A simple banana bread recipe expanded a little with the addition of coconut and pecans. Eat it warm straight out of the oven, or toast it and slather with butter to enjoy with tea. This banana bread is a celebration of the extraordinariness of ordinary home baking.
“The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” — Thomas Moore
Every time I bake a banana bread I wonder, just how can some banana, flour, sugar, and eggs combine to produce something so delicious? It’s magical. Fresh bread out of the oven is a magic to me and while I don’t know how to bake many different kinds of bread at home, banana bread is definitely my thing.
This time I wanted to try a coconut flavored banana bread. You can’t really go wrong with the combination of coconut and banana. Can you? 🙂 So I adapted my original winter spiced banana bread recipe to use desiccated coconut instead of the winter spices and pecans instead of walnuts. I also switched completely to whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. You can also add some oats to the bread batter like in this blueberry banana bread with oats recipe.
The recipe makes a generous amount — one 9X5” loaf tin and one 6X3” loaf tin. The small one, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a red and white twill ribbon makes a perfect gift for the neighbors who must have woken up with the indescribably delicious aroma of this bread!
If you like this recipe, please take a moment to rate it and/or leave your feedback in comments. It will really encourage me to keep exploring, learning and improving.
Coconut Banana Bread with Pecans
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 2¼ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup desiccated coconut
- 2 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1½ cup raw brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup sunflower oil
- 4 very ripe bananas
- ½ cup pecan nuts , chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180ºC.
- Prepare the loaf tins by lining with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine together all the dry ingredients — flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and desiccated coconut. Keep aside.
- In another bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, and vanilla on high speed for 2-3 mins.
- Add in oil and beat until just combined.
- Peel and mash the bananas and add to the wet mixture. Stir to combine.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture gradually in thirds and stir to combine it well. The batter will be thick.
- Stir in the chopped pecans and divide the batter between the two prepared loaf tins.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes till well risen and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and leave the loaves to cool for 10-15 mins. Remove from the tins, slice, enjoy warm.
Notes
- Coconut banana bread loaves can be wrapped and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days or you can slice them after cooling down completely and freeze for up to 2 months.
- Nutritional Info is the approximate value for 1 slice.
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Very nice procedure & method to make.
Thanks, Pranita!
I love that flavors combination! Banana, coconut and pecans is such a perfect combo ♥
Thanks, Natalie!
This was the first time I tried coconut in banana bread and we all loved it! 🙂