Peggy's Famous Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (GF)

 Somehow we ended up with 2 bunches of bananas, one of which was getting a heavy collection of black spots. I decided that I would bake something. I thought about baking these, or this, but I went with a recipe that I pinned a little while ago that is gluten free from Pinterest.

 When I read off the title of  this bread, my dad replied by saying he didn't think he would like it, but after having a few bites, he said it was good while he reached for another piece. My uncle and grandpa were over helping my dad cut up some dead trees and after they had came in and grabbed their pieces there was only  about 1/3 a loaf left which I wrapped up and hid so there would be some left for later.

  You can add as much or as little of the chocolate chips and coconut flakes that you like. I tend to not put chocolate in my banana bread recipes since the chocolate can easily mask the banana flavor, and I like the banana flavor or else I wouldn't make banana bread. With my bread, the coconut (I might use sweetened flakes next time) doesn't lend much flavor, but it does give a nice crunchy and chew to the bread. The bananas and chunks of butter kept the bread moist and tender. I made a glaze but it was thinner than the one for the recipe.I only used the glaze for the pieces that I photographed and the family ate the rest of the bread plain. I think that next time I make this, I will use coconut milk in the glaze to give it a stronger coconut flavor.

  The bread is even better the next day if you heat it in the microwave for a few seconds and have it with a cup of coffee. You could even add some more chocolate chips to your slice before heating it up.

Peggy's Famous Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (GF)

Recipe: coconuts and cardamom

yields: 1 loaf (serves about 8)

1 cup flour  (Gluten Free All Purpose Flour)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

a few big pinches of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup mashed banana (about 3)
2 handfuls chocolate chips (healthy version-cocoa nibs)*
1 handful shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)

Glaze (optional)
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1-2 teaspoons milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or coffee creamer

cinnamon (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350 F and grease a bread pan.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. --It will look weird because of the chunks of butter.
4. Slowly add in the dry ingredients into the wet until its incorporated.Add in some of the chocolate and coconut into the batter and pour into the greased pan.
5.Add the remaining chocolate chips and coconut on top of the batter.
Bake at 350F for 45-50 (tin pan) 50-55(glass pan) minutes. I used a glass pan and it took about 50 minutes.
6. Place pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes or so before  removing it from the pan to cool completely on a cooling rack.

-Storage: Wrap in plastic wrap or in a big Ziploc bag to keep fresh. Like most breads, this taste even better the next day.

Glaze:
Put 1 teaspoon of milk of choice into confectioners sugar and slowly add more milk if needed to get desired consistency. It should be rather thin.

Notes: 

-You could easily use regular all purpose flour if you wanted to make this if you don't have a problem with gluten.
*I used only about a heaping 1/4-1/3 cup of chocolate chips which is a lot less than the recipe originally called for and it was really good.

-I added a few dashes of cinnamon into the batter and used a small handful of unsweetened coconut flakes since I'm still getting used to eating shredded coconut. It's a texture thing. 

- I actually only used the glaze for the pictures and my family ate their shares before I told them about the glaze. 

- I would suggest that if you are going to freeze the bread, to leave off the glaze and just make it when you will serve the bread in the future.