This Tahini Banana Bread is moist, sweet, nutty, cake-like and sprinkled with crunchy sesame seeds on top. The smooth nutty tahini complements the sweet bananas and spices. This banana bread lasts for DAYS!
Have you ever looked at that list that Google publishes each year, listing out the most Google-d recipes?! It’s sort of fascinating and it’s really no surprise that banana bread is usually on the list.
People love making banana bread. And it’s sort of a duh, of course they do kinda thing because how often have you bought bananas with really good intentions.
You probably wanted to slice them over a bowl of oatmeal, put them in smoothies, eat them with a dollop of almond butter, etc. but then you prob forget about them only to find them brown AF on your counter, wilting away.
What is Tahini
Tahini is a condiment that’s made from hulled sesame seeds. This condiment is used in the cuisine throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. While you can make it homemade, I would definitely recommend buying it–it’s much easier! At this point, you should be able to find it pretty easily at your local supermarket.
How to Make Tahini Banana Bread
- Whisk together the flour, sesame seeds and salt.
- And then whisk together the melted butter, eggs, vanilla, tahini, banana and baking soda.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Mix together just until you no longer see any speckles of flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- And then sprinkle the top with more sesame seeds. If you want, you could also add a sprinkling of turbinado sugar and flakey sea salt.
- Bake it!
- The hardest part, let it cool for about 30 minutes before slicing it!
The tahini adds a nice nuttiness to it that’s really pleasant. The brown sugar and tahini results in major emoji heart eyes. It’s SO good. Also, I thought this was like the most original idea in the world but then a quick Google action and I saw that it’s not unique at all. Lol. 🙁
Tahini Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
Loaf:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (180g)
- 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 ripe yet firm bananas (about 1 cup) mashed
- 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter (76g)
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar (50g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons smooth tahini paste if there’s oil on the top, mix it thoroughly before adding it
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Topping:
- 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
Instructions
- To Make the Loaf:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 8×4-inch and line with a sheet of parchment, leaving sides coming up the sides for easily removable. (A 9×5-inch loaf pan will work too but the loaf will be a bit stouter in shape!)
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, and salt until combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, melted butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, tahini and baking soda.
- Give it a thorough stir.
- Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, stirring just until the speckles of flour disappear. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to get any bits of flour that might be hiding.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a couple of moderate smacks on the counter to even out the batter.
- Sprinkle the top with the sesame seeds. I added more to the center and then added only a few to the outside. I just liked the way it looked, no real reason! If you want, you can also add a sprinkling of turbinado sugar and flakey sea salt–totally optional!
- Transfer to the oven to bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center has risen, the edges are golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then invert the loaf and cool it on a rack, or live on the edge and eat it warm. The banana bread will stay delicious and moist for 3 to 5 days when wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
Notes
Nutrition
If you make this tahini banana bread, let me know on Instagram!
Looking for more breakfast recipes? Here are some other favorites:
I made tahini banana muffins using this recipe and they turned out SO good! I had four very brown bananas so I used them all, and topped the muffins with some crumbled pistachio halva, but otherwise followed the recipe as written. It made about 7 large muffins in a standard tin and I baked them for 30 minutes. I’m already excited to eat one for breakfast tomorrow!
wonderful to hear!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! With your version, I”m loving banana bread again. I love the extra seed crunch and the sesame mellows out the banana flavor. I was never a fan of walnuts in my banana bread, yours taste much better!
Quickly became my daughter’s favorite. Very tasty and easy to make. The Tahini gives it an interesting twist.
Love this banana bread recipe. I love that you add metric measurements as it makes it so much easier to gets the ingredients out in grams instead of using measuring cups.
Would you make any changes in the recipe if I substitute olive oil for butter. Thanks.
Nope it should be one to one! 🙂
Just wanted to mention that this banana bread is the BEST. We are not big fans of it usually, but tahini and sesame seeds improve the flavor absolutely. thank you so much for this recipe!
Hello there!
I’m baking this banana bread right now. Smells and looks good. What I like is that your recipes use conversion to metric measurements as well. Very happy about that! Will try out more stuff
Just made this and eating it now! This is my new fav banana bread recipe – well done!
This was so tasty! Your recipes always turn out well for me & I am SO happy that you’ve given weights for baking. Thank you!
yes, new year, new me! haha
I just made this last night and ooooo it’s so good! Why did I never think to put sesame seeds in/on my banana bread?? Will definitely be making this on the regular
Hi! I really want to make this but the steps are missing when to add tahini (last updated March 12). Is it with the wet ingredients in step 4? Thank you!
hi sorry about that. just added it. 🙂
I make a lot of nanner recipes and this one was definitely a favourite! I loved the rich (but somehow light?) tahini flavour and my husband was moaning a lot while he ate it! can’t be a bad sign.
amazing! so glad you and the husband enjoyed 🙂
This is by far my favorite banana bread ever. I have also turned my parents on to making this recipe. But it’s the only banana bread recipe I make and it’s been a staple throughout this entire year. We love to toast our slices in the air fryer and butter it up and it’s positively luscious! It’s the best because it’s not so sweet and has the perfect earthy balance. Well crafted recipe!
I doubled this to bake it in a bundt pan and also stirred in most of a finely-chopped bar of dark chocoloate. OH wow. It’s nutty and subtly sweet and I don’t know if I’ll ever make banana bread without tahini again. Thank you!
yumm sounds awesome!