Hawaiian banana bread with pineapple and coconut was gone in a snap in my home. Super moist with lots of flavor and texture, this quick bread recipe lets you escape to the tropics without leaving your kitchen or putting in too much effort!
The perfect blend of ripe bananas, nutty shredded coconuts, and sweet-tart pineapples come together to create a moist and tender loaf that captures the essence of the tropics in this Hawaiian-style banana bread. With a tender texture and crisp corners and edges, the easy Hawaiian bread brings the flavors of paradise to your table.
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What's Hawaiian Banana Bread?
Hawaiian banana bread is a variation of traditional banana bread that includes ingredients that give it a unique tropical twist. While the exact recipe can vary, some common additions include shredded coconut, pineapple, and sometimes even macadamia nuts. The result is a moist and flavorful banana bread with a hint of the islands.
Why We Love Hawaiian Banana Bread
A flavorful and memorable treat with a tropical flavor fusion
A soft and luscious banana bread, it’s lovely and humble—a hug in loaf form
Want to experiment with different tropical add-ons? Adjust the level of sweetness. Or even make it gluten-free or vegan; Hawaiian banana bread recipe can be easily adapted to suit you!
Recipe Ingredients & Swaps
Flour: All-purpose flour gives the tenderest crumbs. But whole wheat flour will work in a cinch, as it did for my walnut fig banana bread. If you want gluten-free Hawaiian banana bread, try buckwheat flour.
Sweetener: Caster sugar was my choice for this recipe for Hawaiian banana bread. Regular granulated sugar, cane sugar, or raw sugar will work too. Brown sugar would complement the bananas superbly and give the bread a darker color and a more caramelized, nutty flavor.
Eggs: Give the tropical banana bread structure, binding all the ingredients together and lending richness. To make Hawaiian banana bread vegan, swap eggs with flax eggs. Mix 1 tablespoon of flax seed powder with 3 tablespoons of water to make 1 flax egg.
Pineapple: Crushed pineapples are easily available in tins, but if you can’t get your hands on them, buy sliced pineapple. Rinse them, drain them, and then pulse the slices in your food processor till you have a coarsely ground texture. Leftover pineapples? Use them to make pineapple sheera or coconut pineapple cake.
Bananas: Chunky or smoothly mashed, are both perfectly fine for this banana bread recipe with pineapple and coconuts. Pick the texture you prefer.
Coconut: Banana bread has enough sweetness from the fruits and added sugar, so the best bet is dried and unsweetened shredded coconut. You can substitute them with desiccated coconut. Any leftover coconut? Bake coconut banana bread!
How To Make
Step 1: Set the oven to preheat. Grease your baking pan and set it aside.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Mix well.
Step 3: In another large bowl, beat the eggs with caster sugar. Add mashed bananas, crushed pineapple, oil, and vanilla extract to it.
Step 4: To make the Hawaiian banana bread batter, add the wet ingredients to the dry, and then fold in shredded coconut.
Step 5: Pour the pineapple, coconut, and banana bread batter into your prepared pan.
Step 6: Scatter some shredded coconut on top.
Step 7: Bake at 180 °C for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is golden, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 8: Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Final step: Slice, serve, and savor the Aloha banana bread recipe!
Pro Tips
- The best recipe is when all the ingredients are at room temperature, especially the eggs.
- The trick to super moist Hawaiian banana bread is to use very ripe bananas! Spotty bananas are the sweetest.
- Amp up the flavor: Feel free to sneak in some cinnamon powder and nuts into the Hawaiian banana bread with coconut and pineapple.
- Add-ons: The bread is delicious as-is, but macadamia nuts would be a smashing addition. Walnuts and pecans would be wonderful here too.
How To Serve
Banana bread with coconut and pineapple is great at room temperature AND cold, straight from the fridge. But you can reheat it in the microwave.
Like all quick breads, it’s fantastic toasted and slathered with easy apple butter or homemade cinnamon honey butter!
FAQs
Absolutely! You can use the same batter to make Hawaiian-inspired banana bread muffins. Just reduce the baking time to 15 to 20 minutes.
I refrigerated the bread because it has fruit in it, and it’s not cold here anymore. If your corner of the world is still cold, you can store it on a countertop for 1-2 days.
Yes, you can freeze Hawaiian-style banana bread. Cool completely to room temperature. (If you freeze it while still warm, it might develop ice crystals, affecting the texture.) Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place it in a container and freeze.
📖 Recipe
Hawaiian Banana Bread With Pineapple And Coconut
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup All-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1/4 tsp Sea salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Sugar I used Castor sugar
- 1/3 cup Vegetable oil
- 2 Bananas Mashed
- 1 cup Crushed pineapple Not drained
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Shredded unsweetened coconut
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C or 350 F. Grease an 8"x4" loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs and caster sugar.
- Combine the oil, mashed bananas, crushed pineapple, and vanilla extract. Mix well.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Mix well until no dry streaks are visible.
- Fold in the shredded coconut.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan, top with some more shredded coconut, and bake at 180 C ( 350 F) for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning it out on a cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely.
- Slice and serve with tea or coffee. Enjoy!
Cheryl says
I made a double batch in a Bundt pan and turned out great
Natasha Minocha says
That's amazing, Cheryl! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and for following along! xx
Terri-Anne Glynn says
I have made this a few times now and the beauty is I have made it GF by simply substituting the flour for GF all purpose flour. The baking powder I use is GF and so are all the other ingredients! My coeliac friends dont need to miss out. Someone suggested cream cheese frosting (well it does make everything taste so much better) so that's what I am doing with this batch currently in the oven. I made double the volume, making a decent size square tin, a regular loaf and 2 mini loaf tins. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Natasha Minocha says
Hi Terri-Anne! I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed the recipe and what a thoughtful friend you are! Cream cheese frosting sounds divine. Thank you so much for your kind words and amazing review!
Terri-Anne Glynn says
I have made this a few times now and the beauty is I have made it GF by simply substituting the flour for GF all purpose flour. The baking powder I use is GF and so are all the other ingredients! My coeliac friends dont need to miss out. Someone suggested cream cheese frosting (well it foes make everything taste so much better) so that's what I am doing with this batch currently in the oven. I made double the volume, making a decent size square tin, a regular loaf and 2 mini loaf tins. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Katie says
Great recipe, made it last night and it was a hit! I added 1/4c chopped pecans, and increased the bake time by 20minutes because I’m in a high elevation state.
If I wanted to add a 1/2c more of crushed pineapple would I need to adjust other ingredients within the recipe to account for a wetter batter?
Thank you!
Natasha Minocha says
How wonderful Katie! Glad the bread turned out well for you. Thank you for your lovely feedback!
Yes, I think other ingredients will have to be adjusted accordingly. Do let me know if your try this 🙂
Patti says
Interesting, cause I’m short 1/2 banana, so I was going to add 1/2 cup more pineapple to make up for it. I’ll let you know if this turns out too!