I bought some (not very) discounted bananas in honor of Miss Becca Boo’s birthday and had a bunch (ha-ha) left over, so I decided to make some banana bread.
While I grew up with a very good banana cake recipe in the house, when I want to make a banana bread I turn to Orangette. She is crazy for banana bread. I have tried a couple of her recipes, but the one that is my favorite, the one that I made yesterday, is what I’m going to share with you.
It’s a basic banana bread with just a touch of fancy. The rum, coconut, and demerara sugar add to, not detract from, the overall banana-ness of the bread. I tried tossing some dark Ghirardelli chips into one of the loaves, but decided that it wasn’t my thing—the chocolate overpowered the smooth banana-ness. (The banana-ness is really important to me, if you can’t tell). But, you never know, it might be your thing (along with toasted pecans maybe?), so go ahead and give it a shot.
The recipe calls for dark rum, but I just used the light stuff that I had on hand. Demerara sugar is just a cane sugar—it has bigger crystals, is light tan in color, and adds a delicious crunch to the bread’s top crust.
This recipe makes one loaf of bread, but I like to make several little loaves, wrap them in plastic and store them in the freezer. Then they are ready to go for whenever I need them: to serve to surprise company, to give one away as a gift for someone who does me a favor (quit jumping up and down and waving your arms in the air—you have to do something for me to get a loaf, silly—like…babysit all of my kids), to treat my hungry children, etc.
Banana Coconut Bread
Adapted from Orangette‘s blog
Updated on April 17, 2018: Increase the salt to 1 teaspoon (I made the change in the recipe).
3 large bananas (to make 1 ½ cups puree)
1 stick butter
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon white vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons rum
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup coconut
1-2 tablespoons demerara sugar
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the vinegar and rum. Add the banana puree, and then the flour, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Gently stir in the coconut. Pour the batter into one large, well-greased loaf pan, generously sprinkle the top with the demerara sugar, and bake at 350 degrees for 45-65 minutes.
