This sourdough discard banana bread comes together super fast, is wonderfully moist, downright tasty, and is an easy way to use sourdough starter discard. The added sourdough starter brings a slight tang to the flavor profile, complementing the rich and sweet components. I love this recipe because the ingredients are flexible and include staples I always have on hand—a baker’s banana bread if you will.
Banana bread is something I had at least once a month growing up. A family of four always seems to have excess bananas on hand, you know, those in the kitchen that are so black and mushy no one ever touches them. Well, these are the bananas you want to use for this banana bread. Grab the darkest, mushiest, ripest bananas you have (or, stash some in the kitchen and wait a week until they’re perfect).
As you see below, I love using my Staub cast iron loaf pan to make banana bread because the cast iron gives it a thin but perceptible crust with just a little crunch. Plus, it cleans up so, so easy.
But let’s rewind for a second and look at how banana bread came to be. I mean, if you think about it, I’m not sure I could have been the first person to say, “Hey, let’s try banana in this bread.” It’s a strange concept when you step back a moment, but gosh, it works so well.
A Short (But Interesting) History of Banana Bread
Banana bread is a sweet, moist, quick bread made with mashed-up bananas, a fruit from Southeast Asia’s tropics (I mean, we all know what bananas are!). In the 18th and 19th centuries, bananas were considered a luxury good in the continental United States, which makes sense. They grew far away, and transporting them was costly. It was not until the early 20th century that the American-owned United Fruit Company began importing bananas from Latin America, making them more accessible.
Banana bread is generally thought to have gained popularity in the early 1930s. It’s often said that the quick bread gained traction during the Great Depression, a way to use overripe bananas at a time when food waste was avoided at all costs. Additionally, since bananas have a high sugar content and are sweet, they’re a fantastic swap for white sugar.
The invention and rise of baking powder also contributed to the growing popularity of banana bread. During the early 1930s, baking powder became more accessible, allowing cooks and bakers to experiment with new baking techniques and leaven baked goods without a sourdough starter or yeast. This new category of quick breads included banana bread.
Today, banana bread is as American as can be. Chances are you’re like me with a parent (hey, mom!) or grandparent who made it often on the weekends. It’s a classic quick bread whose simplicity and resourcefulness have made it a staple in almost every American kitchen.
What Sourdough Starter Discard Do I Use?
For this banana bread, use a ripe sourdough starter: It has fermented for some number of hours (overnight for me), smells slightly sour, is bubbly on top and at the sides, and has a looser consistency than when you first fed it.
If you keep a sourdough starter discard cache in the refrigerator, like I do, you’ll always have ripe discard at the ready for making this banana bread!
Add Moisture with Olive Oil
I’m not sure if olive oil is a common ingredient in banana bread or not, but I add it here much like I’d add it to sourdough bread: it brings richness, moisture, and softness. The olive oil is key to helping this banana bread stay moist.
The olive oil is key to helping this banana bread stay moist.
Turn This Banana Bread into Zucchini Bread
Zucchini may not immediately sound like a great addition to a sweet quick bread, but trust me, in the heat of summer when zucchini is growing like a weed, this is what you’ll turn to.
Since zucchini has an incredible amount of moisture, and when shredded, it acts much like banana does, bringing lots of moisture and softness to whatever it’s mixed into.
To turn this banana bread into zucchini bread, omit the banana and add 300g shredded zucchini (I use my steel box grater to grate the zucchini). Instead of blending the sourdough starter with the banana, add the starter to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Add the zucchini to the egg mixture just before folding in the flour.
How Is This Different From The Banana Bread in Your Cookbook?
In my sourdough cookbook, I have a recipe for starter discard banana bread I call “Banana Bread 2.0.” It’s an evolution of this recipe, which has been up at The Perfect Loaf for almost as long as the site has existed (10 years!). I’ve modified that recipe to align with what I can remember my mom baking for us as kids.
They’re both wonderful recipes, you can’t go wrong making either 🙂
Print
Baker’s Sourdough Discard Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 bread
- Category: Breakfast, Snack, Lunch
- Cuisine: American
Description
This banana bread made with sourdough starter discard is an easy—and tasty—way to use extra sourdough starter. You’ll find this quick bread is your go-to for lazy weekends and any time you want a quick treat!
