Chai Banana Bread

My one afternoon guilty pleasure at work is a cup of Starbucks Tazo Chai Tea Latte and a slice of banana walnut bread.  So heavenly!  I love, love, love chai tea and banana bread.  I took my favorite banana bread recipe from Flour Bakery and added chai spices - cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. This bread is lightly spiced, very moist and out of the world delicious.

Chai Banana Bread

210 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon cardamom
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon all spice
¼ teaspoon salt
230 grams sugar
2 large eggs
100 grams canola or other flavorless oil
340 grams (about 3 ½ bananas), peeled and mashed
2 tablespoons crème fraiche or sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

Sift the all-purpose flour, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, all-spice and salt.  Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the whip attachment, beat the sugar and eggs on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Reduce the speed to low and slowly drizzle the oil so that the eggs do not deflate.  Add the mashed bananas, crème fraiche (or sour cream) and vanilla extract and continue to mix until just combined.  Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the flour mixture gently but thoroughly with a rubber spatula.  No flour streaks should be visible.

Pour into the greased loaf pan and bake in the center of the oven for about 1 to 1 ¼ hour, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. 

Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes, and then remove it from the pan to finish cooling on the wire rack.

The banana bread can be stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days or wrapped and frozen up to 2 weeks.