One of my most popular recipes (both online and in real life!), you’ll come back to this soft and sweet loaf over and over.
Table of contents
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- No more wasting your starter! One of my favorite sayings it “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Not that I am able to live by it, but I love the sentiment and I think it’s a worthy goal. And that is one of the frustrating parts of keeping a sourdough starter… you have to discard some of it every day! So any recipe that can use up that discard starter is always welcome.
- No sourdough flavor (picky eater approved) By the way, I know the word “sourdough” can be off-putting when we talk about sweet baked goods. But this recipe tastes just like the sweet, moist, classic banana bread we all know and love.
- Super-versatile. It makes a great snack, dessert, or breakfast
🧂 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You’ll find the full measurements and instructions in the printable recipe at the bottom of the page.
You’ll need the following for this incredible banana bread:
- softened butter
- white sugar
- vanilla
- egg
- ripe bananas
- discard sourdough starter
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- baking powder
- baking soda
🥣 Equipment
- 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 loaf pan
- Mixing bowl
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
🍴Instructions
Step One: Make the batter
You can use either a stand mixer or hand mixer for this, whichever is easier for you.
It is a quick and easy recipe, so go ahead and preheat the oven to 350 degrees before you get started.
Beat the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until fluffy and well combined. It should look light yellow.
Add the mashed banana and discard sourdough starter and gently mix them in. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Gently add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined.
Step Two: Bake!
Pour into a greased loaf pan, smooth out the top with a spatula, and bake for one hour. The top usually splits. A toothpick inserted should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
(Here are good guidelines on how to tell when quick bread is done.)
Cool completely before slicing.
🥫 Storage instructions
Homemade banana bread will keep well at room temperature, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for 1-2 days.
For longer storage, it freezes very well. Wrap in plastic wrap and then again in in aluminum foil, then freeze for up to 3 months. It defrosts perfectly right on the counter.
🔍 FAQs
Many readers have done it successfully! Replace the egg with a 1/4 cup of applesauce and the butter with coconut oil or another vegan substitute.
Well, you CAN, but part of what makes this a great recipe is that there’s plenty of sweetness. Try substituting some for light brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup, or cutting back a little.
Yes, it will make 1 dozen. Start checking them for doneness around 20 minutes.
Nope, that’s the beauty of this recipe. You can use it straight from the fridge. If your starter is already fed and bubbly, that works just fine too. 😊
👩🏻🍳 Expert tips
- Try adding chocolate chips to the batter or sprinkling the top with cinnamon sugar.
- Don’t have any overripe bananas? You can bake them at 200 degrees until they turn brown and soft. (About an hour.)
- Add 1/4 cup of peanut butter in with the starter.
📘 Related Recipes
🍅 make it along with me
Follow along step by step. The slides will turn every 7 seconds, or you can click ahead.
Some variations
📖 Here’s the recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup softened butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3 bananas mashed
- 1 cup discard sourdough starter stirred
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a loaf pan by greasing with vegetable oil spray or butter.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until combined. Add the mashed banana and sourdough starter, mixing on low.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add it to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined.
- Pour into loaf pan, smoothing out the top with a spatula, and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The top will split. Allow to cool before slicing. Store at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to three days,
Notes
Nutrition
This bread is delicious. I added walnuts which we really liked. I initially used the size of loaf pan recommended and after 5 minutes in the oven had to transfer to a larger loaf pan. The bread did not rise as in the photo but still tastes good. A bit sweet for my taste so next time I might reduce the sugar a bit. I will definitely make it again.
Great flavor but my loaf overflowed too! Shoot!
Hi, does this recipe make one loaf? I just made it and tripled it (I have a lot of kids) and all the loaf pans overflowed in the oven.
Hey Elana just one loaf! I’m not sure what happened! I use a 8.5 x 2.5 x 4.5 pan with no problem.
I love this! I’ve made it twice now! Both times I added walnuts and blueberries! Thank you for sharing this!!
I have made A LOT of banana bread. Many different recipes and this was hands down literally my BEST loaf ever!! Deleting any and all other recipes!! This was also my first time using my discard. I didn’t have enough but I was so excited and had this on my mind to bake so I baked with only having 1/2 cup discard. It was still AMAZING. My little girl wanted to add chocolate chips but it would have been heavenly without them. Thank you sooo much. I cannot wait to gather more discard 😅
I’m so, so happy you enjoyed it Angela! Thanks for letting me know 💕
First time I am going to make anything with discard starter. Have a jar of discard in the fridge – do I need to take it out and feed it the night before or can I just use from the fridge
I would love to try this recipe! How much butter does it call for? It says “? cup butter”. Thanks for your help.
i’m suzy! i’m so sorry, i just changed fonts on my blog and all my 1/3 turned into ? 😭😭😭😭. So it’s 1/3! I’m going to fix it now!
Have you ever made these into muffins? If so do you know how long they would need to bake?
hi aubrey I haven’t but it *should* work. Maybe start checking at 20 minutes? (Also I have a banana muffin recipe on my blog with a really good caramel drizzle icing you should put on top!)
This is probably my favorite banana bread recipe. I substituted 1/2 cup hone for the sugar and added a tsp vanilla and it was splendidly delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe and for a great way to redeem the discard. Love it!
Can I use discard straight from the fridge if I dont have time to use it straight away?
yes, absolutely!
I have enjoyed this recipe more than once! FYI Typo in “Prepare this pan {my} greasing…”
oh thank you denise! I’ll fix that! 🙂
Love this recipe. Already did this twice! I added dark choco chips because my husband likes chocolates 🙂
I just tried this with chocolate chips too! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