Coconut & Mango Loaf

Recently, my parents dropped in with a large shopping bag brimming with home-grown garden mangoes. too much to get through in a week, I did what I do best: brainstorm ways to make fresh produce last by blending, baking and freezing them to form other tasty treats. Which is exactly what inspired this gem of a recipe.

The best bit? It delights all, even the vegan among us, thanks to a little tweak that saw me adapt a traditional banana bread recipe with a little substitution. I’m talking the littlest swaps that make big results: substituting butter with rice brain or coconut oil, eggs with mashed banana and Almond Breeze Almond Milk in place of dairy milk. But despite all the substituting, there’s absolutely no compromise on taste: the final product was moist, delicious and generously fruity. Just a tip before you rush off to bake it: you’ll need to keep these treats refrigerated once cool, because of the fresh mango.

And one other thing: Have fun trying to forget they’re in the fridge.

Mango Coconut Bread

This recipe makes 2 8x4x2-inch loaves

2 cups plain (all purpose)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 banana

3/4 cup rice bran oil or coconut oil

¼ cup Almond Breeze Almond Milk

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups chopped mango

1/2 cup shredded or shaved coconut (unsweetened)

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Grease and flour 2 baking loaf pans.

Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl; make a well in the center.

Mash the banana in a separate bowl. In the same bowl as the mashed banana, mix in the oil, sugar, almond milk and vanilla extract together. Fold the mango and coconut into the wet mixture.

Pour the wet mixture into the well of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Avoid overmixing. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Bake for 30 -35 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut, dust with icing sugar (powdered sugar), and serve with tea. Perfection!