Coconut Oil Banana Pineapple Bread

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This Banana Pineapple Bread is incredibly moist and is ever so slightly coconut flavored thanks to the coconut oil in the batter. You’ll definitely want seconds of this easy banana bread recipe! three slices of Banana Pineapple Bread on white plate

Ultra Moist Banana Pineapple Bread

I’m no stranger to banana bread recipes. In fact, I have 35+ Favorite Banana Bread and Banana Recipes. But this is the first time I’ve made banana bread with coconut oil and it won’t be the last. The results are magical.

This bread makes me think of spring, warmer weather, and of being on a tropical vacation. Like all my banana bread recipes, it comes together with a whisk and just one bowl. No mixer, no creaming ingredients, nothing fussy.

Paradoxically, when baking with coconut oil, it doesn’t impart a blast of in-your-face coconut intensity. I liken it to a vacation-scented flavor rather than licking a bottle of tanning oil. There’s barely a hint of detectable coconut flavor, perfect for those who aren’t fond of coconut.

I think when most people object to coconut, it’s shredded or flaked coconut that they’re thinking of. Those forms have very distinct and powerful flavors and scents. And there’s that stringy texture that’s also a consideration. I love coconut oil, but even I have to be in the right mood for shredded coconut.

sliced loaf of Banana Pineapple Bread

Courtesy of the coconut oil, buttermilk, and bananas, this bread is springy-soft and bouncy. It’s like a trampoline I wish I could jump on because it’s so cushioney, soft, tender, and ridiculously moist.

The pineapple and its natural juices also tenderize the bread. I used frozen pineapple chunks from Trader Joe’s, and stirred them in straight from the freezer.

The sweetness from the bananas and pineapple, coupled with the coconut oil, made these loaves scrumptiously good. This is pineapple-banana bread, rather than banana-pineapple, and the coconut oil is hardly noticeable. It’s in the background and adds flavor you can’t quite put your finger on, but you’ll want more of it.

The pinch of nutmeg I added was a departure from my usual cinnamon-fiending ways. Nutmeg adds a nuttiness, warmth, and fullness of flavor. It’s almost like using browned butter and adds a homey quality. It’s less intense than cinnamon, and a perfect compliment for the pineapple.

Feel free to freeze the second loaf for a rainy day. Or give it away to a friend. Or just hog it. They’re pretty small loaves and go fast.

I made this bread the night before I started my 3-day juice cleanse and it was one of the first things I ate after the cleanse. Knowing I had it waiting for me on the other side of those three days was wonderful. Four days after I made it, it was still totally fresh, soft, and it’s perfect as is! 

sliced banana bread with coconut oil

How to Make Banana Pineapple Bread

In a large bowl, combine eggs, melted coconut oil, buttermilk, sugars, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt, and stir to incorporate.

Stir in bananas and frozen pineapple, then pour batter into greased 8×4-inch loaf pans. Bake until the top of the banana pineapple bread is golden and set.

This banana bread with coconut oil lasts for days at room temperature, but you can also freeze the slices and reheat them later when a banana bread craving hits! You can make a homemade strawberry butter to go on top, or enjoy plain. However you eat this banana bread, you’re sure to love it! 

banana bread recipe with coconut oil

Tips for the Best Banana Pineapple Bread

I’m always in the mood for coconut oil because of the moistness, softness, and tenderness it lends to baked goods. If you absolutely don’t want to bake with coconut oil, you can use melted or browned butter, canola or vegetable oil. I’ve done them all, but coconut oil is my new favorite.

If desired, you could swap out the frozen pineapple for mango, peaches, nectarines, strawberries or your favorite frozen or seasonal fruit. No matter what type of fruit you use in this banana bread recipe, my top tip when baking with frozen fruit is to stir it in frozen rather than first thawing them. Frozen fruit is less mushy and fragile, and it runs less all over the batter.

This banana pineapple bread recipe makes two smaller 8-by-4-inch loaves, and I’d imagine you could bake it as muffins or some muffins plus a little loaf. I find loaves to be faster and easier; filling one big pan versus twelve muffin wells, but do what you like.

Whatever you do, don’t try to bake it as one big 9-by-5 loaf because I fear it would either overflow or the center wouldn’t cook through before the tops and sides became too browned.

close up of Banana Pineapple Bread slices

More Banana Bread Recipes: 

  • Six-Banana Banana Bread — Not sure what to do with overripe bananas you have on hand? Make this Six-Banana Banana Bread! This is the best banana bread recipe EVER — it’s so moist and flavorful! 
  • Brown Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread — Super moist blueberry banana bread made with Greek yogurt and dark brown sugar. Smear some homemade blueberry butter onto a slice of this blueberry brown sugar banana bread and prepare to fall in love! 
  • Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread — Banana bread that’s like having cheesecake baked in! Soft, fluffy, easy and tastes ahhhh-mazing!
  • Zucchini Banana Bread — This Zucchini Banana Bread is so soft, tender, uber-moist, dense enough to be satisfying, but still light!
  • Carrot Banana Bread — This super moist, springy, tender carrot banana bread is bread that reminds me of cake and I’m not complaining. It’s an easy, no mixer recipe that goes from bowl to oven in minutes.

Banana Pineapple Bread

Enjoy!

This Banana Pineapple Bread is incredibly moist and is ever so slightly coconut flavored thanks to the coconut oil in the batter. You'll definitely want seconds of this easy banana bread recipe! 

