I am a mass killer of bananas; so I invented chocolate coconut banana coffee cake. I feel so guilty about wasting over ripe bananas. I over buy and we under consume bananas on a regular basis. As a result I am always looking for ideas to use them up. I make quite a bit of traditional banana bread but it gets boring. I play with new banana baked goodies all the time, and this one I really like.
Dark Chocolate is a must
In this house all baked goods are required to contain at least some amount of chocolate. My husband has a server dark chocolate addiction. When I was rummaging around I found we had three things for this coffee cake: dark chocolate, coconut and bananas so I decided to mix it up and see. I was not disappointed.
I used the dark chocolate cocoa powder so the coffee cake was extremely rich and looked almost black. I am sure chocolate coconut banana coffee cake would be just as tasty with normal cocoa powder, but my husband would never approve of such a thing. The added coconut gives just a hint of Mounds candy bar type flavor that is good with the banana. Don’t skip the walnut streusel, it is so good. I was picking the streusel crumbs off the plate every time I cut a slice of coffee cake. I baked this recipe in a 9×9 pan and got a coffee cake kind of thing but I think it would be great as chocolate coconut banana muffins too.
Dark Chocolate Coconut Banana Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 3 medium bananas
- 3 tbs agave or honey
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup extra dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup coconut flake
For the Dark Chocolate Streusel
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
- 1/4 walnut chips
- 1 tbs extra dark cocoa powder
- 2 tbs melted salted butter
Instructions
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Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease or parchment line a 9x9 baking pan and set aside.
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Using a mixer combine the bananas, agave, egg, vanilla and buttermilk. Blend well. In a second bowl mix the dry ingredients other than the chocolate chips and coconut.
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Using the mixer add the dry ingredients to the wet mixing thoroughly. Then gently fold in the coconut and chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the greased baking pan.
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Mix the ingredients for the dark chocolate streusel and crumble it across the top of the coffee cake. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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Allow to rest until cool before removing from the pan and slicing.
