and lots of tests. This chica just survived her third AP test, word.
What’s new with me? Well, for one, I went to San Francisco to visit some colleges…
…and while I decided that I think I want to shoot for a really good school on the East Coast first (it’s a secret which one–shh), I had so much fun visiting the West Coast. They also have excellent ice cream out there: pictured above is a scoop of smoked sea salt chocolate and Vietnamese coffee from Humphry Slocombe.
I also got asked to prom (no, not by a cat or a sweet potato), which took place last Friday. I had so much fun dressing up and hanging out with my friends and my date!
I’ve known my friend Jeromy for twelve years now, and let’s just say we’ve come a long way.
…actually, I think the only differences are that he is now about a foot taller than me, and we changed who was wearing the vest.
Anyway, I was recently inspired to bake some banana bread, since Jeromy and I had a long conversation at a diner after prom about the wonderful ways of bananas. I decided to throw in some coconut and chocolate chips, too, because both of us love those foods. 🙂
I forgot how much I love making banana bread. It’s so simple to prepare, yet so pretty when you take it out of the oven, and so comforting when you take a bite. The only reason I don’t make it more often is that we never have any extra bananas at my house, considering I’m basically at monkey status when it comes to banana eating…
Want to know how simple this is? Well, it involves mashing bananas (which I find way too much enjoyment in)…
…toasting coconut…
…mixing a bunch of things together in a bowl (there’s no better way to describe that)…
…then baking and slicing and EATING!
YASS.
By the way, this banana bread recipe is adapted from the one from Flour Bakery in Boston. I updated it with a healthy twist, because healthy twists are kinda my jam.
Banana Bread with Toasted Coconut + Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
Prep Time 15 min
Cooking Time 1 hr
Total Time 1 hr 15 min
Yield 1 loaf
1 2/3 cup of organic whole wheat flour, spelt flour, or your favorite gluten-free mix
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of unrefined cane sugar
1/3 cup of coconut sugar or brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup of refined coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup of almond milk (I love using toasted coconut almond milk)
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups of shredded coconut, toasted
1/2-3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and grease well with coconut oil. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk well and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully whisk in the oil, then add the mashed banana, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.
Add in the dry ingredients and gently fold with a spatula. Once no specks of flour remain, add the toasted coconut and mini chocolate chips and fold to incorporate.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, using a spatula to help you out. Then, place the loaf pan in the middle rack of the oven and bake until a toothpick comes out clean in the center, about 1 hour.
Let the banana bread cool in the pan for at least an hour (preferably two), then transfer the bread from the pan to a cooling rack to come to room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or slice and freeze for later consumption.
So, how do you feel about bananas? (Interesting question, I know, but I have answered so many questions in the past ten days that I need something straightforward.) Leave me a comment here or on Facebook and let me know!
Also, some words of advice before I go: when given a photo booth, go HAM. No, not literal ham. Proof is below.
Tags: Allergy friendly, baking, bananas, bread, breakfast, chocolate, coconut, dairy-free, delicious, easy, healthy, whole wheat