"Healthy" Whole Wheat Coconut Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips + A Magic Trick to Ripen Bananas

This weekend was so fun, between beer tasting with my mom, sushi with Lauren, Seven Grand with Becky to celebrate Kayla's birthday, hiking with the pups, the LA IPA Festival at Mohawk Bend (yum Ladyface and Smog City), partying in Echo Park with Rob and co., brunch at Modern Eats, a play, "Stage Beauty," with Lauren and the fam, drinks at the Old Ship and other merriment, I needed a day off to decompress. 

 I've been really enjoying everything right now, even though finding the right fit for work is a bit difficult. I've been trying to slow down my days and figure what I'm really meant to do. Anyway, I've been craving banana baked things. So I woke up this morning and decided to make banana bread BUT we didn't have any ripe bananas.


Have no fear! 

PRO-TIP: I popped the four bananas in the oven at 300 degrees for roughly 40 mins, until they were blackened on the outside, and mushy on the inside.  Let cool before mixing in to the bread.

Whole Wheat Coconut Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
* Adapted from How Sweet Eats

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 large eggs
1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
4 bananas, mashed
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 bag chocolate chips

Directions:

- Mix up the dry ingredients

- Mix the wet ingredients

- Mix together everything, don't beat too much otherwise the gluten makes the bread tough

- Put in greased 9x5 pan (I used coconut oil)

- Bake at 325 degrees for 75 minutes, until knife came out clean

- Let cool

- Slice and inhale