Chai-Spiced Banana Crumb Muffins Recipe

These muffins bring together the flavors of three classic sweets: banana bread, crumb cakes, and chai lattes. The thick crumbly topping gets extra complexity of flavor from classic Indian spices like cardamom, ginger, and black pepper, while ripe bananas keep the batter delectably moist. Good luck stopping after just one. 

Chai-Spiced Banana Crumb Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

For the crumb topping:
1/3 cup ]brown sugar
1/3 cup unbleached sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Small pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 3/4 cups sprouted white wheat flour[/schema]

For the batter:
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sprouted white wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons coconut oil
2 to 3 extra-ripe bananas, sliced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a muffin tray with baking cups.

Make the crumb topping
Whisk brown sugar, unbleached sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt into melted coconut oil in a large bowl until smooth. Add flour with a spatula until mixture comes together as a solid dough. Press together in bottom of bowl and set aside.

Make the batter
In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add coconut oil and a spoonful of yogurt mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Add remaining yogurt mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and periodically scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula.

Bake the muffins
Divide batter between 12 baking cups and arrange banana slices over top. Using your hands, break topping mixture into large crumbs and sprinkle over muffins. Bake cake until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 18 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont