Daring Bakers' Challenge: Quick Bread

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was - Lis!  Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own.  She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Spring is in the air in my part of the world so I wanted to choose flavors that complimented the season and would be appropriate for an Easter Brunch.  I chose to make a pineapple coconut quick bread.  I love this combination of flavors because they always remind me of summers on some tropical beach.

I encourage you to use organic ingredients in this bread.  Tropical fruits, when not organically grown, are usually heavily spayed with pesticides and herbicides.  All of the ingredients I used are available organic.  These are the brands that I used.  Even the coconut chips that I used were organic.  If you can’t find organic where you live, at least look for coconut milk that doesn’t have any extra ingredients added.  You could use low fat coconut milk but it won’t have as strong a coconut flavor.  If you can’t find organic pineapple try to find one that is packed in it’s own juice.  You can always use vanilla extract in place of the coconut one I used but, again, the coconut flavor won’t be as strong.

I like to line my baking pan with parchment paper.  It makes removing the cooked bread so much easier. Remember to grease the pan first.

Lisa’s base recipe called for eggs so I had to make some substitutions.  I replaced the eggs with a teaspoon of baking powder and an acid (the pineapple).  If I wasn’t going to use pineapple (or lemon, limes or oranges) I would have added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to react with the powder to get the lift.  I also replaced one of the two cups of flour with some white whole wheat flour to give it some nutritional value and I cut the sugar to 3/4 of a cup.  I replaced the cup of milk with 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple with the juice.  

The recipe called for a basic glaze of 1/3 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1-2 teaspoons of milk to drizzle over the top.  I would have used pineapple juice to make a pineapple glaze, or coconut milk for a coconut glaze but I opted to sprinkle some wide chip coconut on top for a less sweet bread.

Pineapple Coconut Quick Bread

Makes 1 9x5 loaf - Use organic ingredients whenever possible.

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour (King Arthur)

3/4 cup unbleached sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coconut milk (full fat is best)

1/2 cup crushed pineapple with it’s juice

1/4 cup sunflower or safflower oil

1 teaspoon coconut extract

2 heaping tablespoons wide chip coconut

Preheat your oven to 350°

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients with a whisk.

In a small bowl or large measuring cup mix the wet ingredients together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until everything is combined.

Put the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the top with the coconut

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.