Chai Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

Although the delicious taste of chai has been somewhat shoehorned into the flavors of fall in recent times, chai has been enjoyed all year round for thousands of years. While there are a wide variety of different spice mixtures used to make chai, this traditional Indian elixir shares common ground with the ever-popular pumpkin spice blend; perhaps why chai has become synonymous with autumn-time in the West.

This banana bread recipe, created by Tasting Table developer Jennine Rye, incorporates the delicious spices of chai with the moist, rich sweetness of banana bread, and this baked treat is finished off with a hearty dose of chocolate chips. To enhance the chai flavoring, the recipe includes Earl Grey-infused milk in the batter, as, although the first recipes for chai didn't actually include tea leaves, it wasn't long before they became a staple part of chai. And, whatever you do, try to avoid using the phrase "chai tea"; the word "chai" simply means "tea" in Hindi, so you are essentially calling it "tea tea".

This chai chocolate chip banana bread is the ideal way to use up any browning bananas you may have lying around, and pairs perfectly with a nice hot cup of chai, a simple Earl Grey tea, or a comforting cup of coffee. It is best enjoyed still warm from the oven, and will make the house smell amazing as it cooks!

To begin this chai chocolate chip banana bread recipe, first, you will need to gather the ingredients. For the batter, you will want milk, Earl Grey teabags, overripe bananas, flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, white sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. To make the chai spice mix you will additionally require cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper.

To bring a delicate tea flavor to the banana bread, start by infusing the milk with Earl Grey tea. To do this, heat up the milk in a small saucepan along with the teabags. Once it begins to simmer, remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool completely before straining to remove the teabags.

While the milk-infused tea is cooling, it is the perfect time to line a loaf tin with baking paper and to roughly mash the overripe bananas.

There are many different spice blends for chai; this recipe uses cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, and a touch of black pepper, creating a deliciously cozy and warming mix. To prepare the dry ingredients, simply whisk together the spices along with the flour, baking powder, and salt. This will help to thoroughly and evenly infuse the spices throughout the banana bread.

To prepare the banana bread batter, beat together the sugars and the butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract, before folding in the mashed banana. Then, fold in half of the flour and spice mixture, before mixing in half of the cooled earl grey infused milk. Repeat the process to combine the remaining flour and milk, to create a thick and fragrant batter.

To complete the banana bread batter, fold in the chocolate chips, making sure not to over-stir the mixture. Then transfer it to the prepared, lined loaf tin and smooth down the top. If you would like, you can finish off the banana bread by adding a few more chocolate chips to the top, or, if you still have a few brown bananas hanging around, slice one in half and place the two halves on top of the batter results in a very striking and attractive finished look.

Place the tin into the oven and allow the banana bread to bake until it is risen and springs back to the touch. Enjoy warm or cold, and allow it to cool fully before storing it in an airtight container at room temperature.