Don’t throw away your overly ripe bananas. Try this healthy spicy banana bread recipe. It works both as a snack and as a dessert. A slice of spiced bread and a cup of Masala Chai can make you feel cozy and relaxed. It is a perfect treat for the cold winter and/or monsoon days.
Back home in Kerala, I always looked forward for tea times during monsoon season. My mom make some spicy snacks or fritters like pazhampori, uzhunnuvada, or parippuvada. Everyone refrain from their works, sits together and enjoy those treats with hot tea and engaged in chit chats. Nothing else can make the cold, damp rainy evenings more charming and relaxing. Now away from home, the best way to bring back those soulful memories is to recreate those delicacies or flavor it with the familiar spice mix. That’s how the idea of adding spices to banana bread came up.
What Do We Need To Make The Spiced Banana Bread ?
The bread is made in wheat flour and mashed banana, mixed with cardamom, nutmeg and dried ginger. Once you baked the bread, your home smells divine from the amazing spice mix. It is not just a delicious treat for your palette. These spice blends can make your senses relaxed and even boost your spirit.
List Of Ingredients For Spiced Banana Bread:
- Wheat Flour – You can substitute wheat flour with All-Purpose flour or Maida or feel free to use a mix of two flours. If using Whole Wheat Flour, add an additional 1 – 2 tablespoons of milk or non dairy milk. Otherwise you will end up with a thick batter.
- Butter – I have used Melted Butter in this recipe. The purpose of using melted butter is to get a more desirable texture for our banana bread. Softened butter produces cakey texture, whereas melted butter produces a delightfully denser bread.
- Banana – Overly ripened bananas are best for banana bread recipes. Use 2 to 3 bananas for a loaf of bread, which gives more flavor.
- Sugar – I have used 3/4 cups of granulated sugar in this recipe. You can substitute it with brown sugar, which works perfectly for this recipe of banana bread.
- Spice Mix- The spices I added in the banana bread are green cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and dried ginger powder. You can also make the spice mix at home. Take 3- 4 green cardamom pods, ¼ tsp or a small piece of nutmeg, ½ inch dried ginger. Roast this in a pan and ground to a fine powder. Use 1 tsp of this spice mix powder in the bread mix. Cinnamon powder can also be used. You can add or omit spices accordingly.
- Nuts- Use any of your favorite nut or nuts. Roasted or toasted nuts can add more crunchiness and flavor on every bite. I have used a mix of toasted cashew nuts and walnuts. Pecans or almonds are other options.
- Chocolate Chips – Adding chocolate chips to the banana bread is completely optional. I like to mix about a quarter cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips into my banana bread batter. A warm slice of banana bread with melted chocolate chips is of course a divine treat.
- Egg – Only an egg is needed to make the bread light and fluffier.
- Baking Soda – Baking soda acts as a leavener and helps the banana bread rise. No Baking Soda!!! Substitute baking soda with 2 tsp baking powder. Add baking powder directly into the batter or incorporate it in the flour.
Why To Mix Baking Soda With Egg? I have mixed Baking soda with egg and then add this mixture to the batter. Baking soda reacts with egg’s natural acidity and creates air pockets. This makes the bread fluffier.
Can We Use Frozen Banana For This Recipe?
You can use frozen bananas. Thaw the bananas at room temperature for an hour or 2. Or thaw it in the fridge overnight. Or microwave for 2 – 3 minutes. Discard the brown liquid before mashing the bananas. If not, the mashed bananas will be thin and liquid-y which results in overly dense and moist bread.
How To Mash The Banana?
I always use a fork to mash the bananas. But I also tried using the potato masher and it is a game changer. A mixer can also be used to mash the bananas. Peel the banana and break them into chunks and mash it with a fork or masher or blend in a mixer until it reach the desired consistency. Some chunks are okay, we don’t need liquid banana.
Can This Banana Bread Recipe Be Used For Muffins?
Yes. Only the baking time and method varies when you use this recipe for banana muffins.
Pre-heat the oven to 425° F (218° C). Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners and fill up to 3/4 (three quarters) of the liners. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425° F. This high heat helps the muffins’ top to rise quickly. After 5 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350° F (177° C) and bake the muffins for another 15 – 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack.
How to make Spiced Banana Bread?
Spiced Banana Bread pairs well with Masala Chai / Tea. Check out the recipe for Masala Chai.
Please watch the step-by-step instruction video for Spiced Banana Bread.
If you enjoyed watching the video on Spiced Banana Bread, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Share this post:
Spiced Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 Loaf pan
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Small mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 2-3 Ripe Banana
- 1½ cup Wheat flour
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- ⅓ cup Unsalted Butter melted
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- Salt a pinch
- ¼ cup Cashew nuts/ Walnuts
- ¼ cup Semi-sweet Chocolate chips (optional)
Spices
- ½ tsp Cardamom Powder
- ¼ tsp Dried Ginger powder
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg Powder or a pinch
Instructions
- Add cashews in a pan and toast on medium heat for a minute or two. Once the nuts are toasted, roughly chop it and set aside.
- Preheat oven at 350°F / 180°C.
- Grease a 9 x 5 inch baking or bread loaf pan with butter.
- In a small bowl add one egg, salt and baking soda. Beat everything together until well combined.
- Mash ripe banana in a mixing bowl using a fork or a masher. Pour in melted butter and sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves.
- Stir in the egg mix into the banana mixture. (Refer Note : 2 and 3)
- Add spice mix or powder in to the batter. (Refer Note : 4) Then, fold in the wheat flour gently into the banana mix. Also add the roasted nuts and combine everything together. (Refer Note : 5)
- Pour the batter to the greased pan. Gently level the top of the batter using a spoon or spatula.
- Bake it in the oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool off in the pan itself for 10 minutes. Then take it out of the pan and allow to cool 5 more minutes. Serve warm with tea or coffee.
Video
Notes
- Substitute wheat flour with All-Purpose flour or Maida. Or use a mix of both flours.
- Mixing baking soda with egg gives fluffier and soft bread.
- You can substitute baking soda with 2 tsp baking powder. Add baking powder directly into the batter or incorporate it in the flour.
- Use any spices you like. Add or omit spices accordingly.
- Roasted/ toasted nuts help to enhance the flavor. Use any nuts you prefer. Adding Chocolate chips also makes the bread richer in taste.
Leave a Reply