Thursday, September 11, 2008

Leftover Coconut Milk?

After making a glorious coconut curry dish (which I'll be sharing soon) I found myself left with just a 1/2 cup or so of coconut milk. I usually freeze leftover coconut milk, only to find it in the back of my freezer 5 months later. Typically it's covered in ice chips and hubby pitches it before I can even think of how I'd like to use that last little bit of goodness.


Last night, I decided to use the coconut milk before it had a chance to rendezvous with Mr. Freezer Burn. Having 3 smelly and mottled bananas on the counter, I decided to combine the two to make banana bread.

Not knowing how the bread would turn out, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the coconut milk adds a distinctive taste and texture to the bread, reminiscent of an Asian cake I've had from a bakery in Chinatown. The bread is less "crumby" than a typical banana bread and much more rich. Finally, the banana taste isn't as prominent as usual though still "banana-y" enough to warrant using up my bananabreadperfect-bananas. Oh, don't you love my adjectives today? It's been a long one.


Thanks to the wonders of Blogger future posts, I should be on vacation when you read this post! We're going on a week long camping road trip, exploring the sights of the Southwest. I'll be back in a week or so with updates on our trip and a backlog of goodies I've made the past few days. Have a great week!

Coconut Milk Banana Bread
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 mashed bananas (large)
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom & salt
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until combined. Whisk in bananas, coconut milk, butter, applesauce and vanilla.
4. Slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined.
5. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

44 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

LOOOOVE your banana bread variation, with the coconut milk!! Yum. I too just posted about something with coconut :0)

Larissa said...

Mmmm! What a great use for coconut milk! And I'll bet that tastes great with the bananas in the bread.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Coconut and banana, really what's not to love! What a great way to use leftover coconut milk! Your house must have smelled like heaven!

Leslie said...

I love love love the coconut milk! Yum

Anonymous said...

OOo yummy!!! Really love your blog :) Found you on 20somethingbloggers.com

That Girl said...

So funny, because I was just thinking about coconut milk tonight while I was making dinner tonight!

Jenny said...

Oh Momma, I would love this bread! Coconut milk is one of the best ingredients ever! Looks fabulous.

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! I always have that leftover too and this is a great idea!

kat said...

Great idea I always seem to have leftover coconut milk

grace said...

what a wonderful and perfect use for coconut milk. i look forward to the next time i have bananabreadperfect-bananas. :)

alexandra's kitchen said...

great idea. I always have leftover coconut milk! please post the recipe for your coconut curry soon! I love a good curry but have no clue how to make it!

Laura said...

Wish I liked bananas--looks fabulous.

Have fun on your trip!

Antonio Tahhan said...

have fun on your vacation!! the bread looks soooooo moist and delicious! Next time I make panang curry, I'll keep this bread in mind :)

Aimee said...

Mmm! That sounds really yummy!

RecipeGirl said...

This is an interesting idea. I never know what to do with that leftover coconut milk!

Hope your trip was fun!

Aggie said...

I will totally plan to make this next time I make anything with coconut milk, I always have leftover. This looks so moist and amazing, I love love love anything coconut.

Isn't future blogging the best! Hope you are having a great vacation!

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

That looks heavenly! I love the taste of coconut in anything!

MrOrph said...

Great idea! I too, have issues with finding use with leftover coconut milk. Last time I made ice cream with it along with some rum, but this is a really cool variation to have in the arsenal.

Anonymous said...

great idea to use coconut milk! i absolutely love banana bread and make it whenever i have those overripe bananas around. hope you had a great trip!

Anonymous said...

Waste not, want not! That sounds fantastic! What a great way to suck every penny into good use.

Sophie said...

So many tasty ingredients in one loaf of delicious bread! Sounds yummy and it looks perfectly moist, too. Hope you're having a fun trip :).

tigerfish said...

There shd be some nice good aroma of coconut when you bake? I love the coconut aroma when I add coconut milk in rice to make coconut-flavored rice :)

Elisa @ Globetrotting in Heels said...

This sounds delicious! I love coconut milk and like you, I often have just a bit left. This is a great way of using it!

