Going Bananas for Quick Bread

I go bananas for a good quick bread recipe. And, if it just happens to use up some of the bananas I always seem to have hanging around on the kitchen counter, that's a bonus.

I adapted the recipe for this Coconut Banana Bread recipe from Wichita blogger Ashley's Kitchen Meets Girl. (She likes quick breads about as much as I do.) I took it to Jill's and Eric's house when we visited a couple of weeks ago, and it got good reviews from everyone but Kinley. (She preferred the Blueberry White Chocolate Crunch Bread. I guess she likes her fruit in discernible form.)

But if you're as tired of this schizophrenic Kansas weather as I am, maybe this bread will conjure up images of the tropics with its banana, coconut and lime flavor combination. It's worth a try after another morning of hard freeze, isn't it?

Coconut Banana Bread

2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup coconut

Icing:
1 1/2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup powdered sugar
Additional toasted coconut, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and salt, stirring with a whisk. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add mashed banana, sour cream, milk and vanilla. Beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed, just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.

Spray cooking spray on one 9- by 5-inch loaf pan or three small loaf pans. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Top with another tablespoon of coconut, if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees. Bake large loaves for about 1 hour and small loaves for 25-30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on wire rack. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan.

Mix icing ingredients. The original recipe just used lime juice and powdered sugar for a glaze, but I like a little butter in my icing. After I decorated the tops of the loaves by piping on the frosting, I sprinkled with toasted coconut.

If you want to use just the lime juice and powdered sugar, use 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Put the glaze on top of warm loaves. If you prefer a frosting rather than a glaze, let the breads cool before adding the frosting and toasted coconut.

Note: In the original recipe, Ashley didn't toast her coconut and she just mixed it into the glaze. I'm sure it's good that way, too.

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Today, I'm linked to Ashley's What's In Your Kitchen Wednesday? Click on the link to check out what other food bloggers have cooked up this week.