Tahini Banana Bread (Gluten-Free) – Eating Bird Food

This tahini banana bread is made with a combo of oat and almond flour and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. It’s perfectly moist and absolutely delicious! Gluten-free + dairy-free.

If you guys know me, you know I love my banana bread! I have a few recipes already on the site (like this coconut flour banana bread, which is an EBF fan fave!), but today I’m excited to share this tahini banana bread recipe with you!

This recipe has all the classic banana bread flavors you’d expect, but is made with oat and almond flour so is gluten-free and has the addition of tahini, which adds a unique nutty flavor.

It’s so good… I can’t wait for you to try it!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The combo of tahini + bananas + chocolate = a match made in heaven!
• It’s rich, moist, lightly sweetened and has a perfect nutty flavor.
• Comes together quickly with simple ingredients.
• Gluten-free, dairy-free, oil-free + refined sugar-free.
• It can be eaten for breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack or even dessert!

Ingredients Needed

• oat flour – you can make your own oat flour if you’d like or use store-bought. I like Bob’s Red Mill oat flour.
• almond flour – make sure you get almond flour and not almond meal! Bob’s Red Mill almond flour is what I typically buy.
• bananas – you’ll need about two ripe bananas mashed for the batter and one additional banana that’s not overly ripe to slice and top the loaf with.
• tahini – the star ingredient of this recipe! Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds that adds a rich, nutty flavor to this loaf. It’s also a great source of iron, calcium, fiber as well as healthy fats and amino acids. You can find tahini with other nut butter types in your local grocery store. I have tried a few different tahini brands over the years and my personal favorite brands are the Whole Foods tahini, Soom organic tahini and Once Again tahini. They’re all creamy and are only made with 1 or 2 ingredients (sesame seeds and salt).
• maple syrup – the perfect natural sweetener for this recipe! I love the flavor the maple syrup adds to this loaf. Make sure you’re using pure maple syrup and not pancake syrup as that’s loaded with corn syrup and additives.
• eggs – helps bind all the ingredients together and provide structure for the banana bread.
• unsweetened almond milk – helps keep this bread moist and tender without adding extra calories. You can use your favorite store-bought brand or make your own almond milk at home.
• vanilla extract – an essential flavor addition to banana bread.
• baking soda, baking powder and salt – three essential baking ingredients.
• sesame seeds – to enhance the sesame flavor we’re topping this loaf with raw sesame seeds.
• chocolate – I used a chopped dark chocolate bar for this recipe, but you can definitely use your favorite chocolate chips instead.

How to Make

Prep: Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

Mix: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, maple syrup, almond milk, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana.

Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Top: Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Top with banana halves and sprinkle on extra chocolate and sesame seeds.

Bake: Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. It’s okay if it doesn’t come out fully clean as bread will continue to bake in pan. Check at 30-40 min and cover with tin foil to help the top from browning too much.

Cool: Let the bread cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Substitutions & Notes

• Flour: This recipe hasn’t been tested with a different flour so I don’t recommend substituting the oat or almond flour with another flour.
• Tahini: While this is a tahini banana bread you can swap out the tahini with another nut or seed butter like almond butter or sunflower seed butter. Just note, that the flavor of this banana bread will be different if you swap out the tahini.
• Maple syrup: You can swap the maple syrup with honey or another liquid sweetener like agave or monk fruit maple syrup. I wouldn’t recommend subbing the maple for a dry sugar like coconut sugar or cane sugar as I haven’t tested it and that would likely affect the overall texture of this loaf.
• Almond milk: Feel free to use your favorite non-dairy milk or regular dairy milk. I just recommend using unsweetened milk.
• Eggs: I haven’t tried this loaf with an egg substitute like flax eggs, but if you end up trying it let me know in the comments below!

Tips For Success

• Use ripe bananas: Make sure you’re using ripe bananas with brown spots on them for the mashed bananas that are being mixed into the batter. The older, browner and mushier, the better! Here are some different ways to quickly ripen bananas if your bananas aren’t ripe enough.
• Cover at the 30-minute mark: Around the 30-minute mark I recommend covering the bread with tin foil so it doesn’t get too brown.
• Test for doneness: To check if your banana bread is fully baked, insert a toothpick or a knife into the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, your bread is ready. If there’s wet batter on the toothpick, bake for a few more minutes and check again.
• Transfer to a cooling rack: Once done cooking let the bread cool for about 10 minutes in the pan and then remove to cool completely on a wire rack. Don’t leave the bread in the pan for too long because it’ll continue to bake and could dry out or start to condensate.

Ways to Enjoy Tahini Banana Bread

Few things are better than fresh, warm banana bread! I could honestly eat this bread any time of day. Here are some ideas:

• Enjoy a delicious breakfast with some tahini and maple syrup drizzled on top. Paired with a glass of cold brew coffee and you’ve got the perfect morning.
• Spread on a little melted butter and a dash of cinnamon for a sweet afternoon treat.
• Serve it up for brunch alongside my spinach quiche, fruit salad and mimosas.

How to Store

Did you know that storing your banana bread in the fridge will actually dry it out? Either wrap the banana bread with plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container on your countertop for up to four days.

If you need to store it for longer, you can freeze it for up to 3 months! You can freeze the full loaf or pre-slice it for easy serving when you’re ready to thaw and enjoy. To thaw, place bread in the fridge overnight, at room temperature or defrost in the microwave or toaster oven.

More Quick Bread Recipes

More Tahini Recipes

Be sure to check out all of the tahini recipes and quick bread recipes on EBF!