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Sourdough Banana Bread

By Melissa

5 from 6 votes

on Jul 27, 2020, Updated Mar 05, 2024

Homemade sourdough banana bread is a simple classic banana bread recipe with a twist. It uses a sourdough starter or sourdough discard in addition to classic banana bread ingredients.

This is a great way to use some of your sourdough starter and makes for a moist and sweet banana bread with the pleasant tang of sourdough included.

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Sourdough Banana Bread

Wondering what the flavor of sourdough banana bread is like? We’ll it has the sweet banana goodness from classic banana bread with just a twist of sour flavor that compliments the sweetness of the bread nicely.

This recipe does not need a long resting period like other sourdough recipes and will bake up in the same amount of time as other quick bread recipes. That’s what makes it a great recipe to have on hand to use up your sourdough starter or your discard, there’s not a long waiting period for the bread to come out. This is our favorite banana bread recipe because the texture is perfect, it’s moist but holds together well, and it’s nice and sweet (though you can adjust the sugar to taste a bit, just see the notes in the recipe).

Sourdough banana bread is just as easy to make as traditional banana bread!

Steps to make Sourdough Banana Bread:

1. Mash up your bananas. Pro tip: use a pastry blender to mash them! 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.
2. Add your sourdough starter OR sourdough discard, both work great in this recipe. You’ll get a bread that is more tart if you use the discard and less tart if you use an active starter.
3. Add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla and stir until just combined.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients. Don’t over work the dough at this step so that your bread stays tender.
5. Pour into your pan, bake, cool, and ENJOY!

Do you use sourdough starter or sourdough discard for banana bread?

I love this recipe because you can use either one! If you use sourdough starter you’ll end up with a more tart bread than if you use the active bubbly starter. My husband thought I used lemon in the bread the first time I used discard for this recipe! I tried this recipe with a whole wheat and with an all-purpose starter too and there were subtle variations with each.

If you use your active starter, you’ll have less of a tart sour flavor in the finished bread.

If you use your leftover sourdough discard in this recipe you’ll end up with a finished bread that has a lot of tang to it. My family can always tell when I’ve used sourdough discard for banana bread as the flavor is really pronounced. Sometimes if people don’t know what they’re eating, they’ll ask if there’s lemon in the bread. It has a similar tartness to it.

How to freeze banana bread:

This recipe freezes just great. And it doubles great too if you’d like to make a double batch specifically to put one in the freezer! To freeze this banana bread just let it cool completely and then store in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. If I know I’m going to be sticking sliced banana bread in a lunch box, I’ll slice the cool banana bread and then stick it in the air-tight container. Then you can remove a few slices of frozen bread from the freezer and pop them in a lunch box. They thaw just in time for lunch!

Additional sourdough recipes:

• Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sourdough Hamburger Buns
• Fluffy Sourdough Cornbread
• Easy Sourdough Focaccia Bread

More quick bread recipes:

• Banana Zucchini Bread
• Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Perfect Pumpkin Bread

5 from 6 votes

Sourdough Banana Bread

By: Melissa Griffiths

Homemade sourdough banana bread is a simple classic banana bread recipe with a twist. It uses a sourdough starter or sourdough discard in addition to classic banana bread ingredients.

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr

Total: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 1 loaf

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 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 like a less sweet banana bread.
• Whole wheat pastry flour is a sifted whole wheat flour with a fine texture. I love using it in baking. I have great luck using that or all-purpose flour in this recipe. 
• I let my kids mash the bananas using the pastry blender. It’s easy for them to hold and great at mashing!

Nutrition

Serving: 1 of 12 slices, Calories: 237kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 0.002g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 139mg, Potassium: 80mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 19g, Vitamin A: 33IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 25mg, Iron: 1mg

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And now you have a fabulous sourdough banana bread recipe that you can make with either your active sourdough starter OR your sourdough discard so that you can make it whenever the craving hits. Just don’t forget to buy extra bananas!