Sourdough Banana Bread
Updated Sep 30, 2024
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Homemade Sourdough Banana Bread is a simple banana bread recipe with a twist. It uses sourdough starter or sourdough discard in addition to classic banana bread ingredients.
Sourdough banana bread has all the sweet banana goodness of classic banana bread with just a twist of sour flavor. And you can use up some sourdough starter or discard so it’s a win-win sourdough treat!
If you’re looking for more recipes that call for either sourdough starter or discard, check out Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sourdough Chocolate Muffins, or Quick Sourdough Biscuits.
Table of Contents
🍞 18 Easy Sourdough Recipes!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy. Banana bread is an easy recipe to make. It calls for one bowl, a bunch of pantry staples, and a few simple steps.
- Flexible. You can use active sourdough starter or sourdough discard.
- Fast. This sourdough recipe comes together quickly because it doesn’t require any resting or rising time.
- Fun. Sourdough banana bread is a great recipe to make with kids. They enjoy mashing the bananas with a pastry blender and measuring and dumping the ingredients.
Recipe Ingredients
- Bananas: Make sure they are very ripe but not rotting. They should have lots of brown spots or mostly brown. If they are all black and leaking liquid, they are past overripe and are starting to rot.
- Granulated sugar
- Sourdough starter, discard or fed starter: Use sourdough starter or fed starter if you want less tang from the sourdough.
- Egg
- Light oil
- Vanilla extract
- Flour: Both all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour work in this recipe.
- Baking powder
- Salt
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Sourdough Banana Bread
Step #1. Mash the bananas in a medium mixing bowl and add the sugar. Stir to combine.
Step #2. Add the sourdough starter or discard, egg, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Step #3. Gently mix in the dry ingredients. Don’t overwork the dough at this step so that your bread stays tender.
Step #4. Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Recipe FAQs
Very ripe bananas (also called overripe bananas) have skin that has turned soft and have lots of brown spots or are mostly brown. They are perfect for baking because they are extra sweet and flavorful.
If you use sourdough discard, the bread will have more of the tang of sourdough than if you use active bubbly starter. Usually people think I put lemon in the bread if they aren’t familiar with sourdough.
Yes! This recipe freezes great. To freeze this banana bread let it cool completely and then store in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also slice the bread and freeze the slices individually.
Expert Tips
- Use a pastry blender to mash the bananas. This is a great tool to let kids help mash them, too. It’s easier to use than a fork and gets the job done faster.
- Slice the bread and freeze the slices individually so it’s ready to throw in a lunchbox (it will be thawed by the time lunch comes around).
- Check your sourdough banana bread for its level of doneness after 50 minutes of baking because different ovens and elevations can change the baking time a bit.
- Experiment by adding your favorite mix-ins to this recipe, such as ¾ cup mini chocolate chips or chopped walnuts.
How to Store Sourdough Banana Bread
Store leftovers covered at room temperature for 2-3 days or in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can also store a loaf of this bread in the freezer for up to three months.
More Sourdough Recipes to Consider
Sourdough Recipes
Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread – A Perfect Breakfast Loaf
Sourdough Recipes
No Knead Sourdough Bread {Easy Beginner’s Recipe}
Sourdough Recipes
How to Feed a Sourdough Starter: Prepping for Perfect Loaves
Sourdough Recipes
Soft & Fluffy Sourdough Challah Bread
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Sourdough Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups very ripe mashed banana, (from 2 large or 3 small bananas)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup sourdough starter, discard or fed starter
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup light oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly spray a bread pan with cooking spray (I used a 9×5 inch bread pan).
- In a medium mixing bowl add the mashed banana (or add the bananas to the bowl and use a fork or a pastry cutter to smash them right in the bottom of the bowl).
- Add the sugar and stir well to combine.
- Add the sourdough starter, egg, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Add the flour to the bowl and then sprinkle the baking powder and salt on top of the flour. Fold in the flour until just combined and no dry spots remain.
- Add the batter to the prepared pan.
- Bake until the center of the dough is no longer wet and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan to finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Store leftovers covered at room temperature for 2-3 days or in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
- You can reduce the sugar in this recipe to ¾ of a cup if you would like a less sweet banana bread.
- Both all-purpose flour and whole wheal pastry flour work well in this recipe. Whole wheat pastry flour is a sifted whole wheat flour with a fine texture.
- Feel free to change up this recipe with your favorite mix-ins. Add 3/4 mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts to customize your sourdough banana bread.
- Get your kids involved with mashing the bananas using the pastry blender. It’s easy for them to hold and great at mashing!
- Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to three days or in the fridge for up to a week.
Anxious to try this recipe for banana bread- hoping it’s lighter than the ones I’ve made lately!
Deborah, are you running into like gummy or dense banana breads with sourdough? Are you using discard or fresh starter? You might find if you add a little extra baking soda it’ll help or if you let the mixture sit in the baking pan for 30 or so minutes before baking. I hope that helps with any sourdough banana bread recipe you might be trying!
I have been making your Loaf bread; the boule and I just baked the banana bread. All are very easy recipes to follow and delicious. Thank you!
I’m so glad you are loving them Rossana (beautiful name!), thanks for leaving a review!
This recipe looks fantastic. Could this be made into muffins instead? If so, how long would you bake them?
Yep, it’ll work great. They’ll need to cook for about 20 minutes but just press them slightly and if they spring back they are done, you can also use a toothpick to test!
Will it change the recipie if I add walnuts?
Nope, they’ll be delicious!
I made the sourdough banana bread this morning and It has the most wonderful flavour! This is a recipe I’ll be using again and again. It sure beats regular banana bread! Thank you Melissa!
I usually weigh my ingredients. What is the weight of the starter/discard?
This banana bread recipe is delicious!
I’ve made this recipe a couple times, and I love it! I typically don’t go crazy for banana bread, but the small amount of banana flavor, sour flavor from the discard, and the vanilla combine so well with the sweetness from the sugar. Thank you for sharing a banana bread recipe I actually enjoy!!
I completely agree with you, it’s really balanced this way! Thank you for leaving a review and a star rating!
I made two loaves last night and put them in the freezer. When family comes next week, I’m ready for snacking. My newest thought…..I bet this stuff would be amazing as French toast, served with slice bananas and your buttermilk or caramel syrup maybe…hmmmmm
Yesss their was a cafeteria my freshman year on campus at Ball State that made a banana bread french toast and it was amazing!
Oh, oh, oh…this is soooooo good. I love how the sourdough balances the banana! No one flavor overpowers the other either…its the perfect blend!!!! And so so moist! I’ll be honest…..I could easily eat a whole loaf myself in one sitting! I love banana bread and this is now my favorite recipe!!!! Had to use AP flour this time. I stored it in the fridge…..at the 5 day mark it still is moist and yummy! It traveled well on the 4wheeler for lunch snacks too 🙂 Thanks a million!