Sharing is caring!

Chai Banana Bread is moist, delicious, and full of chai spice flavors. It’s buttery, sweet, and irresistible.

I’ve been making banana bread since I was a kid. It was one of my most favorite things in the world to eat growing up. So I had to learn how to make it so I could make it whenever I wanted it. Which was often. There are few things in the world that I love more than a warm slice of banana bread spread with butter. The sweet bananas, the warmth of the bread, and the slightly salty butter is a combination that is unmatched.

I can’t remember where the base of this recipe surfaced from. It was one I tried, liked, and it stuck as
butter, sugar, and banana flavor. I thought, “Why not kick it up and add some warm chai spices to it?” So that’s what I did.

What is chai?

Just don’t call it chai tea because chai is tea. The word itself means tea. So, saying chai tea is saying tea tea. Chai is a mix of spices blended with black tea, boiled milk, a sweetener, and water. While we can order chai in our coffee houses, that’s not much like the traditional chai served up in India.

The story goes that some king from a long time ago had chai created as an Ayurvedic drink. Ayurvedic being an alternative to medicines. Chai is not only delicious but has so many great health benefits. All the spices in chai have health benefits along with the benefits of black tea.

Cinnamon and black tea help in lowering cholesterol. Both ginger and cinnamon help with blood sugar levels. Ginger and cardamom are good for digestive health. Since it’s typically made with milk or soy milk it is a good source of protein. And black pepper has anti-inflammatory properties. Yes, there’s black pepper in chai.

Finally, there’s the act of making the chai itself. The ritualistic method of making it, the mindfulness of bringing all the ingredients together, and the sweet and spicy aroma. All of these things together can help lower your stress and relax you.

How do you make Chai Banana Bread?

This and most banana bread recipes are quick bread recipes. That means there’s no yeast in there and it uses a chemical leavener to get the bread to rise. Prior to chemical leaveners, bread needed yeast to make them rise. And, as we all know, yeast bread usually takes at least an hour to proof.

Once chemical leaveners like baking powder and baking soda came onto the market, bread batter could be whipped up in under 10 minutes. And could be baked in under 2 hours from start to finish. Yes, so some that doesn’t sound so quick. But compared to maybe 10 minutes to make the bread, then an hour to proof, and possibly another 30 to 45 minutes to bake it’s pretty darned quick. Hence the name quick bread.

For this Chai Banana Bread, you combine the butter with the sugar and cream them together. I beat mine until they were light and fluffy. Then add in the room temperature eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla before adding the bananas.

For me, I freeze the bananas I’m preparing to bake with. Once they start to turn a little brown I pop them in the freezer. That means they’re extra soft when they come out of the freezer. Which also means there’s no need to mash them. I simply pull the stem end off, pinch the seed end, and squeeze the banana pulp out. Then I let the hand mixer blades mash them up.

For a little extra texture, I add in a non-frozen banana. That leaves nice chunks of sweet banana throughout the chai banana bread. I bread it up into little pieces with my hand. Or you could chop it into slices. Then let the hand mixer chop it up even more. It’s not large chunks but not completely mashed leaving some nice, sweet bites of banana throughout.

What’s in Chai Banana Bread?

The obvious is bananas. And of course, butter, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. But there’s also my own chai spice blend in there. It’s heavy on the black pepper side, but oh so delicious. Mine has green cardamom. I love that flavor. So much that I made some cardamom shortbread cookies this past Christmas.

There’s cloves, allspice (no it’s not all the spices), cloves, cinnamon, star anise, and dried ginger. I added a couple of black cardamom pods in there along with some vanilla bean pieces. Finally, there’s the black pepper and some coriander. Yes, I know. Coriander is usually a savory spice, too. But it adds a depth of flavor to the spice blend that I enjoy. And rather earthy flavor most wouldn’t expect.

What does chai banana bread taste like?

Like banana bread went to India. I put 2 teaspoons of chai mix in my banana bread, but I could easily add a tablespoon plus. If you don’t have chai spice mix, then try adding a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon, ground ginger, and cardamom with a half teaspoon of some cloves, and allspice. Then a pinch of black pepper. Coriander and star anise isn’t necessary. But if you have them try tossing a quarter teaspoon of those in there, too.

This Chai Banana Bread is moist and delicious. There’s banana throughout and a small chunks of banana here and there. Those chunks make it even more moist. The chai spice is nice and warm. The cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom are prominent. The rest of the spices are more subtle and in the back. The pepper isn’t tasted up front, but it does add a little warmth to the whole bite.

It’s not super sweet. The sugar and butter are just enough to make this bread irresistible. The top of the bread gets a nice crispy crust that fades after the first day. I like that crispy almost crème brulé style crunch on top the first day. If you don’t like that do a half and half mix of brown and white sugar. That will keep the top from getting too crunchy.

Coffee Break

• Blum’s Coffee Crunch Cake from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Caramel Latte from Art of Natural Living
• Chai Banana Bread from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Gingerbread Lattes from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• New York Crumb Cake from That Recipe
• Raspberry and White Chocolate Iced Latte from Jen Around the World

We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you’re at it, join our Pinterest board, too!