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4.50 from 14 votes

Coconut Oil Banana Pineapple Bread

By Averie Sunshine
This Banana Pineapple Bread is incredibly moist and is ever so slightly coconut flavored thanks to the coconut oil in the batter. You'll definitely want seconds of this easy banana bread recipe! 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
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Ingredients  

  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup coconut oil, melted*
  • cup buttermilk**
  • 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg, optional but recommended
  • pinch salt, optional and to taste
  • 1 to 1 ¼ cups mashed ripe bananas, 2 large or 3 small ripe bananas
  • 1 cup pineapple, diced (I used frozen)***

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans with floured cooking spray; set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the eggs, coconut oil, buttermilk, sugars, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
  • Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, optional salt, and stir to just incorporate; don’t overmix because the gluten will overdevelop and bread will be tougher.
  • Stir in bananas. Stir in pineapple (if using frozen, just add it frozen, no need to thaw it first. If using fresh or canned, make sure it’s well-drained or it could water-down the batter).
  • Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for about 45 minutes, or until top is golden and set, a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (banana bread is gooey and it may not come out perfectly clean). If bread is browning too fast on the top, you may wish to lower your oven temperature to 325F in last 15 minutes of cooking, or tent the pan with foil; although I don’t suspect this will be an issue.
  • Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Optionally serve with Browned Butter Vanilla Glaze or Make Pineapple Butter rather than Strawberry Butter.
  • Bread will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container or large Ziplock at room temperature (I wrap my fully cooled bread in Clingwrap, then I place it in a gallon-sized Ziplock). Second loaf may be frozen for up to 3 months.

Notes

*Canola or vegetable oil, or browned or melted butter may be substituted
**1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream may be substituted
***Mango, peaches, nectarines, strawberries or blueberries may be substituted

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 295kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 183mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 29g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Even More Banana Recipes:

Vegan Coconut Oil Banana Muffins — These Vegan Banana Muffins are extra fluffy and moist thanks to the combination of coconut oil and ripe bananas in the batter. This is a quick and easy muffin recipe you’re bound to love!

Vegan Coconut Oil Banana Muffins

Fudgy Banana Bars with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze — Fudgy is the only word that describes the bars. They’re the banana equivalent of moist, fudgy brownies with zero traces of cakiness.

Fudgy Banana Bars with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze on plate with bite taken out

Six-Banana Banana Chocolate Chip Cake — Yes, six bananas in one cake means it’s super SOFT, moist, and has robust banana flavor with chocolate chips in EVERY bite!

Six-Banana Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with bite taken out

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. Love how you are tackling the coconut oil recipes. I have a huge jar of coconut oil and need ideas to use it. Add pineapple and I am in! PS: Looks like we have been doing the 3-day juice cleanse in the same time :)

    1. Are you doing a cleanse right now? We did ours last week. Hard being a food blogger and juice cleansing, that’s for sure :)

  2. You are totally the queen of making things awesomely tropical – love the pineapple addition! Also so glad you showed a coconut oil recipe – I actually made banana almond bread this weekend using coconut oil and it worked beautifully! It has stayed more moist as the days go on, too.

  3. This reminds me of the super sweet and moist banana bread from Hawaii. I love the fact that you can customize this to whatever fruits you like, whether it’s mangoes, pineapples, peaches or something else!

  4. I love your use of nutmeg in this! I tend to forget about using it because my cinnamon is always front and center in my spice cabinet. I am using coconut oil quite a bit more over the last year or so and don’t notice any dominant flavor from it (but I love coconut in all forms). The pineapples we are getting around here should be starting to taste pretty good so I’ll have to freeze some because I’d like to give this a try…such a great flavor combination and that nutmeg has me curious!

    1. I hardly notice the taste anymore either and I was reading a tip about nutmeg right before I made these, about why to reach for it and what it adds, and I am so glad I tossed it in!

  5. I love coconut oil and love to bake/cook with it when I can. During lent this year, we are using this on the guys’ bagels and toast:

    https://www.earthbalancenatural.com/product/organic-coconut-butter/

    This banana bread, like all your others, looks fantastic. I may still be reeling from the fact that there is no cinnamon in it, but nutmeg is a great spice, too! :-D

    My grandma’s banana bread is my all-time favorite and still have it written down in a little book from her from all those years ago. Good tip about throwing in the fruit still frozen. I would have thought the other way around!

    1. That’s great you still have her recipe tucked away. Crucial to keep recipes like that alive!

  6. my favourite banana recipe is one-ingredient ice cream! although i make it two by adding cocoa. ;)

    1. Best results ever – you’re going to love it! Especially in cookies, breads, cakes…mmmm, so good!

  7. I definitely agree with you on the aversion mostly being to flaked/shredded coconut and I’ve found that it’s the sweetened more than the non as well that I don’t care for. I was very leery about cooking with the oil, but found that I smell it more than I taste it

    1. Glad you agree with the coconut oil and yes, it’s those shreds/flakes that are the culprits….lol

  8. I still need to try baking with coconut oil, and this bread may be the recipe that gets me to do that! Love this combination of the bananas and pineapple. Will transport me to a warmer place than Boston :)

    1. Colleen you will LOVE the results. So fluffy, soft, moist…just awesome! And glad this transports you to a warmer place. Winter can just linger way too long by this time of year – stay warm!

  9. Love the flavors here. It looks so moist and I know the pineapple is tart and chewy. Great recipe as usual.

  10. Besides your beautiful browned butter recipe for banana bread, this tropical version looks like a winner, too, Averie. Thank you for sharing the recipe containing the ever-so-good for you coconut oil.

    I’ve had nice success making Baby Cakes Cookbook items with coconut oil. Especially the chocolate sweets. Of course, everything goes well with chocolate =)