Easy Hojicha Banana Bread Recipe
If you love the nutty, roasty flavor of hojicha (roasted green tea), then you’ll love this easy hojicha banana bread recipe. Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links.
Who doesn’t love an easy banana bread recipe? Even some of the worst bakers can successfully pull this bake off. And luckily, it’s so easy to make banana bread flavor variations. This hojicha version is a riff off my matcha banana bread, so you can take your pick from whatever tea-flavored treat you’re craving.
What is hojicha? What does hojicha taste like?
Hojicha is a type of Japanese tea. It is made from roasted green tea. Just like with green tea, you can buy loose leaf tea or tea bags and steep the tea hot or cold. It has less caffeine than typical green tea, so it’s a good choice for a cozy afternoon drink. Because it is roasted, it has a nice toasted flavor.
Hojicha tea leaves can also be ground into a powder, similar to matcha. With hojicha powder, you can make a more condensed tea drink, good for lattes, or add it to desserts for a fun flavor variation.
Where to buy hojicha powder?
The hojicha powder I have is from Matcha Cafe Maiko, which is a popular chain of matcha cafes. I’ve also purchased from the company Hojicha Co. before as well. You can find hojicha powder on Amazon as well, but I have not tried any of the brands sold there, so I can’t say how good they are. Jade Leaf is a pretty common matcha brand on Amazon that also sells hojicha, so I would assume that theirs would be fine.
Can I grind my own hojicha powder?
Theoretically I guess you could grind your own hojicha powder, but I don’t recommend it. I think it would be difficult to get as fine of a powder as when you buy it commercially made, resulting in a gritty texture. If you do successfully grind your own powder, please let me know how you managed it!
Banana bread mix-in ideas
The great thing about banana bread is that it’s easy to tailor to your tastes. My kids are not into crunchy textures, so we opt out of all nuts. However, hojicha would pair great with walnuts or pecans. Chocolate chips are also a great add-in.
I also included a teaspoon vanilla extract or bean paste in this recipe, but you can switch it out for another flavored extract if you want.
More tea flavored dessert recipes
Looking for more tea-flavored treats? Check these out:
Hojicha Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour, 250g
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp hojicha powder, 8g
- 2 eggs
- 4 very ripe bananas, 400g
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 142g
- 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, 113g
- 1/3 cup sour cream, 80g
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar, optional
Equipment
- 1 8×4" loaf pan can sub 9×5"pan as well
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8×4" loaf pan. Line with parchment paper if you want to remove bread completely from the pan after baking.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, and 3 tablespoons of hojicha powder.
- In a separate bowl, mash your bananas (with a fork, by hand, whatever works).
- Mix your remaining wet ingredients with the mashed bananas: eggs, brown sugar, butter, sour cream, and vanilla bean paste.
- Stir wet and dry ingredients together until you have a batter with no dry lumps remaining.
- Pour batter to your prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar (if using).
- Bake for one hour. Check for doneness by sticking a wooden skewer down the center of your bread. If the skewer comes out with wet batter, continue baking until the skewer comes out clean, up to 10-15 minutes more.
- Allow banana bread to cool to room temperature, then slice and serve.
Notes
- White sugar can be subbed for brown sugar
- Plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt can be subbed for the sour cream
- The turbinado or demerara sugar adds a nice crunch to the top but is totally optional!
- This batter can also be baked in a 9×9″ square baking pan. Start checking for doneness around 45 minutes.
