In my quest to cook things diabetic friendly, I cooked this Banana Coconut Bread the other day and was very pleased with how it turned out! High in fiber and low in both fat and sugar. Yay! That makes me happy. Although you still wouldn't want to binge on something like this of course. All baked goods should be occasional treats (which I am now saving for weekends) and not daily thing.
The Bananas help to keep this bread really moist, but you do have to let it sit overnight before cutting into it, which is why there are no cut pictures of this recipe. (I was letting it sit overnight.)
It is a bit denser because of the whole wheat flour, but that's okay in a banana bread. You want a banana bread to be a bit dense. It's not a cake. It's a bread, afterall. ☺
When you scrape the dough into the pan and then scatter the coconut flakes on top, do press them in a bit so that they kinda stick when the dough bakes around them. I didn't and they fell off quite easily.
They also don't stay crunchy, but that is the way coconut works. Once you wrap it up, it absorbes the moisture from what's around it. Nevermind. It was still delicious anyways! High fiber. Low fat. Low sugar. What's bad about any of that! (PS - you can also use regular sugar if you wish.)
*Banana Coconut Bread*Makes 12 servingsPrintable Recipe
A great way to use up those over ripe bananas!
140g of plain flour (1 cup)65g of whole wheat flour (1/2 cup)2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice1/4 tsp baking soda1/4 tsp salt2 to 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)100g of soft light brown sugar or the equivalent in sugar substitute (here in the UK 12g of Splenda plus 1/2 TBS molasses) (1/2 cup light brown sugar packed)78ml unsweetened light coconut milk (Stir first, 1/3 cup)1 large free range egg, beaten2 TBS canola oil37g of raw chip coconut (1/2 cup)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 by 4 by 2 inch non stick loaf tin. Set aside.
Whisk together the flours, baking powder, spice, soda and salt in a bowl. Combine the mashed bananas, brown sugar, egg and oil. Add all at once to the flour mixture and then stir just to moisten. Pour into the prepared baking tin and then scatter the coconut over the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes until the top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. If you think it is browning too much you may cover this loosely with foil for the lst 20 minutes of baking. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before tipping out to finish cooling completely. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.
Calories per serving: 154 (with brown sugar) 139 with sugar substituteCarbs: 24g with sugar, 19g with substituteProtein: 3gFat: 6g
