I don’t know why it took me so long to try. Maybe because December was filled with cookies and in January I tried to ease up on the sugar thing a bit? Maybe. Whatever the reason, it’s here now and I am happy.
By the way, Happy Valentine’s Day!
Since this is the holiday of love, or whatever, I’ll tell you about my love affair… with tahini. I don’t know what sparked this obsession turned to love, but I’m thankful for whatever did. I must have read about it on a blog and then decided to buy it at the grocery store. Since then I have been putting it on e.ver.y.thing: salads, roasted vegetables, yogurt, spoons that lead directly to my mouth… (don’t judge).
It’s like peanut butter. I don’t allow myself to have peanut butter or almond butter in my pantry anymore (except for special occasions/moments of weakness because it’s too dangerously delicious), so tahini is my new too-obsessed-must-try-to-quit-but-can’t item. There’s always one.
Tahini, if you are unaware, is sesame paste. You can find it in a lot of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes and is a key component of hummus (like this one!) It’s full of protein and healthy fats. I personally love it paired with citrus. Kale + spinach + chopped grilled chicken breast + clementines + tahini = one amazing salad.
So, in the name of St. Valentine I married oranges and tahini and placed them in this bread of my dreams.
Similar to my basic banana bread (the most popular recipe on just j.faye by far!) this orange tahini bread has the standard quick bread formula: 2 parts flour + 2 parts liquid + 1 part egg + 1 part fat. We combine the dry ingredients, then combine the wet ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients into the dry.
It truly is that simple.
However, we spruce it up a little bit with the addition of orange zest sugar, freshly squeezed orange juice, and tahini. Then, of course, we add the glaze for more sprucing. You can leave the glaze off, but it’s a holiday, so just put it on there.
Yes, I realize that some sort of intense chocolaty dessert would have been a more appropriate Valentine’s Day post. However, the blogosphere is flooded with amazing chocolate candies, cupcakes, brownies, mousse, and layer cakes right now. Have you noticed? I’ve been drooling over all of them for weeks. So I went with the orange tahini bread. Plus, cara cara oranges are crazy good right now… and are pink(ish) so it’s somewhat festive.
- Zest from 2 oranges (I used cara cara oranges)
- ½ cup (115 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (230 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- ½ cup tahini
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, rub together orange zest and sugar using the back of a spoon or your fingers until fragrant. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Stir until combined and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients slowly into the dry. Whisk until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs.
- Let bread cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the glaze: whisk the powdered sugar, orange juice, and tahini together. Pour over the bread.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!
These would work well as muffins too! Just decrease the baking time to 25-30 minutes.
You can add the glaze as soon as it is slightly cooled. I baked the bread at night and then added the glaze the next morning.
I measured the flour and sugar out by weight rather than volume. I recommend you do the same!
Look at these beautiful flowers. To me. From me. Happy Valentine’s Day <3
I love citrus quick breads like this.. nice idea to add tahini too, I love the stuff but never have used it in baking before!
Thanks, Thalia!
By the way, your blog is GORGEOUS. I was dreaming about those mini lavender champagne and hazelnut cakes after I saw them on The Kitchn last week.