The Best Sourdough Banana Bread
Sourdough Discard Recipes

The Best Sourdough Banana Bread

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Are you searching for the best sourdough banana bread? Look no further! After years of making banana bread, I’ve finally developed a recipe that I absolutely love. It’s moist, flavorful, and easy to make. In fact, it’s the best banana bread recipe I’ve ever tried. And believe me, I’ve tried a lot!

Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, this recipe is sure to impress. It’s perfect for breakfast, snacks, or even dessert. This is truly the best sourdough banana bread made with 1/2 cup of sourdough discard. So what are you waiting for? Grab your ripe bananas and get ready to bake the best banana bread of your life! Just be prepared for your family to ask for seconds!

Important Ingredients in the Best Sourdough Banana Bread

  • Bananas: Brown/black bananas have the most sugar and banana flavor in them. Use the most black/brown bananas you have for the best banana bread.
  • Butter: I always bake with unsalted butter. If you use salted butter instead, decrease the salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon.
  • Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds moisture and a sweet depth of flavor. I prefer it to white sugar in banana bread.
  • Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt gives this banana bread the perfect crumb. Substitute sour cream or plain yogurt if you don’t have Greek yogurt on hand.
  • Vegetable Oil: Any neutral-flavored oil will work in this banana bread.
  • Sourdough Discard: Use 100% hydration sourdough discard. For less tang, use fresh discard. For more tang, use discard that’s been sitting in the refrigerator for up to a week.
  • Flour: I use all-purpose flour in this recipe. You can substitute half whole wheat/half all purpose flour if you wish. I’ve also made this successfully with soft white wheat flour, freshly milled and it’s delicious!

Mixing Together Ingredients for the Best Sourdough Banana Bread

Start by mashing up ripe bananas with a potato masher and mixing them with melted butter and brown sugar until fully combined. Add in eggs, greek yogurt, vegetable oil, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract and mix until the batter is smooth. Don’t worry if there are still some banana chunks! Now, you can either mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) in a separate bowl or add them directly on top of the liquid ingredients. Fluff the baking soda and salt in with the flour, then mix everything together until you see a few dry streaks.

Sourdough Banana Bread Mix-Ins

Looking for a delicious twist on classic banana bread? Try adding mini chocolate chips to the batter! Your kids will love the sweet combination of banana and chocolate. In my younger years, I used to go overboard with the chocolate chips and make more of a chocolate banana bread. But now, I’ve found the perfect balance with just a sprinkle of mini chips that complement the banana bread flavor. Don’t like chocolate chips? No problem! You can also try adding chopped nuts or leave them out altogether for a simpler banana bread recipe. Whether you’re looking for a fun twist on a classic recipe or just want to add a little something extra to your banana bread, mini chocolate chips are a delicious option to try.

Prepare the Pan for the Best Sourdough Banana Bread

This sourdough banana bread bakes best in a 9 by 5 pan. If you don’t have that size, you can use a slightly smaller pan, but you’ll want to add some baking time and watch so the batter doesn’t overflow the pan. Prepare the pan with parchment paper. I put the parchment paper on top of the pan and cut the corners out. This makes it super simple to press the parchment into the pan. Spoon the sourdough banana bread batter into the parchment-lined pan.

Baking the Best Sourdough Banana Bread

Want to know the trick to getting a nice high-domed bakery-style banana bread top? Bake the banana bread at a high heat (425ºF in this case) for the first 10 minutes. The high heat reacts with the baking soda in the recipe and gives the tall, domed loaf that you would find at a bakery. I’ve used this technique with great results in these amazing chocolate chip muffins, this sourdough zucchini bread and our favorite applesauce bread. After ten minutes, reduce the temperature to 350ºF and continue baking for 45-55 minutes until baked all the way through.

Banana Bread, Banana Muffins or Mini Banana Muffins

This banana bread recipe is versatile and convenient, yielding one loaf of sourdough banana bread or twenty-four regular-sized muffins. These muffin tins, which I love and recommend, require no greasing. I often make banana bread muffins instead of the traditional loaf for packed lunches and a quick breakfast option. This Sourdough Banana Bread recipe also works well for mini muffins when you crave just a bite of something sweet. It’s an all-around perfect sourdough banana bread recipe. If you’re looking for banana bread without the sourdough discard, this recipe is another fantastic option. You really can’t go wrong with either one.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you store leftover banana bread?

After about 24 hours I slice the banana bread and stick it in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Then I’ll freeze the banana bread for up to 3 months. We pull out slices to put in school lunches or enjoy for breakfast on busy weekday mornings.

I want to gift this. Can I make this banana bread in mini bread tins?

After about 24 hours I slice the banana bread and stick it in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Then I’ll freeze the banana bread for up to 3 months. We pull out slices to put in school lunches or enjoy for breakfast on busy weekday mornings.

How long do I bake these as muffins instead of banana bread?

This recipe bakes up great as regular muffins or mini muffins.
Banana Muffins: Recipe makes about 24 muffins. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake muffins for 5 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 15-16 minutes until baked all the way through.
Mini Banana Muffins: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake mini muffins for 4 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 8-10 minutes until baked through.

Can I use frozen bananas in banana bread?

