Tahini is everywhere now, so it stands to reason that it would find its way into a Cooking Light version of banana bread. This is definitely a trend I am on board with; tahini takes your run-of-the-mill banana bread and makes it so much better.
I tweaked the Cooking Light recipe a little. I switched out white whole wheat flour, which I don't keep at home, to a mix of all-purpose flour and teff flour. Obviously, I don't expect most people to have teff flour at home, but any nutty flour will do. The addition of a nutty-flavored flour rather than the typical all-purpose flour ratchets up the deep, complex flavor of the tahini.
Happily, the traditional chocolate is still here, yielding a subtle, not-too-sweet loaf that works just as well for breakfast, tea/coffee time, and/or dessert.
Like most banana breads, this one is quick and easy to prepare. Blend the ripe bananas together with yogurt, tahini, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a blender until a smooth puree forms. Whisk in the eggs, then the sugars, then gently stir in the flours, baking soda, and salt. You can do this in a stand mixer or by hand. Be sure you've scraped down the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times, banana bread batter tends to be a little tricky to fully incorporate. You'll toss the chocolate chips in just a tiny bit of flour so they stay aloft in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. That's it! Tahini banana bread prep finished in about 15 minutes.
Banana breads do take ages to bake, so be sure you give yours enough time to properly bake through. I cooked mine for about 60 minutes in my convection oven at 350°F and took it out when my thermapen registered 207°F when inserted into the center. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then flip it out to let it finish cooling. Serve the tahini banana bread warm, with a smear of tahini or jam.
Adapted from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2018
Ingredients
- 3 medium (355 grams) ripe banana about 1 ½ cups if mashed
- ⅓ cup (85 grams) plain nonfat yogurt if Greek-style, thin with a little milk/water*
- ⅓ cup (78 grams) tahini well stirred
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs preferably room temperature
- ½ scant cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ packed cup (120 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 ¼ cup (152 grams, 5.4 ounces) all-purpose flour**
- 2 tablespoons (0.6 ounces) teff flour or other nutty-flavored flour, like barley, whole wheat, or rye
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips tossed in a teaspoon of flour
- 2 teaspoon white sesame seeds or mix of white and black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a standard-sized (9- x 5-inch) loaf pan with baking spray (or softened butter, then a dusting of flour).
- Add the bananas and the next four ingredients (through vanilla) to a blender jar, then blend until smooth. No banana chunks should remain.
- Pour the banana batter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the two eggs, then beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until combined. This will take a minute or so, and you'll need to stop and scrape down the bowl a few times. Add both sugars, then beat again at medium speed until combined. Scrape the bowl down again.
- Weigh or lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, leveling it with a knife. Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and gently stir it in (using the lowest speed) until just combined. Toss the chocolate chips in the teaspoon of flour, then fold them into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle it with sesame seeds.
- Bake the banana bread at 350°F for 60 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. The internal temperature when fully baked should register 205-210°F.
- Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Flip the bread out of the cake pan and let it cool completely.
