Sourdough Banana Bread
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. Makes 1 loaf.
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3 bananas, mashed
- 1 cup discard sourdough starter (cold is fine!)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Equipment
- electric mixer (hand mixer is fine)
- standard-sized or large-sized loaf pan (8½ x 4½ inches or 9 x 5 will both work, but a smaller one will overflow!)
Instructions
Make sure your pan is the right size! (8½ x 4½ or larger.) If you don’t have one, better to use a 8×8 or 9×9 square.
Prep the pan
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a loaf pan with vegetable oil spray or butter. Like most sweet bread recipes, this one can stick a bit, so make sure you spray generously.
Cream the butter and sugar
Beat the butter and sugar together until they are nice and fluffy.
I always like to set a timer for this step for 3 minutes because it’s tempting to underbeat here and think it is good enough. But this makes a difference! The butter should visibly lighten in color.
Add the egg and vanilla
Next, add the egg and vanilla, mixing until just combined.
This will take under a minute, but take a second to scrape down the bottom of the bowl and mix again.
Add the banana and starter
Add the mashed bananas and the sourdough starter and mix again until combined.
It will only take about 30 seconds or so.
Mix the dry ingredients
Finally, add the dry ingredients. You can (and sometimes I do), mix them up in a small bowl first, but sometimes I just dump them right on top.
Don’t overmix here or you’ll have a tough loaf. Just until everything is combined, scrape the bottom of the bowl, and mix another couple of seconds.
If you would like to add crushed walnuts or chocolate chips, do so now. A bit under a cup of either works well.
Bake the loaf
Pour the batter into your well-greased loaf pan and smooth out the top. (It will be thick!)
Pop it into your preheated oven and bake for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick comes. out with just a few moist crumbs. The top will split. That’s okay! (In fact, it’s a sign of a good quick bread! Now you know.)
Cool and slice
Wait until it’s mostly cool to slice (slightly warm is okay, but not hot). I will keep this out oat room temperature for up to three days with no trouble.
Storage Instructions
For longer storage, my favorite method is to slice, wrap each piece individually, then put them all in a gallon freezer bag. You can defrost one serving at a time very easily this way.
Of course, a whole loaf freezes well too.
Sourdough discard Breakfast Recipes
- Sourdough banana cake
- Ever-popular sourdough lemon cake
- Sourdough banana muffins
- Sourdough cinnamon sugar quick bread
Sourdough Banana Bread
Equipment
- standard size loaf pan (8 ½ by 4 ½ or slightly larger is fine)
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup softened butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3 bananas ripe and mashed
- 1 cup discard sourdough starter
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
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Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a loaf pan by greasing with vegetable oil spray or butter.
- Beat butter and sugar. Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed.
- Add egg and vanilla. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until combined. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula and mix again.
- Add bananas and starter. Add the mashed banana and sourdough starter, mixing on low.
- Dry ingredients. 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. Overmixing will make the loaf tough.
- Bake. Pour into a loaf pan, smoothing out the top with a spatula, and bake in a preheated oven for 60-75 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The top will split.
- Cool and slice. Allow to cool before slicing. Store at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to three days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Toasted with na little vegan butter, this is the most aromatic and flavorful bread! Not the moist banana bread for dessert but a bread that has banana flavors! Be sure to add a little nutmeg!!
This recipe makes a fantastic banana bread! I’ve made it several times in the last 4 months and it has become my favorite way to use my sourdough starter. So good!
This is just the very best BB I have made, ever and I am an old person.
I, like many people these days, have been making banana bread for my husband until I want to scream “No More!” However, I just started making sourdough breads and feeding my starter, etc. Just dumping the discard seemed like such a waste.
Not only does the recipe use up some of that discard and those freckled bananas, but it is absolutely delicious. It will probably have to be made at least once a week.
Thanks for sharing.
aw thank you Diane! I am so happy you enjoyed the banana bread! its one of our favorite ways to use sourdough starter too 🙂
This recipe is AMAZING and is now on regular rotation in my house. In fact, I make 2 at a time and share with friends, neighbors and street folk. It is a very versatile recipe. I add 1 tsp of mixed spice and/or half to 3/4 cup of mixed seeds
Delicious!! Thank you so much!
