A very simple, ultra-moist banana bread made a bit more fun with the addition of a homemade chai spice blend and strong espresso.

Happy March! It’s an exciting month over here! If you haven’t noticed or if you’re new around here, I just got rebranded! My friend LJ at South and Emory and I have been working on a little redesign for my logo, colors, and branding since last fall and I’m so excited that it’s finally finished and I can share it with you! It feels like a brand new, fresh start! I’ve also been working a lot these past few weeks on a bunch of new things coming at you on the blog and in real life. I’ve finalized pricing and booking guides for culinary workshops and private dinner parties that I will be hosting in the future. I’ve finally finished the next installment in our Pastry 101 series—All About Sugar— that I will be sharing in the next few days. And I’m hosting a giveaway this week on my over on my Instagram! (P.S. it doesn’t close until Friday 3/6 so there is still time for you to get in on that!) I’m also working a few other (very exciting) projects that are still under wraps, so keep an eye out for some new announcements in the next few months. Whew! That was a lot of stuff! We deserve banana bread.

I’ve told you before about my childhood love for banana bread. As an adult, I went through a healthy banana bread phase. I baked loaf after loaf, replete with oats, and nuts, and seeds. I substituted sugars for honey or coconut sugars, and regularly worked in greek yogurt for a little extra protein. These were all fine loaves of banana bread, but each time, I was disappointed as I sliced into them. They were just that—good. Not great. Not as moist or as sweet or as exciting as the ones I remembered enjoying as a kid.

I say all of this to let you know that this is not a healthy banana bread. It’s not an unhealthy banana bread either (it does in fact contain bananas), but it also includes real sugar, real butter, and a hefty amount of espresso. This is a banana bread that makes you happy. It’s dense and moist and could pass as cake if you wanted it to. And the crunchy little layer of Demerara sugar on top is a real winner.

homemade chai spice

Homemade chai spice is always nice to keep on hand throughout the fall and winter months. Like my Hawaij spice blend, you can use it to make any of your favorite recipes feel a bit cozier. It’s made with a handful of spices you probably already have in your pantry: cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and all spice plus a little ground black tea and cracked black pepper. For the black tea, you can just cut open tea bags and dump out the grounds. The recipe for this spice blend makes more than is needed for the banana bread so you’ll have plenty for stirring into cookie doughs or muffin batters.