Maria said...

What a great way to use up the milk! Have fun on your vacation!! I am jealous!

Elle said...

oooh, great idea, and it looks fabulous! I hope you're having a great vacation!

krysta said...

ohhhhh! i have some cocnut milk in the fridge that i didn't want to throw away... so i'm going to try this... yummy!

Sara said...

I am making an indian dish that will only use half a can of coconut milk, now I know what to do with the other half!

Michelle said...

What a great idea. I'm always looking for ways to bring back memories of this summer's trip to Kaua'i. This sounds like it would fill the bill!

Anonymous said...

Hey Sharon! You have something waiting for you over at my site! HOpe you're well. And nice bread, chica.

avesta said...

Great idea! I am jealous that at least your husband eats what you make..I am newly married and my husband is a foodie's nightmare! He won't try anything! UGH!

Bunny said...

Have a great time on your vacation and while you're away I'm making this bread!!!

Anonymous said...

I made your recipe tonight for banana bread and for some reason after 60 minutes it still wasn't cooked all the way.The outside was cooked but the middle wasn't working for me. I followed your recipe to the point.

DO you maybe know where i could have messed up? I love it htough it's very good.Coconut is my favorite flavor in most things.

-Tanya-

Sharon said...

Hi Tanya,

Sorry the timing was off. I have an oven with a digital temperature setting, though I have found that i often bake things for less time than what's called for in a recipe. I'm assuming its the same here, so I'd use the toothpick test to make sure it's cooked all the way!

Nate @ House of Annie said...

way to go!

Was the coconut milk a substitution for some other liquid in your normal bb recipe?

Unknown said...

Great Idea! I have an old family recipe for hot milk cake. One day I decided to use only coconut milk to substitute the whole milk and it came out so delicious. Coconut milk in things like these are fabulous!

Sharon said...

Nate-n-Annie, this is the banana bread recipe we make almost once a week (embarassing,huh?):
http://newlywedcooking.blogspot.com/2008/04/chocolate-and-banana-marbled-bread.html

I didn't use chocolate, so this is one I just sort of based on another banana bread I'd made before

Unknown said...

Sharon thanks for posting this recipe. I've been looking for a use for my leftover coconut milk. I usually have half a can or more after making Chicken Korma. I'm gonna give this bread recipe a go!

Paige said...

This was a PERFECT solution for me! I've been googling "coconut milk" for a couple of days trying to figure out what to do with my leftovers from a curry the other night. I have about exactly 1/2 cup AND 3 bananabread banana's...PERFECT! Thanks so much for your awesome Idea...Delicious!

Maureen said...

Your recipe sounds delicious! I'm also a big fan of experimenting with banana bread recipes. Here are a few of mine:

http://www.homemademothering.com/2009/12/nana-bread-part-ii.html

http://www.homemademothering.com/2009/11/nana-bread.html

Anonymous said...

This cake is gorgeous - I didn't have any applesauce (don't think we have this in UK) so substituted with my mum's homemade jam (jelly). Also substituted cardomom with nutmeg. Thanks for a brilliant recipe and a great way to use up leftover coconut milk :)

pachinko2k said...

uh oh, i just ate some of the bread which was yummy, kinda crunchy on the outside, and the cardamom really gives it that exotic flavor. the coconut is subtle. yummy! but as i sliced towards the middle, it's still kinda wet-ish. i had baked it 10 minutes longer than the 60 minutes because i kept checking with a knife. you think i can stick it back in the oven - minus the 1/8 i already ate?

Sharon said...

pachinko2k, sorry! My oven is a little aggressive so yes you can put in for a little longer.

Anonymous said...

try adding some garam masala to the spice mix, it adds delicious flavor! I really like masala so I use 1-2 Tbsp. but judge according to your own taste!

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing the recipe! had some ripe bananas hanging out in the freezer and a can of coconut milk in the pantry, and this was perfect! turned out well - i had to bake about 10 minutes longer, but i'm sure that varies from oven to oven. now, what to do with the rest of my coconut milk?? :)