Toasted Coconut Banana Bread

I love the weekends!  Weekends are always fun & usually full of adventures.  Weekdays not so much... I work all week so I don't get as much time as I would like to cook.  Like most people we love bananas, but always seem to have a few start to go bad within a few days of buying.  I'm not sure about you, but I love to watch them brown!

As the days past and they get more brown, I get a little more excited as the weekend approaches.  I knew I was going to make banana bread, but wanted something different at the same time.  Looking online & pinterest I saw some really good variations. 

I decided to go with a recipe from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body's recipe for Coconut Banana Bread ( http://fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.blogspot.com/2011/10/coconut-banana-bread.html?m=1 ) with a few twists of my own.  Instead of light coconut milk, I used regular coconut milk.  I also toasted the coconut prior to mixing in and added chopped pecans.  Toasting the flakes helps to bring out the nuttiness of the coconut and adds to the flavor.  You could even toast the pecans to add more flavor.  This recipe was very delicious & produced a moist bread which was an instant hit & definitely a keeper!

Ingredients

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
1 cup Coconut milk
1/2 cup Toasted coconut
1/2 cup Pecan pieces

Makes 12 muffins & 1- 9" cake

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter muffin pans or bread loaves, set aside

Put coconut on a baking sheet and toast in oven for a few mins, take out & mix (if you want it toasted more just repeat step until it is toasted enough for your taste. I repeated this step 3 times)

In a small bowl mash bananas

In a large bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla & almond extract, then add coconut milk. Once combined stir in bananas.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Stir to combine.

Slowly add flour to wet batter and fold in (DO NOT OVER MIX, it causes your bread to be dense.. if you slowly fold to combine, your bread will be more moist)

Add toasted coconut & pecans (you could toast the pecans also, follow same steps as the coconut) and slowly fold in to incorporate.

Use 1/4 cup measure and add to muffin pan (I made 12 muffins) , pour the rest in the cake pan.

Bake 1 hr to 1 hr 15 min, test by inserting toothpick, if it comes out clean then it is done.

Enjoy! <3