Sourdough banana bread

A lightly spiced banana bread with a bit of tangy flavor from sourdough starter is a delicious twist on the classic treat! This recipe is a terrific way to use up your sourdough starter discard.

Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from these links, a small percentage goes to support the work of this blog. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Recently, I was gifted some sourdough starter from a friend. I had one in the past, but it didn't make it through the newborn twins stage of life in this house (I mean, my husband and I barely fed ourselves, let alone my sourdough starter!) 

 

Now that I have one again, I've been playing around with making loaves of sourdough bread and making these overnight sourdough pancakes. I also make a lot of sourdough pizza crust, skillet sourdough cornbread, and these easy sourdough discard biscuits. We've also been enjoying using sourdough discard in these sourdough pumpkin walnut muffins.

My starter has been doing really well and I had some to use up, so I went looking for new recipes you can make with your unfed starter or discard and found this recipe for banana bread and just had to give it a try. This bread turned out terrific!

I didn't use too much sugar in this recipe, so feel free to add a 1/4 cup more if you like a sweeter bread. I love the bit of tangy flavor from the sourdough, but it's not overpowering at all. The cinnamon and nutmeg add a little bit of spice flavor and make your whole house smell yummy while it bakes.

This banana bread makes a nice breakfast on its own or with a side or scrambled eggs (and hot coffee, of course), or it's perfect for a snack. Pack up slices in lunchboxes for school and work. 

The biggest key to making delicious and flavorful banana bread is ensuring that you use very ripe bananas. Wait until they are soft and the peel is covered in brown spots before using them for baking. 

 

You can also save overripe bananas in the freezer - simply peel and freeze in a freezer bag and then thaw them out completely in the refrigerator before using for baking. This is a great way to prevent food waste if you don't have the time or ingredients to bake with browned bananas right away.

 

You can add a half cup of chocolate chips the the batter at the end if you like. Semi-sweet are my favorite to use with banana bread. Or, you can add a half cup of finely chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans to the batter as the end. Both would be delicious.

Yield: about 10 slices

Sourdough Banana Bread

A lightly spiced banana bread with a bit of tangy flavor from sourdough starter is a delicious twist on the classic treat!

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large very ripe/browned bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or more all-purpose)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for topping
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

instructions:

How to cook Sourdough Banana Bread

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8"x4" loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the mashed banana, egg, and vanilla until well-combined and then beat in the sourdough starter.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour through nutmeg. Then stir into the wet ingredients until combined.
4. Pour into the loaf pan and give the top of the bread a light sprinkle of cinnamon.
5. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until the loaf is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let cool before slicing.

Created using The Recipes Generator

If you have sourdough starter, I hope you give this recipe a try! Let me know in the comments below.

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!

This recipe was originally posted in 2019 and has been updated in 2022 to improve reader experience.

 

Check out these other quick bread and muffin recipes:

Carrot banana bread

Lemon-glazed strawberry poppy seed bread

Yellow squash & apple bread

Rhubarb sour cream bread

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Pumpkin Muffins

 

No sourdough starter? Check out this Easy Best Banana Bread recipe from House of Nash Eats