Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
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Infused with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and allspice, this chai-spiced banana bread is a lovely twist on basic banana bread.
Chai is the actual word for tea in many countries but when we say chai in the States, we’re usually referring to Masala chai, which is a smooth and calming beverage made of black tea, milk, and fragrant Indian spices. Its flavor goes beautifully with banana bread, so I’ve taken one of my favorite banana bread recipes and subtly infused it with warm chai spices like cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice.
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“This is my favorite banana bread recipe on your site! I think the spices and the sour cream really make it great! I served it at a get together and got so many compliments on it…Yum!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
As with all banana bread recipes, use very ripe bananas for the most intense banana flavor and a texture that mashes easily.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by creaming the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.
Incorporating well after each addition.
In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
Whisk well.
Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture.
Mix to blend.
Add the mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla.
Mix well.
Transfer the batter to a greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.
Bake for 60-70 minutes. Let cool in the pan for about ten minutes.
Then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
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Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
Infused with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and allspice, this chai-spiced banana bread is a lovely twist on basic banana bread.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off with a knife
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, from 2-3 bananas
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl or electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and beat gently until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream and vanilla and mix on low speed until just combined. Gently stir in nuts if using.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake until deep golden brown and cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Let rest in pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely. This bread is best enjoyed warm out of the oven or toasted.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice (without nuts)
- Calories: 232
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Sugar: 19 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 271 mg
- Cholesterol: 56 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Made this last night. Wonderful!!
I am assuming I need to use room tempature butter?
Thank you!
Yep, thanks for catching that. 🙂
I just baked this bread as a thank you to a friend. It smelled wonderful baking and it made a pretty loaf. Got good compliments, too.
I feel like I’m doing the twelve days of Jenn’s baking and my coffee group is loving it as are my friends. Quick question as my second loaf of yummy chai spiced banana bread is in the oven. I had to replace your old 9×5 loaf pan and all the newer pans are non-stick with the information on the label saying not to use non-stick cooking spray. I know your recipes call for that. Is spray needed on these new pans? I used butter and flour on my new non-stick pan. I hope it will be easy to remove. Your chocolate marble banana cake was also delicious, along with the sour cream chocolate chip bundt cake, which will be going to a Chanukah party. I thought I’d fill the center with gelt or dreidels!
Hi Ilene, I use nonstick spray on my pans but it’s fine to use butter and flour instead. Hope everyone enjoys the banana bread!
I made this recipe and the banana bread was moist and delicious. The spices were a nice addition but I think I will try making it again with double the spice because I do love me some Chai flavours.
I’ve baked this one a few times now and it’s the best tasting banana bread! Even my 7 year old daughter loves it. thank you Jennifer
Y’all this is the only banana bread recipe I use now! Interesting substitution note… I love to substitute half the overripe bananas for pumpkin puree in the fall 🙂 it’s lovely! I’ve also done the substitutions with vanilla yogurt when I was out of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. All work wonderful. I think I’ve even added a Tish of lemon juice to the Greek yogurt to make sure it still had that sour cream Tang. I find that while always wonderfully moist sometimes it’s good to make sure it has cooled completely so that it can condense down before serving. I took this to a church potluck right out of the oven and it was still warm and crumbled too much trying to cut it up and serve.. I also double all the spices… Because when fall is your favorite time of year there’s never too much spice LOL
Can I use salted butter instead? I don’t have any unsalted.
Hi Lynda, While it varies by brand, most salted butter has approximately 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so you can use the salted butter and reduce the salt in the recipe as needed. Hope that helps!
Excellent! Was a bit concerned about the different spices but with all of the great reviews I decided I needed to try this recipe. I was not disappointed. Made it yesterday and all of it is gone today.
Why do some sweet breads get a bit sticky on the top after covering? I have had that happen sometimes. This bread did not.
Glad you liked this, Patricia! Quick breads may get a bit sticky on top because when you cover them, you’re trapping moisture inside the foil or plastic which can add that little bit of stickiness.
Thank you.
This banana bread got great reviews from my friends when I took it as a house visit offering. It has a good spice flavor and held its freshness for several days wrapped in foil. I like the recipes I find on this blog a great deal. Thanks for sharing this one.