Ingredients
- 240g (2 cups) all-purpose white flour, spelt, whole wheat, einkorn, or a mix
- 3g (1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
- 3g (1/2 teaspoon) fine sea salt
- 125g (1 cup) chopped walnuts (and/or pecans), plus a handful more for the topping
- 113g(1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, at room temperature
- 100g (1/2 cup lightly packed) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 125g (3/4 cup, stirred down) sourdough starter discard
- 42g (2 tablespoons) honey
- 4 (about 365g) super ripe and mashed bananas
- 28g (2 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil
- 4g (1 teaspoon) vanilla
- zest of 1 lemon (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl mix a handful of chopped walnuts and a few pinches of sugar. Set aside to be used as the topping later.
- In another bowl (or a stand mixer), cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. While mixing, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add sourdough starter, honey, mashed bananas, vanilla, and olive oil.
- Fold the flour mixture into the wet, pausing to scrape down the sides if necessary. Then, fold in the remaining walnuts and lemon zest. Pour the batter into the 9” x 5” baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle on the reserved chopped walnuts and sugar.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes until the internal temperature in the middle is 200-205°F (93-96°C). Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove to a wire rack to thoroughly cool.
- This banana bread will stay moist for days after baking, but be sure to wrap it in bees wax wrap, a kitchen towel, or place it inside a closed container to prevent much moisture loss.
Notes
To turn this banana bread into zucchini bread, omit the banana and add 300g shredded zucchini. Add the shredded zucchini to the egg mixture just before folding in the flour.
Instead of walnuts, try pecans or slivered almonds, or leave the nuts out entirely.
What’s Next?
If you’re looking for more sourdough starter discard treats, check out my top 3 starter discard recipes (think: waffles, pancakes, oh my!).
Or, see all of our sourdough starter discard recipes for more inspiration.
41 Comments
How do I find the nutrition info for this recipe?
Hello – for the discard: is it 3/4 cup or 125g of starter? 125g is only half a cup… I really love the ingredients and hope to make it soon. Thank you
Any timing/temp suggestions for making this in muffin tins instead. My husbands coworkers enjoyed the bread but it would be more convenient if made into muffins. Thanks
Made the 2.0 version from the book and it was 10/10, according to my husband the best banana bread I've ever made.
hi is it possible to ferment overnight for this recipe?
You likely could, but I would do it in the fridge so eggs are not left out overnight.
I really want to learn to make a good banana bread, but I'm not having the success others have reported I used the recipe in the Perfect Loaf book, I used a glass loaf pan 9x4x4 and followed the instructions exactly, I tried loading an image with this message, but it didn't load. The bottom half of the loaf has no air its like hard gel.
What have I done wrong, ?
The glass pan is your issue, Rose. Switch to a metal or cast iron pan!
Love the recipe. Do you see any issues – or should I rather say potential – in letting this ferment a little before baking? Let’s say overnight in the fridge? I would assume that makes it better digestible and increases flavour. Any experience with that?
It could definitely work, Andre. I would give it a try (and if you do, report back before I do!).
My new favorite banana bread recipe! First time I was making it I didn’t have the vanilla extract but I had the almond extract, and added it. And it turned out so good, I’ve been adding it every time now, it works so well, especially with the lemon. Delicious!
This is a great idea and I'm not sure why I haven't tried it yet!
I was looking for a recipe to use my sourdough discard and bananas, as I did not like food waste. I was scrolling through the pictures of banana breads, and I had already eliminated a couple of recipes from blogs that I usually follow. I like that recipe uses honey and olive oil, as I usually bake my sourdough breads with these ingredients to make them flavourful and soft. The recipe calls for 4 bananas, but I only had 2, so I added 125g of fruit yogurt to compensate for volume. This banana bread expanded nearly 100% during baking and turned out even better than I expected. Very fluffy, spongy, light, and perfectly moist. I also covered it with chocolate ganache to complement the banana flavor. I highly recommend this recipe. Enjoy your baking!
