Banana Crunch Mini Loaves are a perfect Sunday treat. These little breads have a delicious mix of banana, coconut, walnuts, and crunchy granola. The best thing about this recipe (besides being super tasty and flavorful) is that you can swap out ingredients for others you might enjoy more. For example, I might use raspberries next time or add a pinch of cinnamon or use pecans instead of walnuts! I adapted this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Originally a muffin recipe (which you can still make), I was dying to use these mini loaf pans. I halved the recipe and made ten mini loaves.
Ingredients for 10 Mini Loaves
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick melted and cooled)
1 large egg
1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 banana)
1/2 cup diced ripe banana (about 1/2 a banana)
1/2 cup granola
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Either grease your mini loaf pans and line with parchment paper OR line a muffin tray with paper liners. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the cooled melted butter and mix until combined. Combine the egg, milk, vanilla, and mashed banana in a separate bowl and then add to the flour-butter mixture. Mix at a medium-low speed until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and using a spatula or wooden spoon fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the mini loaf plans or muffin cups. Now you can go nuts and top each loaf (or muffin) with coconut, granola, dried fruit - whatever sounds good to you! I topped my mini loaves with a little granola and shredded coconut (unsweetened). Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy!
