Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Coconut

Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate and Coconut. You’ll love the chewy but still moist texture of this healthy bread. The chocolate chips are perfection with the banana and coconut!

Whole WHAT? Whole wheat, baby! And guess what, you can’t tell!

Ha. Okay. Dorkiness aside, I use whole wheat flour any chance I get. Many times you can’t tell it’s there, but sometimes you can. And when you can, oftentimes it’s better! I love the texture and flavor whole wheat flour adds. I’ve been making this banana bread for YEARS. The post is terribly written, the photos are poorly lit, but the bread is killer. (I’ve actually taken new pictures of it but haven’t had the chance to update the post.) I never make it with all-purpose flour anymore like that recipe is written, I always use whole wheat. It’s still super moist and perfect.

If you’re loving the sounds of this so far – you can also check out my banana bread muffins, based on the same recipe. And OH YEAH – chocolate banana bread too.

My husband loves this banana bread so I’m sure he was super annoyed when I put coconut in it. He just adores (sarcasm) the fact that I’m a food blogger who is always trying something new. Actually, it’s more like a love-hate relationship. He loves the food blog (food! income!) but he’s a traditionalist when it comes to food. Don’t mess with his chocolate chip cookies (that lil’ post is devoted to Ben) or his tuna noodle casserole. And yes, I blogged about tuna noodle casserole. It’s his fave! I put an interesting ingredient in mine…

So when he saw the insides of this bread and spotted coconut, he was probably less than thrilled. But Ben — FOOD! Income! He still happily ate it without complaints (he’s a great sport). When I pried, because I can’t help myself, he said, “Yeah, I’d probably like it better without the coconut next time.”

But – I might have to make this once or twice in the future because I love the coconut in it. You could go with a less obvious, smaller, shredded coconut to get it by the coconut skeptics. But I’m obsessed with Bob’s Red Mill flaked coconut. (Not sponsored, by the way!) I love the huge pieces of coconut. They give this bread such an awesome texture and flavor. This coconut is amazing in granola too.

PS: Coconut, chocolate and banana – a trio that’s just meant to be.

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Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Coconut

Yield: 1 loaf of bread

Total Time: 1 hour

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate and Coconut. You’ll love the chewy but still moist texture of this healthy bread. The chocolate chips are perfection with the banana and coconut!

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking or baking spray, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas (I use a potato masher). Add sugar, applesauce, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Stir to combine.
3. On top of the banana mixture, add flour. Make a small well in the flour and add baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir gently to mix the dry ingredients into each other on top of the wet ingredients.
4. Stir everything together until just combined. Fold in coconut and chocolate chips. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Transfer loaf pan to a wire rack and let cool 5 minutes. Run a knife around edges of bread to loosen from pan. Invert onto rack and turn bread out of pan. Let stand until cooled completely before slicing (if you can wait that long).

Note: This freezes well. I almost always double the recipe and wrap one loaf in foil, then put in a freezer zip-top bag and freeze.

All images and text ©Rachel Cooks.

Verdict: Love, love, love.

Husband’s take: Oh, you know.

Changes I would make: None! Sorry Ben!

Difficulty: Easy!

Looking for more delicious quick breads or muffins? Try: Healthier Pumpkin Bread, Maple Stout Quick Bread, Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling, Red Velvet Quick Bread with Cream Cheese Filling from Taste and Tell, Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread from Something Swanky, or Lemon Pudding Quick Bread from Wine and Glue.

And oh hey, a Pinterest board devoted to quick breads and muffins! Tons of inspiration on there.

Follow Rachel Cooks | Rachel Gurk’s board Muffins and Breads (non-yeast) on Pinterest.