When your bananas have turned super ripe and brown, it's the perfect time to make some delicious Chai Spiced Banana Muffins With Crumble! These muffins are loaded with warming spices and have a bakery-style texture that's perfectly moist, thanks to the sweet bananas. The buttery crumble on top adds a delightful crunch to this easy-to-bake treat.

Just sat down to finish this post and realized I needed a cup of chai! Had to make myself a cup before I could focus. It has become such a craving!

Table of Contents

About the chai:

Here on the gulf, we enjoy a lot of Karak tea. Karak is a form of sweet, spiced black chai tea. No matter how warm the weather gets, it's always served hot, and I enjoy it every time we go out.

I am sharing the exact blend of spices, often found in masala chai tea, that I used to enhance these muffins. This spice blend may or not aid in making a perfect, authentic cup of tea. However, I know for sure they do taste incredible in these muffins.

Reasons you will love these muffins:

Extra large, and just the right amount of batter for 12 muffins
Filled with ripe bananas
Light and airy, with a cake-like texture
Bakery style, with big rounded tops

Tools:

Large bowl
Muffin tin
Muffin liners

Note:

You can make these WITHOUT the crumble top, which I occasionally make for a healthier swap. The crumble is optional. You can see how nice and rounded they are! You can skip the crumble *though I dont recommend it, they're so scrumptious with it! If you need to save time, or reduce their caloric load.

INGREDIENTS

Chai Spiced Banana Muffins:

3 cups 375g all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup 5 Tablespoons; 80g unsalted butter
⅓ cup 80ml honey, you can sub maple syrup
1 cup 200g granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
⅓ cup 80g greek yogurt
1 cup 240ml milk, at room temperature
3 ultra ripe bananas
Chai spices: 1 tablespoons cinnamon, ¼ tablespoon cardamom, ¼ tablespoon ground ginger ( I prefer freshly grated here) , ½ teaspoon clove, ½ teaspoon anise, and ½ teasoon nutmeg.

Crumble topping:

½ cup 113 grams butter, unsalted, melted
½ cup 100 grams granulated sugar
½ cup cup 100 grams light brown sugar
1 ½ cups 188 grams all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C)
Line muffin tin with muffin liners or grease generously. Set aside.
Create a blend of chai spices by combining your cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, clove, anise, and nutmeg.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spice blend, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a seperate bowl, whisk the melted butter, bananas, honey, sugar, and eggs together until combined. Then whisk in the sour cream, and milk.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Use a whisk to rid any large lumps of flour, if needed. Avoid overmixing. The batter will be thick.
Divide batter between each prepared muffin cup, filling almost all the way to the top, setting aside just enough room for crumble on top. Set aside and make crumble topping.
In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, for about 1 minute on high power. Add the sugar into the melted butter and whisk to combine. Add the flour, optional salt, and stir to combine, gently. You want mixture to be crumbly, not formed into a dough. Add crumble to the tops of your muffin batter.
Bake at 400°F for 15-18 minutes, or until the crumble tops are lightly golden brown and centers are set. Stick a toothpick in the center of a muffin to test for doneness. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done. If not, continue baking for an additional 4-5 minutes and test again.

NOTES

Cover leftover muffins and store at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week. Muffins freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter.

The crumble is optional; the muffin recipe works perfectly without the topping.