• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Good Cheap Eats
  • About
    • Welcome to the Good Cheap Eats Kitchen
    • Media
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure
    • Contact Me
  • Members Only
    • Login
    • Club Homepage
    • Club Resource Library
    • Downloads
    • Live Club Events
  • Recipe Index
  • Recent Posts
  • SHOP
    • Purchases
    • Cookbooks
    • Planner
    • The Good Cheap Eats Club
    • Meal Plans
    • Holiday Helps
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Start Here
  • All Recipes
  • Mother’s Day Recipes
  • Subscribe
  • Shop
  • Join the Club
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Contact Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Start Here
    • All Recipes
    • Mother’s Day Recipes
    • Subscribe
    • Shop
    • Join the Club
    • Cookbooks
    • About
    • Contact Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Budget Recipes

    Coconut Cashew Banana Bread

    Published: Apr 23, 2014 · Modified: May 20, 2021 by Jessica Fisher

    FacebookTweetPinPrint
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more details, please see our disclosure policy.
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Whole wheat flour, coconut milk, coconut oil, bananas, and cashews bake up into this delicious, lightly-sweetened bread that is great for breakfast or for snacking.

    Serve this with Sweet Cream Cheese for an extra tasty treat.

    Coconut Cashew Bread on top of a wooden cutting board

    Want to save this post?

    Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, I’ll send you budget recipes and money-saving tips every week!

    Save Recipe

    Once upon a time I made banana bread on a weekly basis.

    Once upon a time a 9×13 pan could last for three meals for our family.

    Once upon a time, I had to freeze milk because we couldn’t drink up a gallon before it went bad.

    Those times? Are long gone. I haven’t had bananas last long enough to make banana bread in quite awhile. The kids love them to snack on; FishBoy16 uses them in his daily smoothies. For some odd reason, this week, there were six bananas to be used up.

    Between Easter and recipe development, I have felt the excess of food and ingredients everywhere I turn. This week, I made up my mind to deal with some of it. The bananas were the first to go.

    While I have many different banana recipes to rely on — Coconut Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Banana Pecan Coffeecake, and Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting — I decided to try something different.

    I wanted something lightly-sweetened. The kids have been great about not going overboard since we went off our sugar fast, but there’s been an increase in bad attitudes that has me wondering.

    I wanted something whole-grain. I know that I feel better when there’s at least 50% whole grain flour. We ran out of whole wheat pastry flour recently, and I’m feeling it.

    I also wanted something dairy-free. I had an odd reaction to Easter dinner this past weekend that I think was due to excess cream and half-and-half.

    So, I took the Cinnamon Banana Bread recipe from my freezer cookbook and tweaked it a little. I basically took the flavors of Monkey Salad and put them in a bread. Can you say Yum-O?!

    A loaf of banana bread on a cutting board

    I used both coconut oil and coconut milk in the batter and topped the loaves with chopped cashews. You can mix the cashews into the batter, but I put the cashews on top so that I could easily leave a loaf plain for the folks who don’t care for or can’t have nuts. Do what you will.

    I also reduced the amount of sugar, relying on the nuts, coconut and banana to add extra sweetness. During our sugar fast I did make banana bread without any sugar or sweetener. It definitely effects the texture, so I wanted to make sure there was some sugar in this bread. I used demerara which is the least processed of cane sugar products.

    This recipe makes three loaves. I’d suggest that you eat one and freeze the others. My people ate two loaves in just a few hours. Ahem. See why I can’t keep milk in the house?

