Sep
14
Healthy chai banana bread that will have your house smelling cozy and delicious. Topped with a simple cashew butter vanilla glaze!
Life has gotten incredibly busy lately, so I must apologize for being few and far between when it comes to posting on the blog. The wedding is about two months away and we’ve still got SO much to do (ummm I haven’t gotten Tony’s ring yet). Also it doesn’t help that all I want to do is BAKE and cook all the cozy wonderful things like soup, pumpkin bread, apple butter and cookies. Food distracts me.
HELP.
Here’s an example of me being distracted from wedding planning: Last Friday, Abra and I came back after a day of video shooting and noticed three ripe bananas on the stovetop begging to be mashed and transformed into a wonderful banana bread.
Since Abra loves all things chai, I decided to make a healthy chai banana bread made with whole grains and naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup.
The loaf baked up more beautiful then you could imagine (you’ll see yourself when you bake it) and the aroma of the spices drifted throughout my house, leaving me with a grateful smile on my face and a happy heart. Abra was happy too — that’s the most important.
Of course, it wasn’t just enough to bake up the loaf. I peeked into my cupboard, noticed cashew butter and got giddy about glazing this beautiful chai loaf with a simple, yet incredibly sweet and salty cashew vanilla glaze (trust me, it’s SOOOO dang good).
I love this bread for all sorts of reasons, but mostly because it’s really easy to make and whip up whenever you are in need of a quick loaf.
Personally I think the additional of chopped nuts in the bread would be delicious, but it’s up to you.
If you make this bread, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe! Or upload a photo to Instagram and tag #ambitiouskitchen. xo!
Healthy Chai Banana Bread with Cashew Vanilla Glaze
Author: Monique of AmbitiousKitchen.com
Nutrition Information
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 195
- Fat: 6.5g
- Saturated fat: 4.3g
- Carbohydrates: 31.2g
- Sugar: 12.1g
- Fiber: 3.6g
- Protein: 3.6g
Recipe type: Bread, Breakfast
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
- For the bread:
- 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (can also use melted butter)
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cashew milk (or sub almond or coconut milk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or can use white whole wheat flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Optional add-ins: ½ cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts or pecans)
- For the cashew butter vanilla glaze:
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon cashew butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cashew milk (or almond milk)
- Sea salt, for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8×4 or 9×5 inch pan with parchment paper and grease the inside of the pan to prevent sticking.
- Add mashed banana, eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, cashew milk and vanilla extract to a large bowl; mix until well combined and smooth.
- Next add in the dry ingredients: whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, ground cloves and salt. Mix until just combined and no pockets of flour remain.
- Do not overmix.
- At this point you can fold in 1/2 cup of the nuts if you are using them.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- In a small bowl mix together powdered sugar, cashew butter, vanilla extract and cashew milk until smooth. Pour over bread, then sprinkle the top with a little sea salt. Cut into 12 slices and enjoy!
To make into muffins: Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
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If you like this recipe, you might also like:
Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
