Blueberry Coconut Banana Bread

Tired of the same ole banana bread? Cheat on your plain banana bread recipe with this flavorful and super tender Blueberry Coconut Banana Bread (with blueberry and coconut streusel topping). 

My Mom makes the best banana bread. And I am totally being serious.

I know this because I have eaten my fair share of banana bread and banana muffins in my day. Some homemade by others, some store bought and some from fancy bakeries. And even though some are pretty good, most are just alright and some are, dare I say it, just plain awful.

Since my Mom’s recipe is so good (especially when she makes it), I very rarely stray from her recipe when I am craving banana bread. But sometimes those nasty black, err I mean perfectly ripe bananas (the bananas my Mom lives for) start to pile up and I don’t know what to do with them all.

Not that I wouldn’t be perfectly content with my Mom’s simple but superb banana bread, but you know, variety is the spice of life and I want to totally trash up that classic recipe. Soooo….. when I saw this recipe for Blueberry Coconut Banana Bread awhile back, I instantly pinned it. It looked so good and I knew it would be great for one of those days when I wanted to rock my banana bread world just a bit.

And let me tell you this version of banana bread was a super hit. I first made it a month or so ago and then made it again for the Easter brunch I hosted. Everyone absolutely loved it and kept going back for “just one more” slice! This of course made me super happy, but if I was being honest, I always have a bit of guilt when I “cheat” on my Mom’s recipe and try something new. But… had I not been a little bit daring and not branched out to try a new recipe… well I would not have been able to taste this amazingness in all it’s glory!

One Year Ago: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Protein Shake
Two Years Ago: Blackberry Cobbler Oatmeal
Three Years Ago: Penne with Chicken Sausage and Arugula
Four Years Ago: Carrot, Tomato, and Spinach Quinoa Pilaf and FYI: Quinoa
Five Years Ago: Cowboy Calzone
Six Years Ago: Butterscotch Sweet Potato Cookie Sandwiches

Blueberry Coconut Banana Bread
Printable Version
Prep Time: 20-25 minutes Bake Time: 45-50 minutes Yields: 1 (9×5-inch) loaf pan

Ingredients:
Banana Bread:
2 cups + 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ginger
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4-5 medium-large bananas)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup melted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
½ cup sweetened coconut flakes 

Streusel Topping:
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
½ cup sweetened coconut flakes
½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, bananas, both sugars, vanilla and almond extract and melted butter. Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Set aside. 

Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, toss blueberries with in the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour. Fold the flour dusted blueberries and coconut flakes into the prepared batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Set aside.

To make the streusel, in a large bowl stir together the brown sugar and flour. Using a pastry cutter, a fork or your fingers, cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse, sand-like crumbs. Stir in the blueberries and the coconut. Sprinkle streusel on top of batter in loaf pan.

Bake in the preheated 350 degree oven until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Cover the top of the bread with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent over browning, if necessary.

Cool for 10 minutes in pan then carefully remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an air tight container for 3 days or wrap in foil and freeze for 6-9 months.

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens – Breakfast and Brunch via Taste and Tell 

Other recipes you might enjoy:
Two Ingredient Banana Bread
Banana Bran Muffins
Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Strawberry Banana Bread
Peanut Butter Banana Bread Bars