Tropical Mango Banana Bourbon Bread - a taste of Hawaii in a slice of bread! | foxeslovelemons.com

Remember when I explained how I’m not very good at developing new baking and pastry recipes? Well, somewhere along the way, I decided to change this, and I’m starting with Michael Ruhlman’s book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind The Craft of Everyday Cooking.

I’m really loving this book so far. Not only does it give basic ratios for items like breads, custards and sauces, but it explains the reasons for the ratios, what happens when you change the ratios, and how to adapt them for your own specific needs.

Using this book, and the basic ratio for a quick bread, I decided to make a tropical bread using ingredients I happened to have around.

Tropical Mango Banana Bourbon Bread - a taste of Hawaii in a slice of bread! | foxeslovelemons.com

Also, remember when I did that review of NatureBox snacks? Well, that dried mango was still sitting untouched in the cupboard. Due to some TMJ (jaw) issues, chewy foods are my nemesis.

And eating this bag of dried mango would probably cause my jaw to lock up and put me on a liquid diet for a few months. And this blog would quickly become a smoothie blog. I love smoothies as much as the next person, but still, I figured there was a better way to utilize this mango.

If you don’t have mango from Naturebox like I do, I’m sure you could find dried mango at Whole Foods or another health food store. Or you could substitute a different dried fruit, like golden raisins or dried apricots.

Tropical Mango Banana Bourbon Bread - a taste of Hawaii in a slice of bread! | foxeslovelemons.com

For this bread, I started with a basic quick bread recipe, and added some mashed bananas (I used the rest of my bunch of bananas to make caramelized banana splits).

I also re-hydrated the dried mango using some warm water and added that, along with some unsweetened shredded coconut and chopped pecans.

And because I had it around, why not add a little bit of beer-barrel bourbon? The result is a fruity, sweet-but-not-too- sweet mango banana bourbon bread that makes me dream of Hawaii. It’s perfect for breakfast, or as a dessert or snack.

Tropical Mango Banana Bourbon Bread - a taste of Hawaii in a slice of bread! | foxeslovelemons.com

Tropical Mango Banana Bourbon Bread - a taste of Hawaii in a slice of bread! | foxeslovelemons.com

Tropical Mango Banana Bourbon Bread

Yield: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup dried mango
  • Nonstick cooking or baking spray
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put mango in a small bowl and cover with very warm tap water. Let stand 5 minutes, then squeeze excess water from mango and coarsely chop. Spray an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch bread pan with nonstick spray.
  2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, milk, bourbon, mashed banana and vanilla extract.
  3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Fold in pecans, coconut and mango. Pour into prepared pan and bake 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Transfer pan to cooling rack; let stand 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan and transfer to cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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