Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate & 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 always use whole wheat flour in my basic recipe for reduced fat banana bread now, even though the recipe calls for all-purpose flour, and the bread is still always 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 my original banana bread so I’m sure he was probably annoyed that I put coconut in it. He just adores (sarcasm) the fact that I’m a food blogger who is always trying something new, messing with his favorites.

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 will be making this again, and again, 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.

Looking for more delicious quick breads?

 

• Whole Wheat Banana Bread
• Healthier Pumpkin Bread
• Maple Stout Quick Bread
• Whole Wheat Applesauce Bread with Walnuts
• Whole Wheat Cornbread
• Whole Wheat Caramel Banana Bread

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Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Coconut

Yield: 1 loaf of bread

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

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!

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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

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. 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 or toothpick 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).

Notes

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.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 242 Total Fat: 8g Saturated Fat: 4g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 31mg Sodium: 247mg Carbohydrates: 42g Fiber: 4g Sugar: 23g Protein: 5g

RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.