I love banana bread so I’m always experimenting with different variations of it. This Tahini banana bread is delicious, and it has a subtle nutty flavor from the sesame seeds. Additionally, the tahini adds moisture and is very high in nutrients. Every two tablespoon serving of tahini provides you with 8% of your required magnesium, 22% of phosphorus, 14% of iron, and 12% of calcium.
This tahini banana bread is a great healthy option because it’s made with coconut sugar, whole wheat flour, and oat flour so it provides a lot of nutrients without any refined sugar. There is butter in it, but 1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons) makes a big loaf, which comes out to only about a half a tablespoon of butter per slice. Like is about balance, and the brown butter adds a ton of flavor. Enjoy it!
Tahini Banana Bread Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 medium ripe or over-ripe bananas
- ½ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt (I use 2%)
- 1 stick (½ cup) salted butter, browned and slightly cooled
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds plus more for garnish
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (can find it at whole foods)
- 1 cup oat flour (ground oats)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Start by browning the butter. In a medium saucepan (use a bigger one than you think you’ll need) over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir with a spatula and keep an eye on it so the butter doesn’t burn. It will bubble up and then brown. This process will take 5-10 minutes. Just stir the butter every so often to make sure that it doesn’t burn and keep an eye on it. You want the milk solids to turn a light caramel color. This will add to the nuttiness of the tahini. Once the butter has browned, remove it from the heat and set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or using a hand mixer, beat the eggs and coconut sugar until they are light and fluffy. This will take 3-5 minutes, and will help the tahini banana bread rise and gain a nice texture while baking. Next add in the bananas and mix on medium high until they are broken down and mashed up. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle in the cooled brown butter. The butter will still be pretty warm, so it’s important to drizzle it in slowly so it doesn’t cook the eggs. Next add in the salt, vanilla, yogurt, and tahini and mix until everything is fully combined.
Note** Make sure tahini is well mixed. If the oil has separated in the jar, mix it well before measuring it out and adding it to the tahini banana bread.
In a separate bowl, mix whole wheat pastry flour, oat flour, sesame seeds, baking soda, and baking powder.
Note: You can either buy oat flour at the store or just put rolled oats in a blender or food processor until they become the consistency of whole wheat flour. I just grind up whole oats because it’s less expensive, but either way works.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches, and mix until everything is just combined and dry ingredients are moistened.
Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Add the batter to the loaf pan, and sprinkle with additional sesame seeds. This just creates a pretty topping and shows people that it’s actually tahini banana bread.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour until the tahini banana bread is cooked through. I’ve made all different variations of this banana bread and it always takes exactly one hour, but test it with a toothpick to ensure that it’s fully cooked. Every oven is a little different. Let it rest in the pan until it’s cool enough to handle, then slice and serve. You can always it up and freeze the slices so you can pop one in the toaster when you want one.
I store this in the fridge for maximum freshness.