Going bananas for a good loaf

Bananas do tend to sit around at this time of year, (much like me, languishing in the heat), as our Central Otago stonefruit becomes the fruit du jour. So, I tend to associate banana bread with summer, cooked in a cast iron pot in the embers of the campfire and made with what supplies we have to hand in the back of beyond.

Feeling like something light to enjoy with a mid-morning coffee at Auckland’s Kingi restaurant last month, I reluctantly chose their banana tahini loaf thinking I would probably find it too sweet. It was not at all, and the coconut yoghurt and hemp oil accompaniment made each mouthful perfection.

Tahini brings rich, nuttiness and negates the need for butter or egg. Using a non-dairy milk keeps the vegans on side. I’ve made mine with stoneground wholemeal flour that I buy from Taste Nature in Dunedin, which brings another level of nuttiness and a lightness that you don’t get from regular wholemeal flour. Feel free to substitute with white.

While I am loafing, it would be remiss to not mention my (it’s not mine, but I cannot remember where the original recipe came from) refined-sugar-free fruit loaf. Naturally sweet and so handy for the packed lunches we are starting to think about, as is banana bread.

Banana tahini bread

A wholesome twist on the perennial favourite that has a moreish, nutty note thanks to the tahini. 

Satisfyingly light on the sugar, use of a nut or oat milk will also make it dairy-free. Stoneground flour will give a finer, lighter result. If you can’t find it use half wholemeal and half white, or all white flour. Nice with butter or, if going diary-free, spread with tahini or serve as they do at  Auckland’s Kingi restaurant with coconut yoghurt and oil.

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

3 large, very ripe bananas, (1¼ cups mashed)

½ cup milk

½ cup tahini

⅓ cup light olive oil

½ cup brown sugar

2 cups wholemeal stoneground flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

⅔ cup chopped dates

3 tsp sesame seeds

Method

Heat oven to 170°C fan bake. Grease and line a 23mm × 13mm loaf tin.

Mash the bananas into a bowl. Add milk, tahini, oil and sugar and whisk to combine.

Fold in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and chopped dates.

Pour into the loaf tin, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 40-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into one of the cracks that forms, comes out clean.

Rest in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting on to a rack to cool.

Fruit and pumpkin loaf

Free of refined sugar, but no less sweet thanks to the naturally sweet dates, sultanas and pumpkin. This loaf is light and moist enough to serve without butter, but all the better with a wee spread. 

Ingredients

340g pumpkin

1¼ cups chopped dates

2 cups sultanas

1 cup fruit juice

1 egg

1½ cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp mixed spice

Method

Heat oven to 170°C fan bake.

Grease and line a loaf tin (I used 23cm × 13cm).

Remove the skin from the pumpkin. Cut the flesh into small pieces and boil in water until soft. Drain, mash with a fork, and set aside to cool.

Simmer dates and sultanas in fruit juice for 3 minutes, then leave to cool.

Whisk the egg in a large bowl, add the mashed pumpkin and fruit mix and mix well before folding in the combined flour, baking powder, baking soda and mixed spice.

Pour into the loaf tin and bake 45-60 minutes.

Rest in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a cake rack to cool.