coconut banana bread

it's no surprise that i've been eating a heck of a lot of coconut for the last few months. and that my preferred form of coconut is found in baked sweets - dredged donuts, nanaimo bars, coconut lime scones, homemade samoa cookies i devoured last week and haven't gotten to post yet - and this banana bread, made even sweeter and a bit more tropical with the addition of shredded sweetened coconut.

i'll admit, i was nervous the coconut would lend the bread a weird texture, but it didn't one bit. it was the perfect amount of coconut to give it flavor and a tiny touch of chewiness without the texture being off or the flavor of the bananas being overwhelmed by the coconut. if you want to take it even further, i bet adding a couple tablespoons of spiced rum to the batter would be amazing.

coconut banana bread
adapted from betty crocker
makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
3/4 cup mashed very ripe bananas (one large or two small)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1. lower the rack in your oven so the top of the bread will be in the middle of the oven. preheat your oven to 350F and grease a standard size loaf pan.
2. mix sugar and butter in a large bowl until combined. mix in the banana, milk, egg, and vanilla until combined.
3. add the flour, baking soda, salt, and 1/2 cup coconut and mix just until combined.
4. pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. top with the remaining 1/4 cup coconut.
5. bake about 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. store in an airtight container.