Healthy Banana Walnut Bread (with Coconut!)

Healthy Banana Walnut Bread with Coconut

Recently, I've returned to my obsession with Despicable Me minions. Last year, us Nutty Crumpets were crazy enough to put the Banana Song at the end of our YPI presentation. We thought it would be funny and end the seemingly depressing topic on a light-hearted note, but that nearly cost us not advancing to the semi-finals. Although I can't say the second movie was the best movie I've ever seen, it was definitely an entertaining movie to watch. Yes, it completely contrasts the first movie as Gru the villain is no longer doing evil deeds, but the increased amount of minion action makes up for it. 

What the banana minion says when you pull the banana

Mc Donald's currently carries minion toys as part of the kids' Happy Meal. It's extremely strange for me to want to visit Mc Donald's much less beg to go. The toys certainly do their job very well of luring children (or children at heart, ahem) into buying their food. Thankfully, Happy Meals are not the worst thing to force down your throat and are fairly priced. The portion control and healthy options like milk and apples makes for a acceptable fast food meal. By the way, the hamburger is the 'healthiest' entree option, Happy Meal or not. Anyways, back to the toys. I was disappointed to find that my preferred minion toy was not available on the first trip to get a Happy Meal with Az. Since then, I have dragged my parents to five different locations in search of the 'banana minion'. A successful Coconut Crumpet feels happy about her accomplishment. But my mother says I need to become more mature. I beg to differ.
 
Not only is the banana minion my favourite, but I've become addicted to playing Minion Rush on my phone. And I rarely ever play games, mainly because I'm terrible at them. Something about collecting bananas and running other minions over is so amusing to me. Evidently I seem to have some bias towards the combination of minions and bananas. So, with the bananas that have been sitting frozen in my freezer for months, I dedicate this beautiful banana bread to all 10 million of the minion fans out there.

Super tall Healthy Banana Walnut Bread

What makes this banana bread recipe so much better than the millions out there? First and foremost is the height of the finished product. This recipe has to yield the tallest bread I've ever created. When made in an 8 inch loaf pan, the bread sticks out at least 1.5 inches out of the pan! Even when made with my dirt old baking powder...shhhhh...

Healthy Banana Walnut Bread with Coconut

Secondly, and the most important to me, is the minimal sugar that is used. Half a cup of any sweetener, especially white or brown sugar, is the maximum amount I'll ever use in one loaf or a dozen muffins. Anything more is too much, and anything less is not enough. Trust me, I speak from experience. If you're going to bake up some goodies, might as well ensure they are just sweet enough to taste different than sandwich bread. 

Large slices of Healthy Banana Walnut Bread

Thirdly is the extremely low added fat (I use the adjective added because flax seed has natural fat and so does shredded coconut). Pureed fruit is often used as a substitute for fat in baking. So one may wonder why oil is still needed when we have so much banana already. It is perfectly fine to leave the recipe completely free of added fats but the result will be gummier. With just a touch of melted oil or butter, the risk of a gummy bread is much lower. It's only half a tablespoon for the entire loaf! Usually I add 1 whole tablespoon to make the bread slightly fluffier. 

Healthy Banana Walnut Bread with Coconut

Regarding the flavour, I just may use regular milk and more flax seeds to take out the coconut ingredients in the recipe. (Gasp! Did Coconut Crumpet just say that?!) That is because the coconut flavour isn't strong enough for me to advertise this bread as having coconut.

And there you have it, a banana bread recipe that is definitely a keeper. I really admire the recipes on Ambitious Kitchen. I've already made a post based on her Healthy Carrot Morning Glory Muffins. Monique's baked goods match up to my expectations and healthiness; I'm eager to try more of her recipes! 

Healthy Banana Walnut Bread with Coconut

Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup ground flax seeds
• ½ cup medium shredded coconut, toasted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1¼ tsp baking soda
• Freshly ground pink Himalayan sea salt
• 3 bananas ripened until black
• ½ scant cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• ½ tbsp coconut oil, melted
• ¼ cup plain yogurt
• ¼ cup coconut milk
• ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts 
• Chopped raw walnuts, for topping
• Sweetened large shredded coconut, for topping

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine flours, flax seed, toasted coconut, baking powder and soda, and sea salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl thoroughly mash bananas. Add brown sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add egg and mix well. Steadily drizzle melted coconut oil while whisking to avoid re-solidification.
4. Combine yogurt and milk in a small bowl.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture all at once. Mix a few times and add the yogurt and milk mixture. Mix until a few streaks remain and add chopped toasted walnuts. Fold until just combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth top. Sprinkle raw walnuts and large shredded coconut on top for decoration. Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