Combine banana bread with chai spices, brown butter, and mini chocolate chips for a heavenly treat. This Chocolate Chip Brown Butter Chai Spice Banana Bread is pure bliss in every bite.
Cozy Banana Bread Delight
Warm banana bread is comforting on its own, but adding brown butter and chai spices takes it to another level. Brown butter makes everything better, and this banana bread is no exception. The chai spices add a warm, flavorful touch to every slice. And because we believe in more chocolate, we add chocolate chips too. Chai, brown butter, and chocolate – it’s the ultimate banana bread.
Tips for the Best Chai Spice Banana Bread
- Ripe Bananas: Ripe bananas make the best banana bread. As bananas ripen, their starches turn into sugar, making the bread sweeter and more flavorful. We like to use bananas that have turned slightly brown.
- Weigh Your Ingredients: For the best results, weigh your ingredients. It’s more accurate than using measuring cups. If you don’t have a digital scale, you can use the cup measurements provided below.
Brown Butter Chai Spice Banana Bread
Servings 8
Ingredients
- – 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour about 6.3 oz
- – 2 tbsp cornstarch about 0.6 oz
- – 2 tsp baking powder about 0.3 oz
- – 1 tsp baking soda about 0.14 oz
- – 3 medium bananas about 1.5 cups mashed
- – 2 large eggs
- – 2 tsp vanilla extract about 0.35 oz
- – 1 tsp salt about 0.1 oz, use half if using Morton salt
- – 1 stick of salted butter about 4 oz
- – 1/2 cup brown sugar about 3.5 oz
- – 1/2 cup sugar about 3.5 oz
- – 1 cup mini chocolate chips about 6 oz plus extra regular-sized chips for topping
- – 2 tsp cinnamon
- – 1 tsp ground ginger
- – 1/2 tsp cardamom
- – 1/2 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Spray a 9×5″ loaf pan with cooking oil, or use two smaller loaf pans. The batter should fill the pan leaving at least a 1″ rim.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until the butter foams. Keep stirring or swirling the pan until golden flecks form and it smells toasty. Pour into a bowl to stop the browning and set aside.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
- In another bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until mostly smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In the base of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Scrape down the sides and mix again for about 30 seconds.
- Add the banana mixture to the butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and mix again for about 30 seconds.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and pulse together until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips until well incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 75-90 minutes, or until a tester poked into the center comes out clean. Depending on your oven and baking pan, it may take longer or shorter. Start testing after about an hour.
- If using multiple smaller pans, reduce the bake time accordingly.