    Coconut Cashew Bread on top of a wooden cutting board

    Coconut Cashew Banana Bread

    Whole wheat flour, coconut milk, coconut oil, bananas, and cashews bake up into this delicious, lightly-sweetened bread that is great for breakfast or for snacking.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Bread
    Cuisine: American
    Diet: Vegetarian
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 36 slices (3 loaves)
    Calories: 194kcal
    Author: Jessica Fisher
    Cost: $5

    Ingredients

    • 6 ripe bananas mashed
    • 3 egg
    • ¾ cup coconut oil
    • 1 ½ cup demerara sugar
    • 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
    • 3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
    • 3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ cup roasted and unsalted cashews optional
    US Customary – Metric

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray three loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray
    • In a very large bowl, blend the bananas, coconut oil, eggs, and sugar until mostly smooth. Add the coconut milk and stir.
    • Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold together until well mixed.
    • Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Coarsely chop the cashews and sprinkle those over the top of the batter. Press down slightly to adhere.
    • Bake the loaves for about 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
    • Transfer the pans to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the breads from the pans and place on a rack to cool completely.
    • Freezing instructions: Wrap each cooled loaf in plastic wrap. Place two wrapped loaves in a freezer bag and freeze.

    Notes

    Nutritional values are approximate and are based on making 3 loaves with each loaf cut into 12 slices (36 slices total). Use within 4 days or freeze.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 160mg | Potassium: 177mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 38IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Tell us what you think! Your reviews help us develop better recipes and give newcomers the confidence to try your favorites. Scroll down to leave a starred comment.
    « Maple-Sweetened Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
    Mamabars (aka DIY Larabar Recipe) »
    FacebookTweetPinPrint

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Tiffany V

      August 29, 2021 at 5:30 pm

      5 stars
      Wow! This is the banana bread recipe I have been searching for my whole life. I made 2 smaller loaves and one larger one and made them exactly as described. They were amazinggggg.

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        August 29, 2021 at 8:13 pm

        Yay! So glad to hear it!

        Reply
    2. Karla

      February 09, 2015 at 9:05 am

      I pinned this recipe a while ago and just happened to have a bunch of ripe bananas yesterday, so I made this. I can never make a recipe as-written, though! Here are my changes, and we all thought it was really good:

      1c coconut sugar
      full-fat coconut milk
      rice flour (3c) + flaxseed (1c) + gf flour (2c)
      1 1/2t cinnamon
      1c dark chocolate chips
      didn’t bother roasting the cashews.

      Thanks for the inspiration!

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        February 09, 2015 at 9:09 am

        Thanks for sharing your adaptation!

        Reply
    3. Lee

      April 24, 2014 at 6:10 am

      Looks good! My banana bread has a TON of sugar in it- I’ve been wanting to reduce the sugar, but haven’t been sure how to do it. Thanks.

      Reply
      • Jaime

        April 24, 2014 at 6:41 am

        I just made a cooking light banana bread and reduced the sugar because bananas were very ripe. Also used whole wheat flour and oatmeal for part of flour and noone noticed! I feel your pain, we go through food like an army! All 4 of my kids even the 3 yr old are going through a growth spurt. Sigh. Oh well

        Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        May 06, 2014 at 7:58 am

        During our sugar fast, I made banana bread without any sweetener. The texture was pretty weird. It looked like a sponge, or more like a chamois that you use to wash the car. It was really soft! And it tasted fine, but I think the sugar does effect the texture.

        Reply
      • em

        July 02, 2017 at 8:20 am

        i make this with one cup cashew/almond flour, one cup coconut flour, one cup rice/tapioca flour, one cup maize/ gluten free flour, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cream of tartar 1tsp xanthum gum(dont know if this is help or hinderance) 1+/- cup chia seed, 1 sachet yeast mixed together in bowl

        add I cup cold water and 1 cup very hot water and mix with dry – add more hot if required
        mix to smooth paste
        add half cup coconut oil and mix in to the dough
        blend 1/2 cup dates 2 banana 1 pear some mixed nuts (any or all of which is optional) with cup of hot water or 1/2 cup apple juice & 1/4 cup cider vinegar
        add this to the dough (or half the dough) and mix
        separate into baking sheets (i take a handful and roll into shape put on tray close to the next one and so on, or wind into bagel shapes)
        leave in warm place while over heats to 140 degrees
        after about 15 minutes bake in oven for an hour or til golden brown and cooked inside
        sometimes a little wet so tip out upside down onto baking grill and put back in oven for ten minutes

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    jessica from good cheap eats

    Hi, I'm Jessica! I'm a 4x cookbook author and 6x mom. I know what it is to be in a hurry and on a budget. I believe anyone can prepare delicious meals -- no matter what's on their plate. I've been featured on Good Morning America, PBS News Hour, and NBC.

