Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread
Want to know what’s in my fridge? A whole lot of ’what the heck am I going to do with that’? Maraschino cherries. Basil pesto. Expired buttermilk. Kale… lots of kale. A bottle with less that a tablespoon of maple syrup and carrot juice. It’s a glamorous life I lead. Totally.
You should be thankful I didn’t reach into my fridge for this recipe. Cherry Pesto Kale Bread sounds like a big mistake.
Instead I scavenged through my cupboards. What did I find? A can of crushed pineapple. A bag of dried beans. Shredded coconut and bananas that I had very obviously forgotten about. So! Yes! Bread! Minus the beans…. cause… that would just be weird.
So, just in case you’re keeping score… you could go ahead and call me an ‘oh crap I’m out of eggs and butter and just about every other animal product needed for baking’ type of vegan. Also… I totally love bacon. Worst vegan ever.
You would never know that this bread was something I threw together out of cupboard desperation. It’s dang good. With bananas and pineapple, you can afford to add less oil… meaning less fat. Of course, all our dreams of low fat banana bread fly out the window when we add sweetened shredded coconut. It’s just too good to leave out.
Moist. Flavorful. Fruity. Vegan. This just proves that we can add just about anything to banana bread and still call it delicious. Well… except dried beans. That will always be weird.
Need more banana in your bread? Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread
makes one 9×5-inch loaf
2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas
1/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
generous pinch of ground ginger
pinch of allspice
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas really well. Add the sugar, pineapple, and oil and whisk briskly to incorporate.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined. Fold in the coconut.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle with extra sugar if you’d like. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before transferring out of a pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.
131 Comments Add A Comment
Grl – you need to make some baked kale chips with all that kale biz! (So crunchy and delish!) And that bread makes me swoon/drool.
Regarding the comment (above) about white whole wheat flour: it isn’t bleached. It comes from a different kind of wheat than that usually used for whole wheat flour. That’s all.
ZOMG Joy! This was sooo good! :) Seriously yummy! Thanks for coming through yet again! <3
I think you’ve accurately described the state of our refrigerator. :) Your bread looks so very scrumptious. You are amazing.
I emailed you once before about the wood serving plate. where did you get it! it is so cool.
I’m no Alton Brown and I have no idea why eggs and milk make baked goods, well… baked goodies. But this bread looks fantastic without the dairy.
Thanks for sharing.
I wanna see what this baby looks like on the inside! is it moist and yummy?! wouldnt mind some for brekkie right now! ;-)
Maybe it’s just me… but I just cant get over the feeling that anything flour-less, vegan or whatever is suspicious… :P not in this case, more like always. when i see vegan cakes or flourless, diary-free, eggless brownies at the market I cant help thinking: well, what the heck is this made of then??? ;)
What a great recipe. I’m no vegan but I wouldn’t mind eating a slice or two of this. It’s really great to improvise like that!
Magda
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. This must be irresistible !!!
Cheers from Spain. (I allways read you, though most of the times, I stay silent, my english is not as good as I’d like it to be).
your english is just lovely to me! thanks for saying hello!
My son’s girlfriend is vegan so this is a “must try”. After all this is serious- I must win her over!
wait.. isn’t she supposed to win you over!?
Yum! Tropical bread! Would it be weird to serve banana bread with rum? Beacuse this bread really makes me think Carribean rum. OK, maybe not for breakfast… but if it’s a tea time sort of bread…
rum would be absolutely delicious in this bread!
Start by making some vanilla extract with rum, then add lots….mmmm
My vegan friends will love this. I’m not vegan (I love bacon too much)but I think I will like this too. Thanks!
My three kids devoured a loaf of this in less than 24 hours. They had it with peanut butter (at their request) this morning for breakfast. Thank you!
Bananas and pineapple, sounds so wonderful! I’ll bet it smells divine when it’s in the oven baking.
Suzanne
Can I just say, this post made a usually environment-friendly person go out and buy the three things that probably use up the most carbon dioxide to ship to where they live in Sweden: pineapple, coconut, and bananas. But you know what, the bread was really good! And ‘exotic’! Thanks for the veganism, too! : )
Wow Joy, you are the best. I am so happy that you left this recipe. I made it for my dogs funeral, he died of AIDS. Sadly his anal cancer was too far into the terminal stages. But boy, he sure did love coconut AND pineapple.
Yummm, that sounds delicious!
Hi Joy,
This looks wonderful! I love this combination — it reminds me of the Hummingbird Cake at Buttercup Bakeshop here in nyc, which also has banana and pineapple (and they put it totally over the top with cream cheese frosting. Oh, boy). I’ve always wanted to make at home, but now I’ll try your healthier version. thanks!
Nancy
I am also guilty of leaving a bottle of less than 1 tbs of maple syrup in my fridge. In fact, there has been a bottle like that in there for the last 2 years… and it hasn’t even been the same bottle.
Lovely looking banana bread. I think I would use virgin coconut oil instead of canola, ’cause it’s a coconut cake and virgin coconut oil is far less refined than canola.
I have just made this this afternoon and it was FANTASTIC! Yum!!
thank you so much for this recipe!
i got a lot of compliments and i myself loved it.
i love anything that involves coconut and pineapple.
Ooh yum-my!! This looks delicious!
I love all kinds of banana loaves!!
And I like your pictures -very much!!
Have a nice day :)
Hi Joy!
I made this bread a few weeks ago and had FANTASTIC results! My vegan friends went bananas over it (pun intended). I gave the basic recipe a go today with vegan semi sweet chocolate chips, chopped up crystallized ginger and some apple sauce to make up for the missing pineapple and it came out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe. I am so excited to have a good vegan bread in my repitoire!
Kelly.
