Hola Mi Gente,
I’m so excited to share this recipe with you today! For those of you who might not know, both of my parents are from Guatemala. My dad happens to be from this small town called Bananera–and he grew up living surrounded by banana plantations that produce most of our Central American imported bananas. Needless to say, he’s always spoken very highly of his mother’s banana bread. To date, he’s never had one that tasted quite like my abuelita’s. Part of that may be sentimental value, because mothers are incredible and I’m 100% food that is lovingly cooked tastes different.
I’m not going to try to be the person who tops my abuelita’s banana bread–but I do like to play around with the recipe, because it’s SO easy to alter and personalize, and having a loaf of banana bread makes quick breakfasts (or early afternoon cafecitos) a little extra special. When I make banana bread, I can be sure Ben is going to eat at least 4 slices of it in a single sitting.
A few weeks ago, I discovered and PROMPTLY fell in love with Maranatha Coconut Almond Butter. The subtle sweetness + the creaminess of the nutty almond…let me just tell you are absolutely wonderful. I devoured a jar within a few days, and added it to my breakfast toasts. And then one day I thought: MB this would be SO delicious on a sliced banana. AND THEN I had a lightbulb moment where I realized I could just put it in banana bread and make my life so much better. So I did, and because it’s SO GOOD and easy, I decided to share the wealth.
Things I love about this:
- The coconut flavor is not overwhelming, but it’s there and coconut and banana marry SO WELL together–there’s a reason they go together in tropical cocktails.
- If you’re a texture person and don’t like crunchy nuts with your pillowy soft banana bread BUT you love the flavor of nuts, this is a great alternative.
a couple of things about banana bread
- It’s pretty hard to mess up. Hand to heart, it’s so very easy!
- You want your bananas to be SUPER ripe. Like, totally spotted over and soft. This makes your banana bread super moist and light.
- If you want your banana bread to be cake–cream your butter and sugar together and then add to the mixture.
- You can add any kind of delicious toppings or streusels you want: a personal favorite of mine is to mix together a little brown sugar, some walnuts, and banana rounds and add to the top of my batter.
Thats all! I hope you enjoy this simple variation to regular banana bread!
Love, love, love,
Coconut Almond Butter Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 3-4 Ripe Bananas
- 1/3 C Butter
- 1/2 C Coconut Almond Butter
- Pinch of Salt
- 1/2 C Sugar
- 1 TSP Baking Soda
- 1 Large Egg Beaten
- 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
- 1 3/4 C All Purpose Flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 4x8 loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas to your desired texture (for chunks, leave pea sized clumps, for smoother mash into a puree). Add in melted butter and sugar (or creamed butter with sugar if you want a more cake-like density). Mix in the remaining ingredients until you have a thick batter. Pour into pan and bake for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the pan cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
Mary-Beth Johnson
Mary-Beth is a creative, food-obsessed, Georgia transplant living Chicago. She is proudly and fiercely Latina, and more specifically Chapina. In her day to day she is a food educator to students around Chicagoland aged 3 to 80+, both virtually and in-person. She is passionate about cultivating the truth that every person has an understanding of food that deserves being brought to the table, and that time in the kitchen can be sacred, passionate, and an act of love for self and others. Outside the kitchen you can find her at the intersections of infertility, chronic illness, and a deep love for the dignity of all humans. She hopes to create a space that is holistic about the role of food in the social, political, relational, and physiological dynamics of our world.
