Coconut Banana Bread

I told you I liked coconut.  This is similar in flavor to the Banana Crunch Muffins I posteda couple of years ago but more dense and less sweet.  This recipe makes 2 loaves, because to my thinking, if you're going to gather ingredients and mess up the kitchen you may as well get a lot out of it.  You can always freeze or give away the extra loaf.  And actually, yesterday I made six mini loaves just because I was felt like it.

So there.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup flaked coconut

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup butter, melted and cooled or 1/2 cup melted butter + 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cups mashed bananas

1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1)  Mix together flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped nuts.

2)  Break eggs in a mixing bowl, and beat until light and frothy. Add sugar and melted butter (if using the applesauce, add here as well.)  Beat well. Stir in mashed banana and flavoring. Add flour mixture, and stir just to combine. Spoon into 2 greased and floured 9x5x3 inch loaf pans.

3)  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes, and remove from pan. Cool.