Pineapple Banana Bread

Freezing cold outside and icy roads…an indoor day for sure!

Perfect day to try a new quick bread recipe but after realizing the bananas on the counter weren’t quite ready to go into a loaf some previously frozen bananas came in very handy. It’s often the case, too many over ripe bananas… or none!

After trying a few variations of Banana Bread over the years my all-time favourite still remains my go to recipe when I want a good banana loaf. This doesn’t mean I won’t try something new and the tropical flavours in this new recipe were just the right motivation to bake it on such a non-tropical day!

Great crust, deep banana flavor with bursts of sweet pineapple and additional texture from the coconut earns this recipe a place next to my favourite Banana Bread recipe!

Pineapple Banana Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 large very ripe banana, well mashed
½ cup well drained crushed pineapple (reserve juice)
½ cup shredded coconut

Glaze
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Reserved pineapple juice

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
2. In a medium bowl cream butter and sugar until well mixed then add eggs one at a time until blended.
3. Blend in drained pineapple, mashed banana and coconut.
4. On low speed, mix in flour mixture.
5. Spray or lightly butter a standard 9X5 inch loaf pan. Lining pan with parchment paper makes removal easy but is totally optional.
6. Evenly spread batter into pan.
7. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Remove from pan and cool on rack.
9. If glazing,  mix confectioner’s sugar with enough reserved pineapple juice to make a spreadable glaze.

Notes, Tips and Suggestions

• Next time will use a coarser shredded coconut and lightly toast it before adding.
• Thought about omitting the almond extract then reconsidered, the small amount actually works.  Hard to detect the almond flavour in itself but works really well with the other ingredients.
• Too many over ripe bananas? Mash and add a little lemon juice to preserve colour then freeze in zip lock bags making bags as flat as possible for quick thawing. If you know what you will be using them for, label the number of bananas placed in bag or indicate the recipe it will be used for.  Believe me, great way of  getting rid of all those extra ripe bananas when you don’t need them but like striking gold when you do!

• I omitted the glaze not wanting the extra sweetness.
• I prefer using a long more slender loaf pan 11X4 inches as opposed to the standard 9X5 pan which in my opinion bakes better in the center and gives a better size slice.
• Sifting the confectioner’s sugar before adding juice makes blending them together much easier.

*If banana and chocolate is a flavour combination you enjoy try…

http://someoneinthekitchen.blogspot.ca/2013/03/chocolate-marbled-banana-bread.html