Appreciate the feedback and comments Anna. Great work on the subs, too.
Can you sub maple syrup for the honey? Thanks!
I do and it comes out great. I don't like to heat honey.
Yes, absolutely.
Made the 2.0 recipe and it will now be my "go to" banana bread recipe. This weekend, I'm going to try it subbing pumpkin for the banana… as fall is in the air!
Happy to report that this worked very well. I added chopped pecans and mini-chocolate chips. Next time, will try cranberries.
So glad you liked it, Courtney!
How did it turn out substituting pumpkin for the bananas?
I actually worked off the one in your book and made it into Zoonannie Bread. 1/2 Zuchinni and 1/2 banana. I squeezed the zucchini in a towel to remove some of the moisture. Then, because it was getting late, I left it in the strainer overnight. Probably didn't make a big difference. Then, I upped the spiced, included ginger and nutmeg. I also added whole wheat as half the ap flour. It is awesome! I'll be making again!
Whoa, a mix of zucch and banana?! Why Didnt I think of that… Going to try this ASAP 🙂
A wonderful update to your earlier version of banana bread! IMO, perfect as written. Moist, not too sweet, and the lemon zest really brightens the flavor. Next time, may cut sugar to ⅓ cup. If that works, will experiment with ¼ cup.
So glad you enjoyed it Virginia! Thanks for the comments 🙂
Just finished my first slice of this awesome banana bread. Topped it w/whipped cream cheese. Just replaced my former best banana bread recipe — with this one. Time for another slice! THANK YOU!!!
Huge compliment, thank you!
I made this today, using zucchini instead of banana at your suggestion. I added 1/4 tspn ground cardamon and 1 tspn mixed spice. I used 1/3 white flour, 1/3 white spelt and 1/3 wholemeal. I used maple syrup instead of honey. It is absolutely delicious.
Thanks so much for a great recipe Mauritziol
Sounds just fantastic, Erica! Glad you enjoyed this one.
I've been trying different sourdough banana bread recipes and I'm happy to report, my search is over! This will be the banana bread of our future!
Wonderful flavor – not too sweet! Perfect crisp/crunch to the crust with tender inside.
I happened to have lemon infused olive oil so I used that instead of lemon zest and I'd definitely repeat that if I still have that oil left next time!
I left the walnuts out of the mix and just sprinkled the sugared chopped walnuts on top before baking.
Took me 70 min bake time but my loaf pan (nonstick, thick metal) always gives me a longer bake time.
Oooh I love the mods Cari. Walnuts glossed up like that, great move. Super happy you liked this one and thanks for the comments!
This tasted incredible. The bread was perfectly moist and sweet. The lemon really takes it to the next level. I added sour cream and cinnamon and it was heavenly. This has become a favorite. Thank you!
Happy you like it, Rebekah!
Excellent recipe. Easy recipe, the Banana bread was moist, tasty and not overly sweet. My go to banana bread recipe for sure.
Right on, Marina!
Made this today & it turned out beautifully. Added a touch of Mace to the batter, for a whisper of extra flavor. It is a nice moist bread and terrific way to use some discard. Thanks, Maurizio
Oh I haven't tried that. Next up 🙂
Just starting to explore your site. It’s great. Question for you. This is a discard recipe yet it calls for a ripe discard, a few hours or overnight. Then it says if you a sourdough discard cache, you’ll always it available. Are you feeding/refreshing the starter and leaving it out possibly overnight to be used in this recipe?? Can’t wait to try it. Thanks. Jeff
Thanks so much Jeff! You can use any ripe starter you have to make this bread. That is, starter you'd normally either use for baking or scooping out when feeding your starter.
I also say you can use your discard cache. This is what I call starter discard I keep in a jar in the fridge. Here's more about that:
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/my-sourdough-starter-cache-how-i-keep-discard-for-weeks/
Hi! This is lovely, i already made zucchini bread two times in a row! How can I make this a pumpkin bread?
Amazing, Ioana, glad to hear you like it! You could mix in some pumpkin puree instead of the mashed bananas.
Or, you can try a long rising pumpkin bread, like this one:
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/pumpkin-cinnamon-sourdough-bread/