Yields about 10 servings

• 6 medium ripe bananas
• ⅔ cups of algae oil (or melted coconut oil)
• 2 free-range eggs
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup coconut brown sugar, packed
• ⅓ cup of organic full fat canned coconut milk
• 1 cup of gluten free baking flour
• ½ cup of dark chocolate chips
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt

Toppings: 1 ripe banana, pitted dates, sesame seeds, dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 355 degrees, with the rack second level from the bottom. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, enough to come up and out of the sides of the pan to use as “handles”. This helps make it easier to pull the bread out of the pan after baking.

Prepare two bowls, one for wet ingredients and one for dry. Start with the dry, sifting the flour into the bowl. I like to add both the baking soda and baking powder to the flour in the sifter, and sift everything together.  Add in the salt and mix.  In another bowl, add in the bananas. Using the back of a fork, begin to mash the bananas.  The goal is to get the bananas smooth, but doesn’t have to be perfect.

Add in the oil, coconut milk, and whisk until well emulsified. You might see small bits of coconut chunks, which is normal, if the coconut milk has just come from the fridge. It will melt away in the baking process. Add in the eggs and whisk well to incorporate. Add in the sugar and mix well, until no lumps remain. Add in the flour to the wet ingredients, and again whisk until everything is well mixed and well emulsified. Add in the chocolate chips and fold through. If you have the time, let the mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes, so that all flour has had a chance to absorb the wet mixture. You will find that the mixture has a thicker texture after 5 minutes than right after mixing.

Add the whole mixture to the prepared pan.  Over top, toss in a few extra chocolate chips if you desire them.  Then, add the dates and push them slightly into the batter. Dates will burn when overexposed to heat and doing this keeps them moist with the batter. Add the lengthwise cut banana, lengthwise to the bread.  You’ll adapt it as you work with it. And finally sprinkle as many sesame seeds as you like over top of that.  Pop the batter into the oven for about 55 minutes, then checking the doneness with wooden skewer. At this point if the batter comes out wet, add 5 minute increments until it comes out clean.