This Coconut Pineapple Banana Bread is kind of like a piña colada in quick bread form. (Minus the fun novelty umbrella and fancy glass, of course.) If this time of year has you craving sunshine and tropical flavors, you are going to fall hard for this recipe.
At first I wasn’t sure if pineapple would work in banana bread, but I was craving pineapple so I decided to give it a try anyway. And lo and behold, it worked out! Why isn’t pineapple in more quick bread recipes?! Not only does it add a tropical flavor, but it keeps the bread nice and moist too. Which is important for quick bread!
My other two tricks for keeping vegan quick breads moist are to use a combination of coconut milk and coconut oil in them. While I’m not exactly sold on the whole coconut-oil-as-miracle-food thing, coconut oil is my absolute favorite when it comes to vegan baking. Like butter or shortening, it’s solid at room temperature and melts when heated up, so it’s my go-to substitute for those ingredients. And coconut milk ups the richness even more.
People seem to either love or hate shaved coconut, so feel free to omit it from the recipe if it’s not your thing. Although I haven’t tried it, I think chopped macadamia nuts would work well here as a substitute.
Photos by Sunny Frantz
Coconut Pineapple Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons warm water
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large ripe bananas mashed
- 3/4 cup finely chopped pineapple drained well (fresh, frozen or canned)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened shaved coconut plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a large bread pan with oil or cooking spray.
- Whisk together the water and ground flax seeds in a large bowl. Let them sit for a few minutes, until the mixture has the consistency of egg whites.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Stir the coconut milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, coconut oil, sugar, and bananas into the flax mixture. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and fold in the pineapple and coconut.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and place it on a baking sheet. Sprinkle additional shaved coconut on top of the batter, if desired. Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean; the bread will be dense and moist.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove the loaf from the pan and finish cooling on a rack.
- Store tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
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