Pineapple Banana Bread with Toasted Coconut

I am not a huge bread baker, despite my love of all things bread. I guess it's the exact measurements required or the fact that I can't taste things as I go that intimidates me.

This week, I challenged myself to recreate one of my favorite breads of all time -- banana bread. The cafeteria at my middle school was giving away a tub of bananas on the last day before spring break, so the materials were present and the time was ripe (as were the bananas -- overripe, in fact).

I found this basic recipe doing a search for the basic components of the banana bread.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat the eggs, oil and vanilla; add pineapple and bananas. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

I added a few changes to put my own spin on it. One, I baked three mini-loaves in mason jars. I soaked old pasta sauce jars in boiling water, then scrubbed off the labels and dried off the jars. I poured in batter to fill the jars about half-way, then set them in the oven (without lids). In about 30 minutes, I checked on the jars and when the bread was fully baked, I pulled the jars out of the oven to seal the lids. Using oven mitts, I twisted the jar lids back on. The heat of the baked bread sealed the jar lids with a pop a few minutes later. The key was to make sure the jars were carefully cleaned before and after baking, leaving no extra batter along the sides of the jars.

Secondly, I used unsweetened shredded coconut to add another flavor the the bread. Five minutes before taking the jars out, I topped each jar with a handful of shredded coconut. When the coconut had browned, I removed the jars from the oven.

The only problem with these is resisting the temptation to eat the jar all at once. Prepare yourself.