Sunday we found ourselves with two bunches of over-ripe bananas and decided the best thing would be to make some banana bread. One bunch of the regular yellow variety and the other a bunch of the sweeter baby Costa Rica variety. Well, my all time favorite banana bread is a Coconut Banana Bread that I have been making for 25 + years that I found in Bernard Clayton’s Complete Book of Breads cookbook that my mom bought in the 1970’s and gave to me many years ago. A new 30th Anniversary Edition is now available and in print, but I still like my old copy. Monique took a recipe for Banana Bread from the Healthy Eating Cookbook, but also added a cup of chocolate chips to hers.
On with the banana bread battle. So the two of us started with making our two separate banana breads, mine the Coconut Banana Bread and hers the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. Both were preped up and ready to go into the oven at the same time at 350 degrees F for an hour. The coconut one came out first at the hour mark, but the chocolate one stayed in for another 15 minutes or so as it was too wet. We allowed them to cool on the bread rack for about 30 minutes and then sliced them and quickly enjoyed a delightful afternoon tea with the sweet tea breads.
And the winner is… it’s a tie! We cannot eat one piece of banana bread without the other, each has it’s own great qualities and flavor profile. The toasted coconut flakes always pair well with the banana bread, and the softened chocolate chips in the other one melt well with the banana bread too!
4 responses so far ↓
1 gregb // Aug 19, 2008 at 10:24 am
My family has had banana bread every Fall since I was a child. It is no longer just a tradition, but has become a biological addiction, but I can’t eat it when it is hot outside.
Basic banana bread, with pecans, is our standard recipe. I envy you who are able to venture beyond that. I think my recipe was updated when I saw a basic recipe in one of Jeff Smith’s Frugal Gourmet books. It added a few things like lemon zest, which unexpectedly made the basic recipe much better.
2 Ryan Boudreaux // Aug 22, 2008 at 10:47 am
Wonderful food memories Greg! Jeff Smith was an early inspiration for me along with Julia Child on TV. I have a favorite cucumber salad recipe of his that I make often.
3 Rick // Jan 26, 2011 at 9:45 am
Sounds great……………. : > ) you have a link to these?
Thanks
Rick
4 Boudreaux Ryan // Jan 26, 2011 at 10:56 am
Rick,
I appreciate your comment, however, I do not think either of these recipes ever got posted on the blog. I will have to make them again and document them, then post.