Best Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe Made with Active Starter

If you’re a fan of sourdough and banana bread, get ready for a delightful surprise! Combining the unique tanginess of sourdough with the sweet, comforting flavor of banana bread creates a deliciously moist and flavorful treat that’s perfect for any time of day. Whether you’re an experienced baker or just starting your sourdough journey, this recipe is a fantastic way to use up overripe bananas and give your sourdough starter a new twist. Join me as we explore the steps to creating this mouthwatering fusion and discover why this sourdough banana bread recipe deserves a spot in your baking repertoire.

Background & Inspiration

When I was first getting my starter (lovingly named Doughja Cat) going, I asked my husband what kind of baked goods he’d want me to bake. The only idea that came to mind was banana bread.

As a longtime lover of banana pudding and banana bread, he insisted that it needed to be one of the first things I made. I can’t say I objected, as I’m a sucker for getting a warmed-up slice of banana walnut and pecan bread whenever I go to Starbucks! This is a top sourdough recipe for us.

The main reason behind my sourdough journey is to make food where I can control the ingredients; being purposeful in selecting ingredients that are better for my family’s health. As I’m writing this, I looked up the ingredients for Starbucks’ banana bread and I’m not surprised to see seed oils, enriched flour, natural flavors, and soy.

BANANAS, ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR [WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], SUGAR, SOYBEAN AND / OR CANOLA OIL, EGGS, WALNUTS, PECANS, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SEA SALT, SODIUM BICARBONATE, BAKING POWDER [SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, CORNSTARCH, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE], NATURAL FLAVOR, SPICE, SOY LECITHIN.

Starbucks’ Banana Walnut & Pecan Loaf

This recipe is a great way to take control of your health by making food at home with quality ingredients. This sourdough banana bread is an easy recipe and is great with your coffee, or to wrap up as a gift for friends and family. This rivals classic banana bread by there being a perfect balance of banana flavor with tangy sourdough, while still being a sweet bread. I would take sourdough banana bread over regular banana bread any day!

Looking for more sourdough baked good recipes? Try my overnight sourdough cinnamon rolls or my sourdough discard pumpkin scones!

@renaissance.alana

Sourdough banana bread🍌🐒 #sourdough #baking #bananabread #activestarter

♬ In the Mood – Glenn Miller

Tools

• Hand Mixer (no stand mixer necessary)
• Glass Mixing Bowls
• 9×5 Bread Pan
• Wire Rack

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Overripe Bananas: I shop for organic bananas and then leave them on the counter to brown. You can also stick them in the oven for 10-15 minutes to get them brown.

Brown Sugar: I used light brown sugar, but you can use dark brown sugar too!

Eggs: I used pasture-raised eggs that were at room temperature.

Active Sourdough Starter: Use an active sourdough starter that is bubbly and recently fed.

Vanilla Extract: Vanilla is the perfect complement for extra flavor.

Olive Oil: You can switch out for your preferred oil. I personally don’t recommend vegetable oil because we don’t use seed oils in our house.

Milk: I used raw milk, but you can use pasteurized milk too.

Butter: I buy my butter in bulk from Sam’s Club since I do a lot of baking. Salt is my kryptonite, so I use salted butter. Feel free to use unsalted butter! I use softened butter for greasing the pan, but you can use melted butter too.

Dry Ingredients

All-Purpose Flour: I like to use King Arthur All-Purpose Flour for baking, but my homemade sourdough starter is made with whole wheat flour. You could switch out the AP flour for whole wheat for a grainer textured blondie. Bread flour can be substituted here as well.

Baking Soda

Salt: If you haven’t tried Redmond’s Real Salt, you’re missing out!

(Optional) Chocolate Chips: Enjoy Life Baking Chocolate is by far my favorite choice for chocolate chips. They have no allergens, only unsweetened chocolate, cane sugar, and cocoa butter. I’m surprised by how many chocolate chips include soy! You can switch out for semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks.

How to Make Sourdough Banana Bread

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 inch bread loaf pan with butter or oil. I use a mini silicone spatula to spread softened butter in the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, add very ripe bananas (use bananas that are yellow and brown) and mash them with a fork. I used about 3 1/2 bananas. Add the brown sugar and vanilla extract to the bowl. Cream with a hand mixer until mixed well with small lumps of banana.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in between. Add your active, fed sourdough starter and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt with a whisk.

Add the dry ingredients to the banana-sugar mixture, 1/3 at a time, fully incorporating before adding more.

Add the milk and oil. Mix until just combined; avoid overmixing.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. If you’re like me and have to split mix-ins, I pour half the batter and add mix-ins (chocolate chips, nuts, etc.). Then, I pour the other half of the batter, adding more mix-ins on top. Half of my banana bread loaf had chocolate chips!

Add the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 60 minutes. Baking time may be longer if you’re at a higher altitude (it took me 70 minutes at 7,000ft). Stick a toothpick in the center of the bread, and if it comes out clean, then the bread is good to go!

Let the bread cool in the pan for 30 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. This will keep the bread from falling apart.

Once completely cool, slice and serve! Enjoy the best sourdough banana bread you’ve ever had! Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.