Black Sesame Marbled Banana Bread

This black sesame marbled banana bread has been on my mind for a while.  I knew the combination of black sesame and banana bread could create a beautiful and tasty loaf of bread, but I just couldn't get it right. Back in 2021, I tried making it twice using ground black sesame, but for some reason, I kept running into issues with texture and the bread not baking all the way through. 

This time, I finally got it right, with the help of Rooted Fare's Black Sesame Crunchy Butter. By mixing some of the Black Sesame Crunchy Butter into the banana batter, I was able to achieve the striking black color and the desired nutty flavor. Originally, I was also thinking of adding a black sesame streusel on top, but maybe I'll try that next time!

Have a slice of this bread with a warm cup of tea for the perfect afternoon snack! 

Rooted Fare's black sesame crunchy butter

Rooted Fare's Black Sesame Crunchy Butter is a delicious, nutty spread made of black sesame and peanuts. It's slightly sweetened with brown sugar and has crunchy breadcrumb bits for a fun texture. The spread was inspired by the black sesame tangyuan (湯圓, glutinous rice ball) filling, but to me, it's also reminiscent of gok zai (角仔, peanut puffs) filling (peanut, white sesame, white sugar). I found this black sesame crunchy butter to be delicious on its own (i.e. I was licking it off the back of the spoon) but I'm also excited to try it out in different recipes. 

NOTE: I received this jar of the Black Sesame Crunchy Butter for free via a collaboration between Rooted Fare and Subtle Asian Baking, but this isn't a sponsored post. All they requested was some experimenting and feedback, but I genuinely enjoyed eating and using this spread. 

BLACK SESAME MARBLED BANANA BREAD

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas (about 1.25-1.5 cups mashed)
• 1/3 cup (76g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar 
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (205 g) all-purpose flour
• 30g of Rooted Fare's Black Sesame Crunchy Butter

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C)
2. Line a 9x5 5loaf pan with parchment paper. Optionally, grease the pan with oil or butter.
3. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork
4. Add butter and mix with mashed bananas
5. Mix in salt and baking soda
6. Mix in sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract
7. Add the flour and mix until flour is barely incorporated
8. Spoon out about 1/2 cup of the batter into a separate bowl and mix it with the Black Sesame Crunchy Butter
9. Spoon the two batters alternately into the prepared loaf pan and swirl the batters together using a spatula or knife
10. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 55 minutes
11. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing the bread and cooling completely on a rack
12. Enjoy!