Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread

all you need is a bowl and a pan

Are there enough banana bread recipes in the world? Probably, but what’s just one more on the pile? I was recently digging in the deep back corner of my pantry (shelf above my refrigerator) and I discovered that I had 4 unopened jars of tahini in addition to the one in my fridge. I consider myself a moderate consumer of tahini, but I have no idea how I ended up with so many. Probably photoshoot leftovers, but who can know for sure. Needless to say, I’ve been adding it to a lot of recipes this week.

Banana bread is one of the very first things I baked on my own and I have made so many versions and variations of it over the years, it might be my most baked recipe. There is no better home for the speckly bananas sitting on your counter or in your fridge. The flavor bang for the effort buck is unbeatable.

Chocolate and tahini both have slightly bitter notes that balance the super sweet banana and give this bread a depth of flavor that you wouldn’t expect at first glance. If you’d like to dress it up a bit you could sprinkle sesame seeds on top. You may also be tempted to add some chocolate chips or chopped chocolate to the batter, but when I did this during testing the chocolate all sunk to the bottom so I ended up leaving it out of the recipe. Your mileage may vary.

This is a soft and moist loaf that will hang happily for a few days on the counter or longer in the freezer. The batter comes together in no time at all and the only annoying thing is that it takes a while to bake and cool, but I won’t tell anyone if you slice into your banana bread while it’s still warm.

don’t you want to dive right into those cracks?

Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread

From Have a Little Something by Yossy Arefi 

Yield: 1, 9x5-inch loaf

Time: 80 minutes

1 cup/250 grams mashed ripe banana (about 2 large bananas)

3/4 cup/150 grams granulated sugar

1/2 cup/120ml tahini, well stirred

1/4 cup/60ml neutral oil

1 large egg 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup/40 grams cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup/95 grams all purpose flour

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Butter and line a 9 x 5-inch or 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper that hangs over the two long edges.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the banana, sugar, tahini, oil, egg, vanilla and salt. Whisk in the cocoa powder until no lumps remain, then whisk in the baking powder and baking soda. 

3. Fold in the flour with a flexible spatula, then spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top and bang the pan on the counter a few times to release any large air bubbles.

4. Bake the cake until puffy with a cracked top and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, 65-75 minutes. 

5. Let the cake cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then use the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan. Place the loaf back on the cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. Store the cake well wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days. 

Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread

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