- Butter or oil to grease pan(s)
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
- 1 ¾ cups packed brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 1 tsp. grated orange rind
- 4 cups flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 cups pureed ripe bananas soaked in 8-oz. of strong black coffee, such as Green Mountain Coffee® Colombian Fair Trade Select
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- 1 cup chocolate chip morsels (Optional)
Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease two standard-size loaf pans, or one 9×13 or 10×14 pan generously. Sprinkle in sesame seeds and shake pan(s) to distribute evenly. Beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Stir in vanilla, almond extract, and orange rind when mixture is fluffy. In a separate bowl, stir the dry ingredients together. Alternate adding dry ingredients and banana puree to the mixture, taking care to begin and end with the dry mixture. Do not over mix. Stir in chocolate chips if desired. Spread batter evenly into the pan(s) and bake for 40 to 50 minutes for loaf pans, or 35 minutes for oblong pan – or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If using loaf pans, cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then rap the sharply and dislodge and remove the bread. Transfer to a rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
