The other day I had a big bunch of bananas that needed to be eaten but they were almost brown and none of my people, including myself, will eat them that way. So, I set out to make banana bread because we were headed for a camping trip the next day, and I thought it would be perfect with a breakfast casserole. But I didn’t want to just make the same banana nut bread I always make, even though it’s good and classic.
I just wanted it to be special; camping in the mountains special.
I peeked on Pinterest and fished Food Network, but all of the fancy recipes called for chocolate chips. Chocolate makes my youngest, how do you say it…CRAZY! So none of those would do. No way was I serving my kid chocolate for breakfast and then s’mores for dessert!
I ended up rifling through my pantry, fridge and freezer and came up with a Cherry Coconut Banana Nut Bread, and let me tell you, it’s going to be hard to go back to eating the classic. We just might not. If you don’t like coconut or cherries, you can leave either or both out, but then you’re just going to have classic banana nut bread and you won’t need this recipe.
Just trust me: This is one recipe your family is going to love. Enjoy!
Cherry Coconut Banana Nut Bread
Ingredients:
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 3 ripe bananas-mashed
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 TBSP. coconut oil
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Rainer cherries, halved (you can use any cherries you have)
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes
- butter, for greasing loaf pan
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Butter bottom and sides of loaf pan. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Mix next seven ingredients. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix well. Add cherries, pecans, and coconut flakes and gently mix. Pour into loaf pan and bake at 325F for 65-70 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing.
