Ahhh the weekend is here. I’ve been craving it like chocolate.
Now it’s unusual for me to bring you a recipe on a Friday, but I just had to share this epic banana bread with you.
Strawberries + Coconut + Chia Seeds. Have you ever heard of such a lovely combination? It’s like a cozy little slice of heaven.
Speaking of things that need to be shared: I have some exciting news to tell you… but I have to hold off a bit (sorry!). Ugh keeping secrets is pretty difficult for me too! Look for a fun announcement very, very soon!
Anyway this banana bread is something I can share. In fact, it’s pretty major — beautiful even! And guess what? It’s also full of healthy ingredients that most certainly deserve a little special attention.
Shall we get to it?
Coconut: Coconut oil, coconut flakes, and toasted coconut. If you love coconut, this bread is for you!
Strawberries: Strawberry season is upon us. I suggest opting for organic strawberries; they’ll have more flavor!
Greek yogurt: It’s unbelievable what you can do with greek yogurt. The bread stays moist and packs a protein punch.
Minimal sugar: If you use extra ripe bananas, you eliminate the need to use extra sugar. With all the flavors going on in this banana bread, there isn’t any need for much. I also used dark brown sugar, as it has a more prominent flavor.
Chia seeds: The new love of my life. Wait, I think I say that about everything? Anyway, chia seeds add extra fiber, omega-3s, and a delicious crunch to this bread. It reminds me a little bit of poppyseed bread.
This banana bread is easy to make, and even easier to eat. Why? Each slice clocks in at about 160 calories, nearly 4g of protein and 3g of fiber. Yes, snack time just got better.
I love to have my bread toasted (or slightly warm) with a sliver of almond butter and low-sugar strawberry jam. Of course, you’re free to top yours however you’d like.
Have a great weekend!
More healthy bread recipes to try:
Healthy Chai Banana Bread with Salted Cashew Butter Vanilla Glaze
My Favorite Healthy Banana Bread Recipe
Healthier Carrot Cake Banana Bread with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Healthy Honey Flax Tahini Banana Bread
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Strawberry Coconut Chia Seed Banana Bread
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 2-3 bananas)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 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
- 2-4 strawberries, sliced for topping
Instructions
- 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. B
- 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), and will stay fresh for a few days when wrapped tightly.
This looks like a beautiful recipe. Just wondering if it freezes well.
It should freeze just fine!
Hi! Just wondering if I could use frozen strawberries in this recipe or would they make the mixture too watering? Thanks.
Hi! Yes that should work – just be sure to thaw the strawberries, drain off any liquid, and toss then in a bit of the flour before adding them.
If I could have given it a 4.75 I would have but there wasn’t an option. Made it tonight and the taste is amazing!! I love that it was sweet but not overly sweet. I could have added about another half to a full banana, I only used 2. But, I couldn’t get the middle to bake all the way through. I left it in for 60 minutes and could’ve left it in for another five minutes but the rest of the loaf was getting extra golden almost to the point of dry. I added nuts for the crunch factor because I didn’t have chia seeds.again, loved the flavor and texture with the unsweetened coconut which added a lot (in a good way) but just couldn’t get the middle to bake all the way through.
Hmmm did you use frozen bananas or strawberries? That’s all I can think that would be the issue!
This recipe is healthy and sweet. Yet another path involving my ripe bananas. The strawberry topping caused the bread to sink a litle in the center, though, overall the final product was satisfactory. Thank you again for sharing and the fine job you are doing!
I’m glad you enjoyed regardless! 🙂
Delightful and delicious
Glad you enjoyed!
Thanks for this recipe! Can I blend the strawberries with the wet ingredients and do as is? My kid will not eat if he sees them full. I also want to bake them as muffins.
Unfortunately that would likely making the bread have too much liquid and it likely wouldn’t bake up properly.
strawberry banana bread is the best!
Just made this recipe for my family. Delicious! Great way to use over ripe bananas. We used frozen strawberries instead of fresh ones and mashed blueberries, and we also accidentally left out the Greek Yogurt, but they turned out great!
Hi Monique. I want to make this bread tonight.
I havent been able to find White Pastry Whole Wheat Flour. I see here you list All Purpose flour.
Last time i used all purpose flour it did not work as a very good sub. Would you still recommend 1 cup and 3/4 of all purpose for this bread?
Thanks!!
All purpose flour should be fine in this one!
Mine is in the oven baking right now, for some reason it has been baking for 1.5 hours and still pretty soft. Is it maybe because of the bananas?
I find the website really amazing, and this is just one of the many more recipes that i will be baking/cooking in the days/weeks to come!
Very strange! There should be the right amount of dry ingredients for all of the wet ingredients (including the bananas). I would double check your ratios, or add an extra couple tablespoons of flour next time! I’m so glad you’re finding some good ones in here 🙂 Enjoy!
I don’t have any Greek yogurt in the fridge..what is a good substitution for this ingredient in your this recipe? Can it be omitted? Please advise. Would really love to make this tomorrow morning.
Thanks.
Hi Karen! Apologies for the delay – you could substitute applesauce for the Greek yogurt!
I can’t count how many times I’ve made this recipe, and it is still my go-to banana bread. After 4 years of making it, it never gets old. Thank you for all of the great recipes you come up with! You have such unique ideas and I love re-creating your work.
This makes me so happy! Thank you for following along, Michelle. So glad you’re finding delicious things in here 🙂
I’m allergic to milk. Any suggestion what I could substitute for the Greek yogurt?
Hi Amber! You can use a dairy-free yogurt (soy, coconut, etc.)
I love this banana bread!! And I don’t like banana bread usually. I think the strawberries add such a great flavor. I stored it in the fridge and I really like to eat it cold. My husband loves it too!! Thank you!
I have made this twice now, substituting the flour for spelt or oat and completely omitting the Brown sugar both times. It turned out great! I love to toast it and spread strawberry preserves on it.
This bread is SO GOOD!!! I just made it last night, and there is only one piece left!! Thank you so much for the wholesome, healthy recipe!! 🙂
This looks amazing! Could I bake it into muffins instead? Love your recipes!
Just baked this and turned out wonderful!! To make it whole grain, I subbed the flour with 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1/2 cup oat flour. Then I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. Applesauce instead of yogurt for a dairy free bread. Thanks for this Monique, it’s so delicious!
I see another person asked the same question but no answer – can you use coconut flour instead?
No you cannot! Coconut flour is not the same as regular flour.
This recipe is so versatile, my kids are loving it too!
I subbed buckwheat flour and almond meal for the all purpose, applesauce for the Greek yogurt and used flax instead of an egg. It’s denser than you intended for this to be but very filling and the strawberry banana coconut combo is perfect for this hot spring day.
Thanks from all of us!
I made this tonight and i’m devouring my last peice. OMG this was absolutly amazing all the flavors in my mouth. Thought I replaced the 1/2 cup coconut by dark chocolat niblets and topped it of with coconut. Seriously mouthwatering all the flavors in the mouth. Thank you for this delicious and comforting recipe. I will doing some more for sure :)!!
Made it without the berries and double mashed banana. Great recipe.
Ambitious Kitchen I used a cup of oat flour, and 3/4 white. The batter was a little runny, but once it was cooked it came together perfectly! Next time I will do all oatmeal
Delicious and surprisingly moist for being healthified.