Banana bread is definitely the quick bread I make most often and now I'm sharing my new favorite way to make it which includes sourdough starter! This sourdough banana bread is sweet, fluffy, so easy to make and is the perfect recipe for beginner sourdough bakers.
I've been making banana bread for years and I'm still surprised at the number of variations I can come up with! Some of my favorite banana bread loaves that I've made over the years have been this classic vegan banana bread, chickpea flour banana bread and Tahini Banana Bread! But today I'm sharing a recipe for sourdough banana bread! If you're new to sourdough baking, this is the recipe for you! You can use chilled sourdough starter or freshly fed sourdough starter and either way this recipe will work out. Oh, and did I mention this sourdough banana bread requires less than 10 ingredients?
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Why This Recipe Works!
- If you're new to sourdough bread making, this this sourdough banana bread is the recipe for you! It's just like making normal banana bread, except you'll be decreasing the amount of flour and liquid in typical banana bread and adding in some sourdough starter.
- This banana bread requires less than 10 ingredients, many of which you probably already have on hand in your pantry. That means, whenever your bananas ripen, you can easily whip up a batch of this sourdough banana bread!
- I love that you can use chilled sourdough starter in this recipe. Because I don't bake sourdough bread often enough to keep my starter on my countertop, I often store my sourdough starter in the fridge. Thankfully, having cold sourdough starter won't keep me from making a batch of this banana bread whenever the craving hits!
Why Make Sourdough Bread?
Sourdough bread has so many amazing benefits and I've thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with different vegan sourdough recipes lately (hello vegan sourdough pancakes and waffles!
Some of the benefits of eating sourdough bread are 1.) it's easier to digest, 2.) it's lower on the glycemic index, 3.) it fosters good bacteria, 4.) people with gluten-sensitivities can often enjoy sourdough and 5.) it contains fewer preservatives. These are just a handful of the benefits of sourdough! You can definitely expect to see more sourdough bread recipes from me in the near future!
Ingredients
Bananas - The best bananas to use in this sourdough banana bread (or any banana bread recipe at that) are super ripe, spotty bananas. Using really ripe bananas will make it easier to mash your bananas up and ripe bananas also add lots of natural sweetness.
Sourdough starter - You can use room temperature sourdough starter or chilled sourdough discard. The most important thing is that your sourdough starter has been fed and is either bubbly and active when you go to make this bread or was bubbly and active right before you refrigerated it. If you're using sourdough starter that was in the fridge, allow it to sit out at room temperature for a while so that it's easier to incorporate into the batter.
Flour - I like to use all-purpose flour when making this vegan banana bread!
Brown sugar - If you don't have brown sugar on hand, you can always make it! Simply stir 1 tablespoon of molasses into 1 cup of white sugar. Bada-bing bada-boom...you have brown sugar!
Oil - Use a neutral flavored oil in this recipe. Vegetable oil, light olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil should all work.
Baking soda - Baking soda is a key ingredients in this sourdough bread recipe. The baking soda will react with the sourdough starter and create a nice, fluffy loaf of bread!
See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Mix-ins - I personally love to add "mix-ins" into my quick breads. This sourdough banana bread would taste amazing with some chopped walnuts or pecans stirred into the batter. Of course, chocolate chunks always taste amazing in banana bread.
- Sourdough Applesauce Bread - Sometimes I swap mashed banana for applesauce and add in some warming spices such as cinnamon and ground ginger and cloves. It's a fun way to switch up a class loaf of banana bread.
- Whole Wheat Sourdough Banana Bread- I often use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour when I'm making quick bread. However, keep in mind that this recipe was tested with all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid than all-purpose flour. If you try to use whole wheat flour, start with 1 ¼ cups of flour.
How to Make Sourdough Banana Bread
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, sourdough starter, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla until fairly smooth.
Step 2: Add in the remaining ingredients, making sure you don't have any clumps in your baking powder or sugar. You can also whisk the dry ingredients together separately before adding them to the wet ingredients.
