This Pineapple Banana Bread is an unexpected treat ~ ripe bananas, crushed pineapple, and shredded coconut make for a dreamy cake, and don’t forget that sweet/tangy pineapple glaze!
My loaf pan gets more of a workout in my kitchen than just about any other pan. When I crave a little something sweet, it’s usually some type of CRUMB CAKE, or POUND CAKE. And I actually prefer my sweet treats in the morning with my coffee, rather than later in the day. Sometimes they revolve around PUMPKIN, CITRUS, or CHOCOLATE. But, like today, BANANA often stars in my sweet breakfast recipes ~ this Pineapple Banana Bread is the latest. I should have thrown coconut into that title, too, since there’s an equal portion of that in there. And a little almond extract and a palmful of poppy seeds just to make things interesting.
This cake/bread is everything I crave…it’s moist, with a loose, raggedly crumb, and lots of flavor (and substance) from the banana and pineapple. The glaze is made from the leftover pineapple juice and confectioner’s sugar and just tips it over into the sweets category; but for me it’s strictly a breakfast and coffee break luxury.
Bananas and canned pineapple make this a year round treat. I always seem to have half a bag of coconut in my cupboard, and you could even add some chopped pecans, if you like, but isn’t it true, there is nothing more intoxicating on a snowy day than realizing you have everything you need right in your kitchen to make something sweet and warm from the oven like this.
I confess I’m a glaze-a-holic. At this point I feel like a quick bread is naked without one. I had leftover juice from draining the crushed pineapple, so it was a natural leap to make the glaze. But I did consider leaving it plain and eating it with a nice smear of whipped cream cheese. You make the call, either way will be good.
Reader Rave ~
“Superb banana bread worth getting excited about. I use vanilla extract, purée from four canned pineapple slices in heavy syrup, omit poppy seeds, add chopped pecans, and about 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips. I bake for the full 70 minutes, to get a nice crust with a soft inside. I will be making this forever.” ~ Suzanne
Pineapple Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 Tbsp poppy seeds, optional
- 1 ripe banana, well mashed
- 1/2 cup well drained crushed pineapple, reserve the juice!
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
glaze
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- reserved pineapple juice
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Cream the butter and the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, or do it with electric beaters. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the extract and poppy seeds.
- Blend in the drained pineapple, the mashed banana, and the coconut.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and just mix on low speed until everything is blended.
- Spray or lightly butter a standard loaf pan and line it with parchment paper with long overhanging ends (this is optional) so you can lift it out for glazing.
- Spread the batter evenly into the pan and rap it against the counter once or twice to release any air bubbles.
- Bake for about 65-70 minutes, until risen, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.
- Cool on a rack before glazing.
- To make the glaze, mix the confectioner's sugar with enough of the reserved pineapple juice to make a spreadable glaze.,
Notes
Don’t forget to pin it!
I would not put almond extract again. I had to throw out cake I think my almond extract was bad?
This is the best banana bread recipe I’ve ever tried. I skipped the coconut. I also used pineapple puree and a mix of oat flour and almond flour. It was fluffy and moist and didn’t taste overwhelmingly of banana. Definitely bookmarking this recipe.
Based on another persons comments I tried this gluten free. I made a 1/2 recipe. Used 40 grams whites rice flour, 32 grams oat flour, 20 grams almond flour,and 68 grams 1:1 gf flour. Added 1/8 tsp guar gum. Used mayonnaise for the sour cream. Baked 16 minutes. 1/2 ca was muffin , let batter rest 5 minutes before putting oven.
Typo. 8 typo only 8 grams oat flour oat flour
These are HEAVEN!!!!!!! I don’t know what the gripers are griping about! I made muffins because I live alone and it’s easier to take one out of the freezer than slice a loaf.
Moist enough for me. I used fresh pineapple that I had in chunks in the freezer. So, maybe there was extra moisture from the frozen state of the pineapple? Anyway….perfection, like a Hawaiian holiday! Thank you, Sue.
I will certainly be making these again with the added suggestions from other bakers such as ginger and cardamom. And sprinkled bits on top. I put one pecan on top and some chopped ones in the batter. Sooooo good.
I’ve got this baking right now! I used fresh pineapple, omitted the poppy seeds, and added a couple of scoops of unflavored protein powder (for a protein boost, since my husband and I are gym goers). Also, I doubled the recipe, and used 2 miniature loaf pans, 3 small loaf pans, and 2 medium loaf pans. https://greensowing.com/ I’m going to also top it with a bit of coconut as well. My kitchen smells so good right now!
This is going on my Favourite Recipes board for sure! I didn’t have almond extract but used 1/2 tsp coconut extract and 1/2 tsp rum extract, and it is DIVINE. My daughter and I couldn’t wait for it to cool so we cut ourselves a slice after about 10 minutes and just drizzled our individual slices with a bit of the glaze. Warm and fluffy with a caramel-cronchy crust that reminds me a little of Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Heavenly!
There is something missing from this recipe. There is no buttermilk or sour cream to make it more moist, or maybe needs another banana? I bake a lot, and measured all meticulously but it crumbled when I cut it. Needs something to give it more moisture for sure. Otherwise good.
Im looking for suggestions on what to replace coconut in the ingredients?
You can definitely leave it out with no problem! If you would like to replace it I would probably suggest any kind of nut that sounds good to you, like maybe pecans or sliced almonds.