Strawberry Coconut Chia Seed Banana Bread

By PBogho57

Strawberries + Coconut + Chia Seeds. Have you ever heard of such a lovely combination? It’s like a cozy little slice of heaven.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup ripe mashed banana (about 2 to 3 bananas)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt (I used Chobani)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (soy, coconut, or skim also work)
• 3/4 cup diced organic ripe strawberries
• 1/4 cup smashed organic raspberries (or you can use more strawberries)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, plus 3 tablespoons for topping (sweetened is fine, too)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 to 4 strawberries, sliced for topping

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. (I love Trader Joe’s Coconut Oil spray.)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a separate large bowl, beat together banana, brown sugar, egg, coconut oil vanilla, yogurt, and almond milk until smooth and creamy. Slowly add dry mixture to wet ingredients, and mix until combined. Gently fold strawberries, raspberries, coconut and chia seeds into the batter.

Place batter in prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle top evenly with 3 tablespoons of coconut. Place sliced strawberries over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from pan and return to wire rack to finish cooling. Bread is even better the next day (they always are). Bread will stay fresh for a few days when wrapped tightly. I love this bread with strawberry jam and peanut butter.