Banana Bread Recipe (Brown Butter + Chai Swirled!)

This brown butter chai swirled banana bread recipe is cozy, moist, and perfectly spiced. You’ll layer a brown butter chai batter layer with a lighter chai batter layer before baking and it comes out swirly and gorgeous. It’s a delicious fall twist on my classic banana bread, that I love making all season long!

Key Ingredients

Ripe bananas: The riper the bananas, the better! Overly ripe bananas will give this banana bread (and any banana bread!) that much better of flavor. Green or under-ripe bananas will give banana bread a bitter aftertaste, and no one wants that.

Chai spice: I love using my homemade chai spice — and keep a big ol’ batch of it on hand at all times in my spice cupboard. Don’t want to make your own? A homemade chai spice blend will absolutely work as well.

Browned butter: Don’t skip the brown butter! The rich flavor of brown butter is integral to this loaf. It’s quick and simple to make, and I’ll walk you through it if you haven’t done it before .

Chai cream cheese frosting: While this frosting is 100% optional, it’s just so, so dang good! It makes the whole loaf taste a little more decadent, and is perfect for serving at a special occasion. You’ll need softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, chai spice, and vanilla extract.

How to Make This Banana Bread Recipe

1. Make the brown butter: Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. The butter will start to foam and bubble while melting. When brown specs start to form, turn the heat off and transfer the brown butter to a bowl.
2. Mix the batter: First mix the dry ingredients, and then the wet ingredients. Fold them together without over-mixing.
3. Create the chai swirl: Transfer ⅓ of the batter to a separate bowl and add the remaining brown butter and chai spices, and stir it together. It should be a darker brown color — this is your chai swirl!
4. Layer the batter: Scoop both batters into the lined loaf pan, alternating between them.
5. Bake & cool: Bake the bread, tenting halfway through. You’ll know the bread is done when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
6. Make the frosting: While the banana bread is cooling, prepare the frosting. Feel free to try a bit .
7. Frost, slice & enjoy: Frost the bread, slice and enjoy!!

Tips for Best Results

• Use ripe bananas: Ripe bananas are sweeter, softer, more flavorful and are much easier to mash. Technically speaking as bananas ripen, their starches convert to sugar, and they become mushy and easier to mash. Sweeter, easier to mash, and helps create a moist bread.
• The best way to mash bananas: I like to mash bananas with the back of a fork. It’s totally personal preference if you like to have small chunks of mashed banana in your bread, or if you want it to be completely blended into the batter.
• Avoid overmixing: When mixing the dry ingredients with the wet, make sure to not overmix. Overmixing can yield more of a tough texture, and no one wants this.
• Check for doneness: You’ll tent your banana bread halfway through the baking process so the top crust doesn’t over bake. Then, you’ll check for doneness by inserting a toothpick and making sure it comes out clean.

Variations & Add-Ins

Add chocolate chips: This banana bread would be delicious with chocolate chips folded into the batter or sprinkled on top before baking.

Add nuts: Chopped walnuts or pecans would be a yummy addition to the top of this banana bread, especially if you’re skipping the cream cheese frosting.

Try another one of my swirled banana bread recipes: I love how pretty a swirled banana bread looks (and tastes!), so if you love this chai flavored bread, why not give my cinnamon swirl banana bread a try.

Serving Ideas

I love serving this banana bread when it’s still warm — is there anything better than warm homemade banana bread with a little pad of melting butter? I don’t think so . It’s also delicious with cream cheese in the morning, or even a drizzle of honey.

This recipe also makes a fabulous gift. I’m making a loaf for each of my son’s teachers for Christmas this year .

Let the banana bread cool completely before transferring it into an airtight container such as a gallon-size plastic bag. I recommend storing banana bread on the counter for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

1. Let banana bread cool completely and then wrap it in a piece of plastic wrap followed by a piece of tin foil.
2. Remove as much air as possible and then write the date on it.
3. Freeze for up to 3 months.

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