Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread

If you're looking for yet another way to use up overly-ripe bananas, this is a great option.

You can definitely use other seed or nut butters; each will yield a slightly different flavor profile. Perhaps you can then swap what nut/seed is sprinkled on top so as to help identify the contents? A thought.

Note: If using whole dates, snip them into small bits with kitchen scissors. Much easier than using a knife! Also, this is much easier to measure with a scale.

This recipe doubles really well; a great excuse to buy too many bananas!

Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread

Yield: 1 small loaf (about 10 slices)

Ingredients

2 large ripe or overripe bananas (about a cup of banana mash)

3 T soft dark brown sugar

¼ cup (50 gm) tahini

¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil

1 large egg

¼ cup (25 gm) cocoa

1 T maple syrup (or date syrup or honey)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup (60 gm) all purpose flour (or ¼ cup whole wheat, ¼ cup a.p. flour)

¼ tsp fine sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ cup (50 gm) snipped dates

1 - 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (to sprinkle on top)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and line with baking parchment a 8 x 4 loaf pan. Set aside.

Peel the bananas, and mash them, then whisk in sugar, tahini, oil, egg, and cocoa, mixing well. Add maple/date syrup and vanilla, whisking well.

Add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, and stir with rubber spatula to blend well. Add the snipped dates.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing the top, and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until risen and slightly firm to the touch, or until a cake tester comes out almost clean. The loaf may have — indeed, will probably have — cracked on top, but this doesn’t matter.

Let it cool completely in the pan on a wire rack and cool completely. Enjoy!

If you can wait until the next day, the texture will be amazing. If you can't, enjoy and know that it is a good thing to not have to wait.

Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 5 days. This loaf cake is often better if stored in an airtight container for a day or overnight before cutting. Of course, you can also wrap air-tight and freeze. I often put a little sticky in the bag with a note about contents and date baked so it is more identifiable than a blob of frozen something in a bag in the freezer.