Yes. When I have a brown/black banana, I peel it and stick it in my freezer. Once I have three bananas, I’ll make this banana bread. Defrost the bananas to use them or use the defrost feature on your microwave to thaw them before using in the recipe.

Looking for more great quick bread recipes?

The Best Sourdough Banana Bread

The Best Sourdough Banana Bread

Amy
Are you searching for the best sourdough banana bread? Look no further! After years of making banana bread, I've finally developed a recipe that I absolutely love. It's moist, flavorful, and easy to make, including a whole bunch of sourdough discard. This will be your new favorite banana bread!
5 from 6 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Bread, Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 1 9 by 5 loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 3 ripe brown/black bananas 330 grams, see recipe notes
  • 55 grams unsalted butter, melted about 4 Tablespoons
  • 180 grams packed brown sugar about 1 cup
  • 2 large eggs
  • 45 grams vegetable oil about 1/4 cup
  • 120 grams plain greek yogurt about 1/3 cup, see recipe notes
  • 4 grams vanilla extract about 1 teaspoon
  • 120 grams sourdough discard, 100% hydration see recipe notes, about 1/2 cup
  • 265 grams all purpose flour about 1 3/4 cups
  • 5 grams salt about 1 teaspoon
  • 4 grams baking soda about 1 teaspoon
  • 130 grams mini chocolate chips or other mix-ins, about 3/4 cup

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease or line with parchment paper a 9 by 5 panaffiliate link (see recipe note for muffin instructions). Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
  • Mash the brown bananas in a medium-sized bowl. It's okay if you have a few little chunks of banana. Add melted butter and brown sugar. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until incorporated.
  • Add eggs, vegetable oil, yogurt, sourdough discard and vanilla. Mix together until fairly smooth–you will still have some small chunks of banana
  • Add the flour to the top of the bowl (or mix the dry ingredients together in a smaller bowl). Add the salt and baking soda right on top of the flour and carefully fluff together (not letting any of the baking soda or salt leave the bowl as you mix). Mix until the flour is just incorporated and only a few dry streaks remain.
  • Add mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts or dried fruit if desired and lightly mix.
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
  • Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. After ten minutes, lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 45-55 minutes until baked all the way through. Stick a sharp knife or toothpick into the center of the banana bread. If it comes out clean (with no batter sticking to it), it is ready to pull out of the oven.
  • Allow to cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!

Notes

Sourdough Discard: Use 100% hydration sourdough discard. For less tang, use fresh discard. For more tang, use discard that’s been sitting in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Greek Yogurt: If you don’t have plain Greek yogurt, you can substitute sour cream or plain yogurt.
Loaf Pan: This recipe works best in a 9 by 5 loaf pan. If you only have a 4.5 by 8.5 pan, it will work, but may overflow just a bit. You will also want to add 10-20 minutes to the bake time if you use a smaller loaf pan.
Banana Muffins: Recipe makes about 24 muffins. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake muffins for 5 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 15-16 minutes until baked all the way through.
Mini Banana Muffins: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake mini muffins for 4 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 8-10 minutes until baked through.
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Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

12 Comments

  1. Mmmmmm! 🍌 🍞 😍😋

  2. Hi! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I’m always looking for sourdough recipes so I am looking forward to baking this bread. However, i have a question. According to their website, 1 cup of King Arthur’s All purpose flour (APF) weighs 120 grams. General Google searches say 125 grams per cup of APF. The recipe above specifies ‘265 grams of APF, about 1 3/4 cup’, which is equivalent to 151 grams per cup of APF. There’s a discrepancy. I’m not sure whether to use 265 grams (about 2.2 cups of flour using KA’s conversion factor).

    Then I looked up your best banana bread and it called for 2 cups of flour and the other ingredients were the same as the recipe above. please clarify the amount of flour to use.

    Thank you!!
    Jane

    • Many people measure flour fairly differently depending on the way a person scoops—part of the reason it’s better to use a scale than measure by volume. My scoops are typically around 150 grams per cup. I am trying to go back and add grams/weight measurements to all my recipes but haven’t been able to fix/add weight measurements to all of them yet.

    • As far as the discrepancy, that is because I had to account for the sourdough discard—less flour is needed when you are adding it discard (because it has flour in the discard).

      • So I should weigh 265 g and ignore the 1 3/4 cup, since the weight is more accurate?
        I’ll try it…thanks.
        Jane

      • Yes the weight is accurate. I put the cups on there because people ask for them. And while many sites say 1 cup is 120 grams (usually they are talking about sifted flour) there are also websites that say 140 or 150. That’s why I prefer using weight measurements because it’s much more accurate. I am trying to get all my recipes converted over but it’s a process 🙃

  3. 5 stars
    I tried this recipe today with fresh discard. What an amazing bread it turned out to be! Soft, yummy and ticking all the boxes. Thank you for this gem !

  4. 5 stars
    Amy, this is an amazing recipe! I used fresh discard, and it turned out amazing. My regular banana breads turn ok, but this one is over the top. Thank you! I will only use this recipe from now on. Next time, double batch. I hope it freezes well.

  5. Suzanne B

    5 stars
    This banana bread is so easy to make and so delicious! The texture and the flavor are extraordinary! The sourdough discard really works its magic with this recipe. Thank you for sharing the recipe, Amy!

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