Sourdough banana bread is the perfect way to use your sourdough discard and over-ripened bananas! The addition of sour cream makes it so moist and tender.
The sourdough discard gives it the tangy flavor we sourdough bakers crave.
This simple recipe will quickly become your new favorite!
Over ripe bananas never had it so good. Not until they met sourdough starter discard and created the best sourdough banana bread recipe ever!
Holy moly you guys, this recipe hits all the right notes when it comes to the perfect banana bread.
Just the right amount of sweetness from the ripe bananas and the dark brown sugar. Plus, deliciously tangy notes from the sourdough discard and sour cream.
It's full of banana flavor and the crumb is so moist and tender!
This recipe is so simple to make and can easily be turned into sourdough banana nut muffins with the addition of chopped walnuts.
Step by step instructions
This recipe is made without the use of electric mixers. Everything is easily mixed by hand, so let's get started and get some "nanner bread" in the oven!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl with a whisk. Set aside.
- In a small bowl use a fork to mash the bananas until smooth. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Add the brown sugar to the butter and use a spatula to cream until smooth and creamy. Stir in the eggs, sourdough discard, vanilla extract, sour cream and mashed bananas.
- Add the wet and dry ingredients together and stir until just combined.
5. Pour the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 5" loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let the banana bread cool in the loaf pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the inside of the pan to help release the loaf.
Allow the loaf to rest on a cooling rack until cooled down so that it is easy to handle and has a chance to set up a little.
Serve warm slices of sourdough banana bread smothered with homemade butter for a delicious treat!
You may want to double the recipe!
Tips for success
Sometimes that banana bread mood strikes, but you can only get your hands on green bananas! No worries, you can use your oven to get them to release their sugars and soften up.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and place the bananas on a baking sheet. (Don't peel them!) Let them bake for 30-40 minutes or until they start to turn brown. Let cool completely before using.
This recipe requires three bowls. The first of which is for the dry ingredients. Don't skip this step! It's very important to whisk the baking powder and baking soda with the flour in order to make sure it gets well incorporated into the batter.
Don't have a kitchen scale to measure flour?
Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
Because flour is measured by weight in these recipes, if the flour is scooped straight out of the bag with the measuring cup, there will be more flour than called for in the recipe.
I tested the recipe with dark brown sugar, light brown sugar and white sugar. I preferred the taste of dark brown sugar because it lends a richer flavor, but any of these sugars work great.
The older and more acidic your sourdough starter discard, the better! It's what really gives this bread it's unique flavor. I keep a separate jar in my fridge to collect sourdough discard just for recipes like this one!
How to store
Let the loaf cool completely. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and keep on kitchen counter at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Banana bread can be frozen in individual slices, half loaf or whole loaf.
To freeze, allow banana bread to cool completely. Wrap tightly in foil first and then place in a plastic freezer bag. Make sure to remove excess air in the bag before sealing to help prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to eat, allow to thaw at room temperature, in wrapper for a few hours. Slices can be quickly warmed in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.
Other recipes you may like to try:
We hope you love this sourdough banana bread as much as our family does! Let us know in the comment section below!
Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe
Equipment
- 9" x 5" loaf pan
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring cups/spoons
- Spatula
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) dark brown sugar (see notes)
- 2 large (100 g) eggs
- 3 medium (350 g) very ripe bananas (mashed)
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (125 g) sourdough starter discard (see notes)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl mash the bananas with a fork until smooth and set aside.
- Melt the butter in the microwave in a mixing bowl. Add the dark brown sugar and use a spatula to cream them together until smooth. Add the eggs, mashed banana, sourdough discard, sour cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Add the wet and dry ingredients together and stir until just combined. (Do not over mix!) If adding walnuts, gently fold them into the batter with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the banana bread to cool in the loaf pan for 15 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
- Add ½ cup of chopped walnuts or chopped pecans if desired.
- This recipe can be made without sourdough starter.
- In order to get the most sourdough flavor into this banana bread, the starter must be "aged". This simply means that the sourdough discard has been allowed to sit in the fridge for a minimum of one week before using it to bake with. This will allow the acid to build up, producing the sour flavor.
- Dark brown sugar can be replaced with either light brown sugar or white granulated sugar.
- Store at room temperature for up to 3 days, wrapped in plastic wrap or in a container with a lid.
- Store in freezer for up to 3 months tightly wrapped in foil and plastic.
Chris says
I'm making this for the 3rd or 4th time now and it's so delicious! I've added chocolate chips once but my favorite was adding 1tsp cinnamon and a half cup of pecans.
I'm wondering if you have any suggestions for how many mini loaves this would make? I'd love to hand some out to neighbors. Thanks!
Amy Duska says
Hi Chris! I'm not sure what size your mini loaf pans are but I would think you could get 3 mini loaves from this recipe!
Barbara says
I have been using sourdough starter for about three years. There is never any discard. When I am going to bake, I remove the starter from the refrigerator, feed it, use it, feed it again, and put it back in the refrigerator. So for this recipe should I let it get to room temperature before using it, would that be considered the same as discard?
Amy Duska says
Hi Barbara, you can use active starter for this recipe as the baking powder/soda are the leavening agents. We developed it so that if you did have discard, you could use it instead of throwing it away.
vika says
this is the best recipe! thanks for giving the metric measurements 🙂
Denise says
Hi Amy, is the butter to be creamed with the sugar at room temp, or melted? Both methods seem to be presented.
Amy Duska says
It is supposed to be melted. Sorry about that!
Sau Peng says
Thank you so much for the awesome recipe. My first time baking banana bread with sourdough discard ever since I started my sourdough journey a month back. The texture is soft and moist. Really taste great. I use Greek yoghurt instead as I do not have sour cream. It is still good. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Art Vickers says
Another outstanding recipe! Thanks so much. My bread pan was slightly smaller, so I made an additional 6 muffins, which are disappearing daily! One cup of Pecan pieces folded in was delicious and just enough.
Little Spoon Farm is my sourdough capital of the web!
Anna says
I really like that idea of collecting your sourdough discard in a jar! How long does it stay good in the fridge? Indefinitely?
Amy Duska says
Hi Anna, it will stay good for months in the fridge without a feeding. The yeast go to sleep in the fridge, but will normally perk right back up with a feeding!
Rebecca says
I've made this several times and it disappears almost immediately in my house. I never have sour cream around and only sometimes plain Greek yogurt, and always forget to put them on the grocery list when planning to make this so almost every time I end up using vanilla flavored Greek yogurt.- I just leave out the additional vanilla flavoring and it turns out just fine. Amy - I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on adapting this recipe for zucchini bread? My garden recently exploded with giant zucchini... Thanks!
Amy Duska says
Zucchini bread recipe is coming soon!!
Rebecca says
It's here! I'm excited, however the garden has stopped inundating me with zucchini at this point. Maybe next year? Lol
Amy Duska says
Hi Rebecca, I know I'm a little late with the zucchini recipe for this season but I wanted to make sure it's out there for next year. Definitely try it, it's one of my favorites so far! 🙂
Ivana says
Having already made the muffins, it was a given this would be fabulous. And it was! I did add some cinnamon as well as fold in the walnuts. My husband would have eaten the entire thing in one night if I'd let him lol. Like a couple others, it was too much for my loaf pan, but I realized it before putting it in the oven and made a handful of muffins as well, so there was no overflow or waste in the end. I did notice my muffin tin is 8 1/2 x 4 1/2, not 9x5, so that may be why - heads up to other bakers to check the size of the loaf pan and not overfill it! Will definitely he making again.