Easily one of the best banana breads I’ve ever made! My husband thanks you!
Props on making something yummy out of what you have around the house! Pretty much my goal on a daily basis.
awesome bread. I was excited to finally make some banana bread for my vegan roommate. :] One thing was I had to add a little bit more c oil.
Wowee, yum! I did a few substitutions. For the sugar, I mixed turbinado and agave syrup. Instead of oil, I used 1/4 c soy milk (unsweetened) with 1.5 t apple cider vinegar, and mixed that with the sugars for a while to dissolve the turbinado. For spices, I ground a bit of cardamom, chopped up about a teaspoon of fresh ginger, added a large pinch of galangal, and 1 T of vanilla. I also used about 3.5 bananas.
Anyway, it’s so delicious I want to eat the whole thing right now. Thank you!
Joy, this is in the oven right now and I am SO EXCITED!
I am a newbie food blog addict and was soooo excited to find your site! Have made a couple of your recipes so far, sourdough starter is on day 5 and this morning made this delish vegan bread into muffins for my boys. They loved them (as did I) and I am now stashing the remainder in the freezer before they become lunch and dinner too! Thanks for the recipes and for giving me a good chuckle now and then ;)
So I just decided to check out the great wide world of blogs and have already fallen in love with your site. I made this recipe today and it was amazing. I got all the batter/dough ready and in a pan last night, chilled it over the evening. When I woke up this morning, I turned on the coffee pot, popped the pan in the oven and went back to bed. 50 minutes later, a perfect treat to go with my coffee on a Friday. Can’t wait to try the next amazing recipe. Thanks for sharing your gift!
Although I used two large bananas and followed the recipe exactly, I found this to be dry and wouldn’t make it again. For those who do wish to make it, I’d guess 1/4c water may make it a bit more moist.
I make this alllllllll the time! I love it!
I don’t use any oil (applesauce instead) and use all whole wheat flour. Kind of gooey, but I like gooey, so this is AMAZING!!!! Thank you Joy for making everyone think that I’m the creative one at work/school. Wait, I don’t lie. I tell them that it’s all JOY THE BAKER!
Have I a recipe for you! And its for kale!!! Well the likelihood that your fridge is full of kale now is not really likely…but for future reference.
Kale Chips!
1 bunch of Kale
2 tablespoons of Olive oil (or oil of choice)
Sea Salt and or other spices
Preheat Oven to 350
Rip the leaves off of the stem and away from the hard wood part in that runs all the way to the top of the leaf. Then Rip the leaves in palm size and smaller portions (and make sure to get those little crinkly baby ones that like to hide out on the bottom!) After you get all of them ripped into pieces, them throw them into a bowl pour the oil over them and toss! Then (this is the important part) line a baking sheet with them very evenly trying not to overlap them or they will become soggy and not crispy….oh yeah and then sprinkle on the salt and or other spices. Bake in your oven for as long as it takes to crisp-i-fying them but not burning them. BEST CHIPS EVER!
My kids even eat them…its one of the way i sneak the veggies in!
I cleaned up my refrigerator this morning and found 2 small bananas with very black skin. Obviously, they had been sitting there quite sometime. So I looked up on line for the recipe and came across yours. As a sometime vegan person plus the picture looked so good, I gave it a try and bam..bam…. It came out so delicious. Although I would say it would be better with one more banana because it’s a little dry. Anyway, thanks for the recipe . I love it and I will definitly make it again.
tikky
Ahh I bet that is so good. I loove anything pineapple/coconut/banana. Need to make this!
Would there be a way to make this with coconut flour? I dont know by how much you’d have to reduce the amount of flour in this case. Any suggestions? Thanks!
i haven’t yet made this with coconut flour, so i wouldn’t be able to give you the answer to this question until i make it. i’m sorry!
This is an amazing recipe!! So good! I made it for my brother yesterday at work and he asked for another loaf today :)
So tasty! I had all the ingredients in my dorm and made this tonight! However, as a non-vegan, I buttered it, and it was even more delicious. Smart Balance would work too! Also, if I had walnuts, I would have added them, becuase I think this would have benefited from something crunchy in it. Delicious recipe–getting added to my vegan arsenal.
Oh. My. Word. Just made this and ate it and it’s amazing. So not a vegan person (love me a bacon, egg, cheese biscuit) but this is amazing. And now I have something awesome to make for all my vegan friends! Thanks!!!
Hi, just to let you know that I’ve tried your recipie (I’ve just omitted the pineapple because I did not have it at home) and it turned out delicious :) Thanks a lot!
This is amazing! It’s great dipped in caramel (as anything would be really).
Thank you for this recipe. I made this recipe but made them in 5 mini-loaves. I substituted some of the sugar with stevia and it came out great, but made the loaf mildly sweetened. I made another batch for my parents and they loved it.
Here’s the link if you care to see. Thanks for the inspiration :)
http://healthycoconutblog.com/2011/10/21/coconut-pineapple-banana-bread/
I was looking for something to make to bring to a meeting discussing a project that’s taking place in Uganda. As last time I was there I sat around eating bananas and pineapple until I was stuffed to the gills, I think I found the one! Probably going to make it as smaller buns, though, to make it easier to eat.
Oh. My. Goodness.
I just made this (used a muffin tin instead) and it was perfect (even w/ unsweetended coconut)! Next time I’m going to add a splash of rum.
Thank you for the recipe- I was looking to take advantage of putting together my overripe bananas and some fresh pineapple I had. I did substitute pear syrup (concentrated pear juice that can be substituted for molasses or sugar)as a sweetner and skipped the coconut (I had fresh coconut but wasn’t sure how this would turn out. The batter was a bit wet so I added a tad bit more whole wheat flour to firm it up.
Its in the oven now and smells fabulous. T