Dark Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread

East to make, Dark Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread is flavored with coconut oil, coconut flakes, banana, and dark chocolate.

My husband had plans to take me out for my Birthday Dinner this past Friday. It was a surprise and I love surprises.

Not knowing what he had in store for the weekend, I sent him an email Friday afternoon suggesting that Saturday was going to be a gorgeous day and perhaps we can go for some Afternoon Tea and watch a movie.

He assumed I meant instead of our Friday night plans, let’s celebrate my birthday on Saturday. Uhhhh… no! And then we went back and forth.

Me: OMG, I’m not saying let’s do one or the other, I’m saying let’s do both days.
He: I can’t do both days, I’ve been out the past 2 weekends.
Me (in my head): Men are so LAZY!!!!!
Me: Fine. Then let’s just stick to tonight’s plan.
He: Tomorrow sounds fun too, Afternoon Tea + Movie. It’s your birthday weekend, so let’s celebrate both days. Changed my mind.

Saying I was excited is an understatement, but unfortunately when Saturday rolled around, I ended up taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, hence my Afternoon Tea date that I suggested didn’t quite go as planned, but we did end up going for a movie that night.

I suppose that’s what I get for being greedy.

Moving on to Birthday Cake… since most food bloggers end up baking their own cake, here is a healthy Dark Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread I baked that Parita recently recommended on her blog. Although the bread tasted good, it was a bit too dry in my opinion. I guess I was sorta expecting cake at the end. Oh well.

NUTRITION: Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is a good source of Fiber and Protein. Bittersweet Chocolate Chips add some Antioxidants to this beverage. Bananas are a very good source of Vitamin B6. They are also a good source of Vitamin C and Fiber. Coconut is low in cholesterol and sodium, and it is a good source of fiber. Although coconut contains high amounts of saturated fats, not all saturated fats pose as a health problem, especially those linked with coconut. Coconut Oil contains Lauric Acid which helps in increasing good HDL cholesterol. Coconut Oil is also beneficial in weight loss by controlling the blood sugar levels. The saturated fats in coconut oil are not as harmful as the saturated fats seen in vegetable oil. With that said, coconut is a saturated fat and should be eaten in moderation.

APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 10 slices @ 350 degrees):

Calories: 312 cals
Fat: 15 g
Saturated Fat: 9 g
Carbs: 44 g
Protein: 6.5 g
Fiber: 4.2 g

INGREDIENTS (original recipe from Tasty Kitchen, my version slightly modified below):

Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips – 6 tbsp (3 ounces)
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – ¾ cup
White Flour – 1 cup
Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – ½ cup
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Baking Soda – ¾ tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Cinnamon – ½ tsp
Organic Eggs – 2
Packed Brown Sugar – ½ cup
Fage 2% Greek Yogurt – ½ cup
Organic Virgin Coconut Oil – ¼ cup (melted)
Organic Overripe Bananas – 1 ½ cups (mashed; 3 to 4 bananas)
Let's Do Organic Unsweetened Shredded Coconut – ½ cup (for the batter) + 2 tbsp (for the top)
Turbinado Brown Sugar – 1 tbsp (for the top)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a loaf pan with butter.
3. Heat the chocolate chips over a double boiler.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients… flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Check on the chocolate – once it is melted, let it cool.
6. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the eggs and packed brown sugar.
7. Mix for a few minutes until you achieve this mocha color.
8. Add the Greek yogurt, coconut oil, and mashed bananas. Mix until well combined.
9. Slowly add the dry ingredients – I did this in 3 batches. DO NOT OVERMIX.
10. Batter.
11. Add unsweetened coconut flakes and fold in.
12. Batter with coconut flakes.
13. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan.
14. Pour the melted chocolate all over the top.
15. Using a knife, swirl in the chocolate.
16. Top with 2 tablespoon of coconut flakes and turbinado sugar.
17. Into the oven for 50 to 60 minutes. I baked mine for 55.
18. Done!

VERDICT: 3.5 / 5
Both my husband and I enjoyed the taste of this bread, but the coconut most definitely dominated the flavor of this bread despite that I lowered the coconut amount. We both thought the bread tasted better the next day, but I still didn't think it was moist enough. I actually skipped adding 1 ½ tablespoon of coconut oil and added more Greek yogurt to compensate for the missing oil. Regardless, I believe this bread probably needs more yogurt or bananas (healthy options) to compensate for the lack of moisture, or simply cut down the white flour by a ¼ cup.