"Tropical" Fruit Bread

Myrna and I rarely use Bisquick, but we found a couple of nice cookbooks from them, and bought some mix to share and to try the recipes this week. 
This is a delicious quick bread with a nice texture– it really should be called “tropical” fruit bread, with banana, pineapple and coconut.    It's quick to prepare, and is an easy make-ahead for coffee time, gifts  or slices cut in fingers or diagonally make a nice addition to a dessert or cookie tray.  I think it would be good with pineapple cream cheese too.              

                               Fruit Bread

     1/3      cup  Sugar

     1/4      cup  Butter -- softened

  2             large  Eggs

     1/2      cup  Banana -- mashed, 1 medium

  8             fluid ounces  Crushed Pineapple in Juice -- well drained

  2             cups  Bisquick® Baking Mix -- 8 ounces

     1/2      cup  Shredded Coconut

     1/2      cup  Nuts -- chopped

Grease bottom of loaf pan, either 9” x 5” x 3” or 8 ½” x 4 ½” x 2 ½ " size.  (I used an 8 ½” pan and lined it with parchment paper, also greased on the bottom; if you only grease the bottom, you won't get hard "shoulders" on your loaf). 

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix sugar, butter and eggs until blended; stir in banana and pineapple.  Stir in remaining ingredients just until moistened (by hand), spread in pan.

Bake at 50 minutes for 9" loaf, 55 minutes for 8 1/2" loaf or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes.  (Mine, in an 8 ½ “ loaf, tested done with a toothpick at 45 minutes – so check a little ahead of time.)

Remove from pan.  Cool on wire rack.  Cool completely before slicing.  (The bread slices better after being well-wrapped and refrigerated overnight after cooling completely.)

  "Bisquick 60 Years"

  "1 Loaf"    about 16 slices

Per Serving: 154 Calories; 8g Fat (45.6% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 214mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.