I’ve written before about how much I like homemade quick breads. They’re easy to make, can be packed with fruits and veggies, stay fresh for days, and can serve as a snack, breakfast, or dinner side dish. For all these reasons, they also serve as great gifts.
This holiday season, I’m making a new fave, Hummingbird Bread. Inspired by the cake that famously ran in the 1978 issue of Southern Living (and is to this day, the magazine’s most requested recipe), it contains bananas, crushed pineapple, shredded coconut, and cinnamon, ingredients that are easy to get, and yet feel like a tropical escape, in the middle of wintertime. I’ve based this recipe on one from the great Beth Bakes blog, but made some changes, including adding coconut, a pinch of salt, and swapping out pineapple for vanilla yogurt.
If you really want to remain true to the original, you can ice the entire loaf with cream cheese frosting and a sprinkling of chopped pecans, or toast slices and slather them with cream cheese. I like it plain, warm, and alongside a cup of coffee, warm apple cider, or hot chocolate.
Ingredients
- Half stick of butter, softened
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 mashed, ripe bananas
- 6 ounces vanilla yogurt
- 8 ounces crushed pineapple (canned or pureed in processor)
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut (I blitz these in processor a bit so the cut is finer)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric or standing mixer, and then add mix in eggs, bananas, and yogurt at low-medium speed. Fold in pineapple.
- In separate, medium-sized bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add in batches to the wet ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in coconut at the end.
- Pour into greased and floured, 9 x 5 loaf pan (or divide between 2-3 mini pans). Cook for 45-50 minutes (or about 35-40 minutes for mini pans, checking for doneness).
Sounds yummy…can’t wait to try it.