    More about me

    collage of media outlets where good cheap eats has been featured.
    teal graphic with the words, do you know what's for dinner tonight.

    Mexican Food Recipes

    • close up of crockpot enchiladas on a blue plate with fork and salad.
      Easy Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas
    • close up of freezer burrito cut in half in paper-lined basket.
      Easy Freezer Burrito Recipe with Chicken, Beans, & Cheese
    • overhead shot of bowl of salsa verde beef.
      Shredded Salsa Verde Beef (5-Ingredient Recipe)
    • side view of buffalo chicken quesadillas with filling coming out of sides.
      Easy Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas Recipe
    • jar of jalapeño salsa with sliced chiles on top and bunch of cilantro and whole on table beside.
      Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe [VIDEO]
    • spoon of chicken taco soup over the bowl of soup.
      Chicken Taco Soup

    Reader Favorites

    • asian marinated chicken breast sliced on a plate with rice and veg.
      5-Minute Asian Chicken Marinade Recipe
    • close-up of cream of celery soup in a jar with celery leaves behind.
      Homemade Cream of Celery Soup Recipe
    • small glass pitcher of milk on black background.
      20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon
    • with a fork fluffing the baked rice in the pan with steam rising.
      Baked Rice: How to Cook Rice in the Oven
    • green onions added to meal prep salads.
      Meal Prep Salads for Easy Lunches You’ll Want to Eat
    • best pulled pork in a freezer container to freeze.
      Best Pulled Pork Recipe
    jessica from good cheap eats

    Hi, I'm Jessica! I'm a 4x cookbook author and 6x mom. I know what it is to be in a hurry and on a budget. I believe anyone can prepare delicious meals -- no matter what's on their plate. I've been featured on Good Morning America, PBS News Hour, and NBC.

    More about me

    collage of media outlets where good cheap eats has been featured.
    teal graphic with the words, do you know what's for dinner tonight.

    Mexican Food Recipes

    • chicken enchilada bake on plate with side dishes.
      60+ Budget-Friendly Mexican Dinner Ideas
    • close up of chips in black bowl.
      3 Ways to Make Homemade Tortilla Chips
    • the finished plate of loaded nachos.
      Nacho Bar
    • cooked taco meat in oval dish with taco toppings nearby.
      Easy Homemade Taco Meat
    • overhead shot of jalapeno cream cheese dip with sliced jalapeños on top and a spoon twirled in the cheese.
      Jalapeño Cream Cheese Dip
    • closeup of Spanish brown rice in white bowl.
      Spanish Brown Rice (Mexican Brown Rice)

    Reader Favorites

    • asian marinated chicken breast sliced on a plate with rice and veg.
      5-Minute Asian Chicken Marinade Recipe
    • close-up of cream of celery soup in a jar with celery leaves behind.
      Homemade Cream of Celery Soup Recipe
    • small glass pitcher of milk on black background.
      20+ Easy Milk Recipes to Use Up the Leftover Gallon
    • with a fork fluffing the baked rice in the pan with steam rising.
      Baked Rice: How to Cook Rice in the Oven
    • green onions added to meal prep salads.
      Meal Prep Salads for Easy Lunches You’ll Want to Eat
    • best pulled pork in a freezer container to freeze.
      Best Pulled Pork Recipe

    Footer

    back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Shipping Policy
    • Return Policy
    • Digital Shop

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • About

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Good Cheap Eats