Step 3: Pour the batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan and spread it out into an even layer.
Step 4: Bake the bread for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown on top and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf pan before using a knife to loosen it from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Hint: Add some chocolate chunks to the batter before baking if you want the best sourdough banana bread!
How Many Grams is a Cup of Sourdough Starter?
I go back and forth between sourdough recipes that use grams and cups. If you're new to sourdough baking, a good thing to know is that 1 cup of sourdough starter equals about 240 grams!
I've included the weight of all the ingredients in the recipe card in case you want to weigh everything out!
Storage
Allow this banana bread to cool completely before storing it in an airtight container. It will last at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Alternatively you can freeze it! I love to slice my banana bread before freezing it so that I can thaw one slice at a time whenever a banana bread craving hits.
My Top Tips
👉🏻 The more spotty and brown your bananas are, the sweeter this bread will be!
👉🏻 If you're using a scale, 1 cup of sourdough starter equals 240 grams.
👉🏻 Allow this banana bread to cool almost completely before cutting into it. If you cut it when it's too warm, it will be gummy on the inside. Be patient!
Recipe FAQs
If you have a sourdough starter that is at 100% hydration then adding it into basic recipe such as banana bread is a breeze! Your starter is ½ flour and ½ water. To add 1 cup of sourdough starter to a banana bread recipe, simply reduce the amount of flour by ½ cup and reduce the amount of water or milk by ½ cup.
Yes! This sourdough banana bread doesn't have any eggs in it. Mashed banana helps to bind everything together and baking soda reacts with the sourdough starter to make this bread super light and fluffy. No eggs needed!
This sourdough banana bread is vegan. It doesn't contain any dairy or eggs. However, not every sourdough bread is vegan. It depends on the recipe, so be sure to look at the ingredients.
More Banana Bread Recipes!
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 Loaf Pan 9x5 inches
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups mashed banana
- 1 cup brown sugar see note 3
- 1 cup fed sourdough starter
- ½ cup oil, neutral flavored
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, etc. optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F and grease a standard size loaf pan (9x5 inches). Set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, brown sugar, fed sourdough starter, oil and vanilla until fairly smooth.
- Add in the remaining ingredients, making sure there are no lumps in the baking powder or soda. If you want, you can whisk the dry ingredients together separately before adding them to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and spread it out until its even.
- Bake the banana bread for 50-60 minutes or until golden on top and knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
- Make sure your starter is fed. This means that, whether it's at room temperature or chilled, it has been given water and flour and became or still is active and bubbly. I often use chilled sourdough starter that I fed, allowed to sit at room temperature until bubbly and active and then put in the fridge until I was ready to bake with it.
- If you're using fed sourdough starter from the fridge, set it out at room temperature for a little while to let it warm up. This will make it easier to mix with the other wet ingredients.
- I usually use only ½ cup of sugar (usually coconut sugar) and it's plenty sweet!
Andrea says
I made this last night and wow!!! Faith. This is such an easy, delicious recipe and wonderful way to use my sourdough discard.
A few tweaks that I made;
-my sourdough starter is whole-wheat and it worked great for this.
-I did use AP flour but now that I’ve tested the recipe I will try whole wheat or a mix next time.
-I used 1/4 cup apple sauce and 1/4 cup olive oil
-I used 1/3 cup brown sugar and is sweet enough, and I have a sweet tooth.
-I added chocolate chips and finely chopped walnuts as mix ins.
YUM YUM YUM! Thank you for sharing. Next on my list to make from your blog is the popcorn granola bars, they will be our treat while we travel.
Thanks for all the recipes and such fun videos.
Faith VanderMolen says
So so happy to hear this recipe worked out for you! I usually use only 1/2 cup sugar and it's plenty sweet so good to know 1/3 cup is also plenty! I've also just made it with whole wheat flour too and it worked great! You may need a splash of non-dairy milk, but I didn't need to add any the last time I made it. I hope your future tweaks work out for you!