Coconut Banana Bread

One of my favorites from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. This moist, scrumptious banana bread is laced with the sweet texture of shaved coconut that not only tastes incredible but lends a satisfying chewiness to every bite.
Each loaf is also topped with toasted shaved coconut that lends a slightly crispy caramelized sweetness to the crust. This bread is best served while it's still warm from the oven with just a light spread of butter. *Drool*

Start by toasting the coconut on a baking sheet in a 350 oven. It takes about 15 minutes, but watch it closely because the sugars can burn very quickly. I find it helps to toss it around every few minutes for even toasting.

While the coconut is toasting you can start creaming your butter and sugar in the mixer.

I've learned over the past year or so not to mix the butter and sugar up too much. It needs to be crumby not pasty - you'll get a lighter, flakier product (as opposed to dense and flat) in the end whether you're making cookies or a dessert bread.

Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Add milk, lemon juice, and almond extract.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

A little bit at a time, work the flour mixture in.

Add bananas to the mix and incorporate. I find that not over-mixing here also produces some desirable end results.

And finally, add a little more than half of your toasted coconut to the batter and incorporate. Leave enough coconut aside to top the loaf.

Pour your batter into your bread pan, or in my case pans - I had some brown bananas worthy of a double batch!

Top your loaf with the remaining coconut - this will get nice and toasty brown in the oven.

Bake at 350 for about an hour. It should be a light to medium brown depending on your preference. Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring the loaf from the pan to a cooling rack.

Recipe:

1 Cup flaked coconut
1/4 Cup butter
2/3 C sugar
2 eggs, room temp
3 T milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Cup AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)

Directions:

Toast coconut on baking sheet at 350 for about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Leave oven on. Set coconut aside to cool.

In mixer, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in milk, lemon juice, and almond extract.

Sift flour in bowl along with baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Thoroughly blend into into mixing bowl.
Add mashed bananas, add about two thirds of the coconut (reserve some for bread topping)

Pour mixture into 9x5 loaf pan, greased or Teflon, lined with greased wax paper cut to size. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and onto a cool rack. Serve when the bread has cooled.