Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze

Original Recipe HERE

I had this on my "to try" list for a long time, but it kept getting bumped because I thought it might be just another banana bread recipe and nothing to get excited about.  But I had another case of Browning Bananas, and since I always have all the ingredients for this on hand, I decided to go for it one night.  So glad I did.

I considered skipping the glaze, because I'm not always a fan of lime flavoring, but luckily I didn't.  It brings the bread "to another level" (for lack of a better way to say it).  I think this would be even better as muffins, since you'd get a hint of lime in almost every bite, as well as some of the toasted coconut (because the coconut flavor of the bread wasn't very pronounced - all I tasted was banana).  The bread was moist without being gummy or having that combination of slightly-undercooked texture in the middle and a little too browned on the edges.  Definitely a do-again.

Update: These turned out fabulously as muffins.  I baked them for 22 minutes and got 18 muffins.  I made extra glaze and used it all.  Also, since the coconut flavor in the bread wasn't easily detectable the first time, I added half a teaspoon of coconut extract to the batter when making muffins.  I don't know how much it changed the taste, but it certainly didn't harm it.

Ingredients

* For Bread:
2 cups white flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)

1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt [I used light sour cream]

3 Tablespoons apple juice or milk [I used 2% milk]

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 Tablespoons shredded coconut (for topping)

* For Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons lime juice (fresh preferred)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 9x5" loaf pan (or spray with non-stick spray).  Line bottom with parchment for added ease of bread removal.

2) Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

3) Mash banana.

4) In large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until blended. Add eggs and beat to combine.

5) Add banana, sour cream or yogurt, apple juice or milk, and vanilla. Beat until blended.

6) Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.

7) Pour batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle additional 2 Tablespoons coconut on top.

8) Bake 60 minutes or until knife or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, but check bread after about 40 minutes. If top has browned and coconut pieces look toasted, cover top of bread lightly with piece of foil. Continue baking until done.

9) Remove loaf pan from oven and place on cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully remove bread from pan and place back on cooling rack with piece of wax paper (or foil, parchment, or paper towel) underneath rack.

10) Thoroughly whisk powdered sugar and lime juice together.  Use a spoon to drizzle glaze over top, letting excess drip below. Cool for another 15 minutes before slicing.

Kid Participation:
* Whisk dry ingredients
* Mash banana
* Crack eggs
* Add coconut to batter and stir
* Sprinkle coconut as topping
* Whisk glaze
* Drizzle glaze (if you don't mind it being very unevenly distributed)