Seriously though, banana bread is the baking sweetheart of Q’tine 2020! And I’m honestly curious why this is? Is it because we’re all buying bananas as the store and then they get super ripe before we can eat them all? Or has it been our secret desire all along to have enough time in the day to bake banana bread Monday-Friday?

While there may be mysterious driving forces and conflicting opinions on this sweet treat, I’m obviously a fan. One of the reasons I love it so much is because of how versatile it is – like, yeah, it tastes like bananas, but after that you can get creative! 

I like to mix it up and add things like chopped nuts, chocolate chips or cacao nibs, shredded coconut, chopped dates, Chopped crystallized ginger, or sub half shredded carrots for some of the bananas. The possibilities are endless for you to be as creative as your heart desires! This time I went with Chai-Spiced Banana Bread, and my creativity was delicious 😉 

Tips for Making the Best chai-spiced Banana Bread

When you’re making banana bread, look for bananas that are completely yellow with some brown spotting (no green spots at all!). The more brown spotting, the riper they are – meaning they’ll have a sweeter taste. Do not use bananas that are completely brown as they are most often over-ripe and beginning to ferment. The only exception is if you have been storing your bananas in the refrigerator. This will turn the skins brown but the fruit will still be firm.

Bananas are actually a highly underrated ingredient when it comes to baking. They add moisture, binding, and structure to a baked recipe, and can even be used as a sugar alternative in many cases! They don’t add as much moisture as honey or maple syrup, but they may add more moisture than coconut sugar depending on ripeness. This is definitely something you’ll want to take into consideration when you’re substituting, and adjust amounts according to your moisture needs in a given recipe.

Here are some more tips you can use to substitute bananas in baking:

• Sub mashed bananas 1:1 for butter in a baking recipe.
• Use 1 banana to replace 1 egg in baking recipes (not recommended for recipes calling for more than 2 eggs, as eggs provide leavening which bananas do not).
• Use half the amount of mashed overripe banana to sub out sugar in a recipe.
• Substitute equal amounts mashed overripe banana for honey in a recipe (you may also need to add a couple of tablespoons of water if the bananas are on the drier side).

Now you’ll never have to toss bananas ever again!

I break down my Chai-Spiced Banana Bread recipe below so you can work with just the base and add your own flair to your baked masterpiece. This chai-spiced banana bread variation is spicy, tasty and moist on its own and makes a great tea-time snack as-is or with a little schmeer of ghee.

If you love this recipe and want to do more grain-free baking, make sure to grab a free copy of my original Paleo Sweets cookbook here!