The Best Maui Banana Bread

Banana Bread is pretty good on its own... tender moist sweet bread that is filled with banana, even a little crispy on the edges.... now imagine it filled with pineapple chunks, coconut flakes, and macadamia nuts... oh and the best part; topped with a macadamia nut crumb topping! Yeah, I just took banana bread from basic to fabulous! This bread is warm and cozy but has such a fun summer and tropical vibe to it. It is perfect for your summer brunches or desserts!

So let me tell you why I have been in such a big tropical flavor mood recently. My husband and I just came back from our HONEYMOON! And we didn’t just go anywhere, we went to Maui, and needless to say… WE LOVED IT!! And let’s just say this honeymoon has been a long time coming… so I feel extra excited about it. I and my now husband originally planned a wedding and honeymoon for June of 2020. but as you all know, COVID happened and we had to cancel everything last minute. We were devastated but we decided to legally get married anyway and reschedule everything for 2021… which we did. Our original honeymoon was planned for Iceland and we were so excited for a super adventurous honeymoon with lots of beautiful vast landscapes. But even in 2021, international travel was not about to happen so we had to choose somewhere within the United States, and of course, we chose beautiful Hawaii. Completely opposite from our original choice but we are so glad we went there. We needed the sun more than we knew.

We did so many amazing things on our honeymoon… hiking into volcanic craters, snorkeling, saw the most amazing sunsets… but one thing that really stood out to me was the banana bread. So apparently Maui is famous for its amazing banana bread and we learned that quickly. On the side of almost every road in Maui, they had local fruit and food stands with all the locals selling produce, food, and tons and tons of banana bread. It makes sense right? Maui grows lots of bananas being that it is such a tropical environment. Well, of course, we had to try them all, including the most famous "Auntie Sandy's Banana Bread". They were all so delicious. Honestly the key to why they were so good there was simply the quality of bananas. So of course that experience inspired me to up my banana bread game, so I decided to make a banana bread recipe that really embodies my time in Maui. It includes bananas, of course, macadamia nuts, coconut, and pineapple. So it really screams Maui!

HOW TO MAKE BANANA BREAD

So I think we just call it banana "bread" to make ourselves feel better when we eat it for breakfast. Because it really should be called banana cake. Well either way it is delicious, and here is how you make it. In one large bowl just use a fork to smash up all your ripe bananas. Then whisk in your sugar, melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk in your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Then fold in your pineapple chunks, chopped nuts, and coconut! Top with the streusel crumb top, bake and you are done! Here are a few very important must-do steps to also do:

1. SUPER IMPORTANT; make sure to squeeze out all the excess water from your pineapple. if you do not, the bread will have too much water content and be a sloppy mess.
2. Let batter rest in the fridge for 1 hour or in the freezer for 20 minutes. This lets the butter chill up again and creates a fluffier bread.
3. You will notice you have to bake this bread at two different temperatures. This is SO important if you want to get a beautiful high-rise bread top. The first 15 minutes at 425 degrees really helps that bread burst and grow high! Then bake the rest of the time at 350 in order to cook the center. This is my secret to creating a beautiful-looking bread. if you skip this, the bread may sink in the middle or at least not rise as high.

MAUI BANANA BREAD INGREDIENTS/ SUBSTITUTIONS

1. Bananas. So this is probably the most important ingredient. your bananas must be super ripe though so that they are soft, sweet, and favorable. if they are not ripe enough you may end up with a flavorless bread
2. Butter. So this one is controversial. I always use to be very loyal to only using oil in my bread instead of butter. only because oil has a higher fat content and makes for a more moist bread. but in Maui, I learned that the all-time famous "Auntie Sandys" uses butter so I decided to give the butter a try again. This bread still comes out very moist... so it worked. But of course, you can switch this out for vegetable oil.
3. buttermilk. This adds so much moisture to our bread. you can also replace it with yogurt.
4. Pineapple. I add these because I was inspired by my time in Maui. But you can either leave this out or add any fruit of your choice. Just remember, if you use fruit with a lot of water to squeeze the water out. Other fruit like berries should be fine on their own.
5. Macadamia nuts. I add these because Maui is full of them! But they are kind of expensive. so if you are not feeling them feel free to replace them with any nut that provides the delicious crunch.

Lastly, if you try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment/rating on how it turned out. I love hearing from you guys and will try my best to reply to every comment! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!