Chai Spiced Banana Muffins . . . these could only be YUM!

I absolutely LOVE vanilla chai lattes! I don't love how unhealthy they can be so I rarely have them these days. I ran across some chai spice one day in the grocery store . . . it was in the spice aisle with the regular spices. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I was certain I could find a use at some point. Of course, I bought it, and it has been sitting in the kitchen unused . . . until today!!! I have also seen this Chai Spiced Banana Bread Muffin Recipe on the Primal Bites blog. I have wanted to try it for a long time, but finally decided today was the day. Well, I got in the kitchen and realized that I only had two bananas and the recipe called for three. Hmmm, what to do? Well, I looked around and found this Banana Cacao Muffin recipe from Rubies and Radishes so I basically took this recipe and modified it to banana chai instead of banana chocolate. 

I haven't had a ton of luck with Paleo baking. I have only tried a few things, but they usually wind up really dense, and they don't seem to rise much. I was REALLY impressed with how this recipe turned out. I WILL use it again. The only think I tweaked about the recipe itself is that I used 1 teaspoon of baking powder instead of baking soda. I had baking soda, but as I said earlier, I haven't had much luck with my paleo baking. Most of it calls for baking soda. I did some research and read somewhere that baking powder makes paleo goodies more like the "real" thing. So, I tried it . . . IT WORKED ;-)! Oh yeah! These muffins are a little dense, but much fluffier than my normal paleo sweet treats, and they actually did rise a little during baking . . .double yeah! So below is what I did. 

Servings: 9 muffins - (I used a mini muffin pan & it made 24)

Ingredients 

2 ripe bananas, mashed 
1/4 cup honey 
3 eggs 
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/4 cup almond butter 
1/2 cup coconut flour 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 

2 teaspoons chai spice - (I will probably use more next time. If you don't have chai spice use spices from this recipe)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda - (I used 1 tsp baking powder)
1 banana sliced for topping

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. In a mixing bowl, mash bananas until smooth, then add eggs, honey, coconut oil, vanilla and almond butter and mix thoroughly.
3. Add coconut flour, chai spice(s) and cinnamon, mix really well.
4. Let batter sit for 5-10 minutes 
5. Add in baking soda or baking powder. Mix until baking soda or baking powser is mixed through.
6. Fill muffin tins all the way. This made 24 mini muffins. You don’t need muffin wrappers for these, the muffins slide right out of the tray.
7. Add a slice of banana on top of each muffin.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Regular muffins may take 25 minutes or so. 
9. Remove muffins from the muffin pan and let cool.

Recipe adapted from a combo of Rubies & Radishes and Primal Bites recipes . . . .I am going to go try Rubies & Radishes' Paleo Pumpkin Spice Poppers now! I can't wait! I will let you know how those turn out, too!