I’m so happy you like it! love the seeds idea I will have to try that 🙂
I have only just started collecting my discard. I dont have a cups worth yet! I guess we have to wait longer…..must feed Martha (the starter) more!
Did I miss what size loaf pan you use with this recipe?
My family said this was the best banana bread EVER!
yay! thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Once sourdough is established and stored in refrigerator how often should i feed it? Should it be fed on the counter at room temperature and left out overnight? What will be the flour water ratio to maintain active starter.
Carol, there are 3 main ways to maintain a starter. They all work, it’s just personal preference. I think this will help: https://heartscontentfarmhouse.com/maintaining-a-sourdough-starter-on-the-counter/
This is delicious! Nice and tangy. I used 1/2 cup white refined sugar and 1/4 cup maple syrup instead of the full cup of sugar. I also sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top before baking.
Thanks so much!
so happy you liked it Joanna, I’m going to try the cinnamon sugar 🙂
This was excellent. I made some substitutions to accommodate being gluten free. So I used a gf mix of cassava, coconut, and oat flour, leftover starter, and used powdered stevia and only 1/4 sugar. I also threw in some pecans and some sugar free choc chips and put it in my muffin tin. DELICIOUSNESS- wow! My hubby was thrilled and immediately pulled out the butter. Thank you for this delightful recipe!! It was a happy weekend treat for sure!!!
Sharla I am so happy to hear this! Thank you so much for the gluten free tweaks! Happy baking ????
The recipe says 1/3 cup butter, the video says 1/4 cup, which is correct?
1/3 is what I use but both are. actually fine 🙂 thanks for letting me know
Do you think this batter would make enough for muffins instead of a loaf?
yes! I would start checking them at 25 minutes
I just made one dozen muffins with the recipe. Delicious.
Yes yes..this recipe was perfect.Thank you
glad you liked it!
This was delicious!!Thank you for the step by step instructions and tips! I love the airy, chewy taste. I used Sourdough starter discard I had collected in the freezer then thawed in fridge. So happy to not waste any of it. My butter and sugar didn’t cream very well as the butter was too soft I think and it still turned out beautifully!
I used the starter right from the fridge. Should it have been at room temperature?
Thank you for sharing!
no straight from the fridge is just fine 🙂 glad you liked it!
Hi Katie,
Thank you for your prompt reply!
Stay safe!
Antonita
This looks so good! I want to try this out, but help me out on one thing – what is the equivalent of that sourdough discard (1 cup) in grams? 🙂
about 200 grams 🙂
Thanks Katie, I did this a few weeks back and here I am again wanting to recreate the magic. The family loved it and it was gone in less than a few hours! I’m just about to bake this again, and for the benefit of those who have been asking if this recipe can be done with half the sugar, the answer is a resounding YES! That’s exactly what I did it and it was sweeter than what we’re used to eating (I mean, isn’t the whole point of baking at home is so that you can you make it the way you want it?) I am actually thinking of reducing it a little bit more, but just make sure your bananas are really ripe (as Katie noted in one of the comments below)
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe, and it is a keeper!
I added about a 1/4 cup of peanut butter to the mix and it was delicious
ooh I’ll have to try that!
This was delicious. I will definitely make it again. I made a couple of changes to make it vegan. Substituted vegan butter for dairy and 1/4 c of applesauce for the egg. I also added 2/3 c vegan chocolate chips. Thanks for a great recipe!
glad you liked it Karen! great to know the vegan changes!
A quick question. I am new to sour dough (only one day 4 of starter) is the discard your talking about the 1/2 you take out before the feed each day?
yep that’s the discard! 🙂
This is my first time using my sourdough starter discard and it turned out soooo delicious. I am a banana bread snob so I am so happy to find a sourdough version that is delicious!
I’m so glad you liked it! I’m a banana bread snob too! (It needs sugar, people!)
Is it possible to make this banana bread with less sugar (1/2 cup).
it will definitely taste different, but you can try it. especially if your bananas are very ripe and sweet it should still be good 🙂
I have made it twice now, both times with excellent results. Perfect way to use both discard starter and over ripe bananas, my two top pet peeves when it comes to throwing away food. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
Yes isn’t wasting bananas so irritating! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for letting me know. 🙂