I can’t keep up with mercurial October…
The month started out amazingly, so I was caught completely off guard when it quickly turned dark and painful without warning. Yet suddenly it changed again. Albeit a colossal cliché, the idea that when one door closes another one opens has proven true for me twice now in three months, most recently this past Tuesday when a door opened I never would’ve expected. Sometimes things really do happen for a reason (I’m full of clichés today).
Going back to the low in between the two highs, this was my coping mechanism last week when I was hurt, angry, and—I’m sorry to say—probably not very fun to be around:
Hibernate like a bear… away from other people so they don’t have to deal with me!
And stuff my face with banana bread.
Not sure if bears really eat banana bread when they hibernate. Whatever. In any case, it was actually good timing, since the book manuscript deadline is coming up so there was no time to be social anyway. And hibernating afforded me ample opportunity to throw myself into work, simultaneously writing and experimenting with new recipes for future posts.
Above, chai banana bread with homemade Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese.
It’s a cinnamon spicy take on traditional banana bread. (Fun random fact for grammar nerds: chai tea is a tautology, as both words mean the same thing… like pizza pie or fall down.)
Chai Banana Bread
- 2 cups spelt or all-purpose flour (or 2 cups Bob’s gf)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- only if using gf flour, add 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp each: ginger, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp salt
- optional, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 Nunaturals stevia packet OR 1 tbsp sugar of choice
- 3 tbsp milk of choice
- 3 1/2 tbsp vegetable or melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or another liquid sweetener of choice)
- 2 cups mashed bananas (measure the 2 cups after mashing)
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or white or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients and mix very well. In a separate mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients, then stir into dry until just evenly mixed. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake 35-40 minutes. (If the top is cooked but the inside is gooey, you can put tin foil over the top and continue to bake.) Let cool 10 minutes before slicing. Store leftover slices in the refrigerator or freezer after one day. Makes 10-12 slices. Top with coconut butter, pumpkin butter, or the pumpkin pie cream cheese recipe linked under the third photo of this post.
View Chai Banana Bread Nutrition Facts
Link of the Day:
……….Vegan Mac and Cheese
OMG Yum. I will never get sick of banana bread or pumpin related recipes.
Oh my goodness!! Three of my favourite things… chai, banana bread and cream cheese! This sounds like the most amazing recipe ever! I can’t wait to try it! Funnily enough I am drinking a chai tea at the moment and have just had a banana! xx
Katie, this looks AMAZING! I usually don’t eat very much bread, but this is a recipe I will absolutely have to try. The spices in it sound to die for. Thanks for inspiring, as always! I recently added you to my blog roll so I keep clicking over and browsing around the site… I could get lost in it for days. You are a HUGE inspiration to me.
Xo,
Jordan
Oh my! I can’t wait to try this! Gotta get the bananas and wait for them to ripen, but hopefully I’ll be noshing on this soon! Thanks, Katie, for yet any yummy recipe!
I’m going to try this tomorrow as muffins rather than a loaf!! Sounds super exciting and yum!
This is delicious! I just made it (using Bob’s Red Mill GF AP Flour, homemade almond milk, apple cider vin., 1 T. coconut palm sugar, and 1/4 c maple syrup plus 3 T Yacon sweetener). No nuts. Love this bread. Can’t believe it is GF. I did have to cover with foil and bake another 10 minutes, as has been the case with other GF bread recipes I’ve made. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! Will definitely make again. Happy Autumn!
PS. I wonder if you could replace the banana with applesauce for a variation. And how much it would take.
PS – I wonder if you could replace the banana with applesauce as a variation – and how much – would it be a 1 to 1 ratio?
Lana Noel, I was wondering about the applesauce thingee, too! If anyone else knows, that makes two of us who want to know! Sharon
I made this over the weekend..and it was absolutely delicious. Love the hint of cardamom. I’ve been a non-commenting follower for a long time but this recipe was so good it pushed me to comment!
I baked this for an hour and the bottom of the loaf was still wet. I love the combination of spices, just not sure how to get mine come out like yours.
Try using a more shallow and wide loaf pan as opposed to one that is taller and skinnier.
Thanks, great idea! I will give it a try!
I made this for a family gathering over the weekend, and it was a total hit! Everyone was impressed with how moist it was and loved the extra spices 🙂 I’ll definitely be making this again…and again…
Katie!! You are so awesome! I just made this. Not only was it heaven in a loaf pan but I HAD all the ingredients which meant no store run. You really know what you are doing! Thank you for another yummy recipe!!!