Hawaiian Banana Bread with Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia Nuts is a delicious Hawaiian-inspired banana bread made with Dole crushed pineapple, coconut flakes, and chopped macadamia nuts. 
My Trip to Hawaii
Hawaii has some of the best food I've ever eaten in my life. From the fancy restaurants to the road shacks, the food there is indescribably good.
On a recent trip to Hawaii, I had some of the Best Grilled Banana Bread of my life at Kahuku Farms. For a list of all the delicious foods I ate in Hawaii, check out the 15 Best Things I Ate in 2022.
I knew once I reached home, I was gonna make a Hawaiian-inspired Banana Bread, one that represents Hawaii. As if I don't have enough banana bread recipes, here's one more. 🙂
Every store, restaurant, and shack I visited served up some kind of pineapple and coconut dish. From Pineapple Fried Rice to Coconut Shrimp to Coconut Cocktails to garnishing every cocktail with pineapple, it was a no-brainer that I had to make Pineapple Coconut Banana Bread.
And once I visited Tropical Farms where the star ingredient was macadamia nut, I knew that would be my choice of nut in my Banana Bread because you can't possibly make Banana Bread without nuts. Right? Well, I don't know about you, but I love my nuts.
And that's how this Hawaiian Banana Bread recipe came to life.
What is Hawaiian Banana Bread with Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia Nuts?
Hawaiian Banana Bread is a type of banana bread that's been inspired by the flavors of Hawaii, in this case, pineapple, coconut, and macadamia nuts are the three most popular fruits and nuts I enjoyed on the island.
Just a note: if you do visit the island of Maui, make sure you indulge in Maui's Banana Bread which is apparently quite famous. When I do visit Maui someday, I plan on going to Aunty Sandy's Banana Bread which is supposedly the best on the island.
Alternate Names for this Recipe
This recipe can also go by Coconut Pineapple Loaf Cake, Hawaiian Banana Cake Recipe, Kona Banana Bread, and Pineapple Coconut Bread.
Hawaiian Banana Bread with Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia Nuts is:
Ambrosial
Delicious
Perfect with Coffee
Fruity
Tropical
Soft & Moist
Ingredients for Hawaiian Banana Bread with Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia Nuts:
Banana: You need to use ripe bananas here.
Pineapple: I used canned Dole Crushed Pineapple with juice. You don't need to use fresh pineapple in this recipe since the crushed pineapple has sweetness and lots of juice.
Coconut: I like using unsweetened coconut flakes in this recipe as there is already enough sugar. Feel free to toast the coconut for a more intense coconut flavor.
Macadamia Nuts: Dry roast the nuts and then chop them up.
All-Purpose White Flour: You'll need regular ol' white flour for this recipe.
Sugar: I like regular white or cane sugar.
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Salt
Eggs
Pure Vanilla Extract
Sunflower Oil: I use organic sunflower oil, you can use any tasteless oil. You can also use avocado oil provided it doesn't have a strong flavor.
How to make Hawaiian Banana Bread with Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia Nuts recipe step by step?
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease your loaf pan.
2. Dry roast your macadamia nuts for a few minutes until slightly browned.
3. Once they cool, chop them up. Set aside.
4. Combine your dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix and set aside.
5. Combine your wet ingredients - eggs, vanilla extract, banana, and crushed pineapple with juice, and oil.
6. Mix well.
7. Add your dry ingredients to the wet. Mix well, but don't overmix the batter.
8. Add the chopped macadamia nuts and unsweetened coconut flakes.
9. Fold the nuts and coconut into the batter. Again, do not overmix.
10. Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Into the oven for 55-65 minutes at 350 degrees.
11. Use a clean knife to make sure the banana bread is not sticky on the inside. Allow your banana bread to cool completely before cutting.
Serving Suggestions
This Hawaiian Banana Bread gives you 10 slices, you can slice them even further and end up with 20 smaller slices.
I prefer the smaller slice as one slice gets heavy.
Tips on making Hawaiian Banana Bread:
- Dry roast the macadamia nuts. This only takes a few minutes.
- Feel free to toast the coconut flakes for a more intense coconut flavor.
- Mix your dry ingredients and set them aside. Mix your wet ingredients and set them aside.
- Do not overmix the batter, or else you'll end up with slightly tough banana bread.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a knife comes out clean after being inserted into the baked banana bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
For a vegan option, you can omit the eggs and replace them with a flax egg.
For Flax Egg - mix 1 tablespoon ground flax meal + 3 tablespoons water until it thickens. This ratio is equal to 1 egg. For this recipe, you need 2 eggs.
Yes! Simply replace all-purpose white flour with gluten-free white flour. Also, make sure to use gluten-free baking powder.
Yes! If you have a nut allergy or don't like nuts, just skip them.
Sugar in this recipe will help with the texture of the banana bread. You can certainly replace the sugar amount with honey or coconut sugar, but that'll certainly change the texture of this bread, not to mention, the color too.
If you want to cut down on sugar, feel free to omit the sugar completely since the banana and crushed pineapple already have a good amount of sugar. Again, by omitting sugar, the texture will be affected.
More Banana Bread Recipes!
- Vegan Banana Bread
- Banana Rum Cake
- Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Red Velvet Banana Bread
Pin & Enjoy!
Hawaiian Banana Bread with Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia Nuts
Dairy-free, Gluten-Free optionEquipment
Ingredients
dry ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose white flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
wet ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups ripe bananas
- 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice, I like Dole
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp organic sunflower oil, or any tasteless oil
add-ins
- ½ cup macadamia nuts, dry roasted & chopped
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease your loaf pan.
- Dry roast your macadamia nuts for a few minutes until slightly browned.
- Once they cool, chop them up. Set aside.
- Combine your dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix and set aside.
- Combine your wet ingredients - eggs, vanilla extract, banana, and crushed pineapple with juice, and oil.
- Mix well.
- Add your dry ingredients to the wet. Mix well, but don't overmix the batter.
- Add the chopped macadamia nuts and unsweetened coconut flakes.
- Fold the nuts and coconut into the batter. Again, do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Into the oven for 55-65 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Use a clean knife to make sure the banana bread is not sticky on the inside. Allow your banana bread to cool completely before cutting.
Richa says
This was a huge hit with my family and friends. My 5 year old wanted to take it and share with his entire class. My neighbor was like, just give me the entire loaf.
The bread was moist and the flavors were great together. I'm not usually a fan of coconut, but it worked in this.
We'll definitely be making it again. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
honeywhatscooking says
Thanks so much for your sweet comment Richa. I'm so glad you liked it. So sweet. xoxo
Sheema says
This bread turned out absoultely amazing! I love the Hawaiian flavors! It's super moist and decadent! Thanks Nisha for the recipe!