Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
-Harriet Van Horne (Vogue 1956)
Is there anything more comforting than freshly baked banana bread? Growing up a friend and I would always make banana bread when we were down. We would spy each other with that knowing look and immediately start gathering ingredients. When we were apart we would often bring a warm slice to each other “just because” and the sentiment contained in that delicious slice is something that I can conjure up all of these years later. It was more than the ingredients, it was an act of love. It was an act of knowing that we can’t always fix things with words, but sharing in a scrumptous delight and surrendering to that moment, somehow everything was just a little more bearable.
The aroma of this bread brought back so many memories of struggling to know who we were and how we fit into this world. It also brought back some very carefree memories that helped lighten my heart on a chilly fall day.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 c flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2/3 c sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp coconut extract
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 c diced ripe mango (1 large or 2 small)
- 4 extra ripe bananas mashed
- 1/2 c coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 or 325 if using a convection oven.
- Sift together flour, baking soda and nutmeg. In a seperate bowl combine sugar, eggs, coconut extrace, lemon juice, mango and bananas.
- Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients being careful not to over mix.
- Divide batter between two prepared loaf pans.
- Sprinkle with coconut.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes.
- Check half way through to see if coconut is becoming to browned. If it is, simply cover with foil for the remainder of the baking time.
- Insert clean, dry toothpick into center of loaf verify when it is completely baked through.
