Banana bread is a comfort food classic. My secret is plenty of brown sugar, overripe bananas, and a specific mixing order for the ultimate sourdough banana bread.
If you’re a sourdough bread baker, you’re going to appreciate this recipe. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of sampling the most delicious banana bread. It came from The Boathouse restaurant, a fantastic beachside spot in Manly, Australia. I couldn’t get over how remarkably soft, sweet and scrumptious it was. The texture was like velvet.
At the time, I didn’t ask for the recipe, so I searched online until I found it. And now, my version is yours: one with sourdough and one without. Both are incredible.
What Makes This The Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread?
First, it uses all brown sugar. No white at all.
When combined with perfectly overripe bananas and pure vanilla extract, it creates the most exquisite caramel flavor. It will blow you away.
Second, the ingredients are mixed in a specific order.
Typically, when making a quick bread like this you’d simply combine the wet and dry ingredients and call it a day.
But here, you’ll cream a portion of the wet ingredients first, then add the dry ingredients, followed by the milk and olive oil.
Weird? Weird.
I was definitely hesitant about this at first (the batter looks totally strange when you get to the oil part).
But upon further research, this particular mixing order is the science behind its velvety soft texture.
Third, there’s no cinnamon in this sourdough banana bread.
And I don’t miss it!
Cinnamon is strong, and the lack of it really lets that caramel flavor shine though.
Finally, I added bubbly, active sourdough starter to the original recipe.
I wanted to see if adding bubbly, active starter as opposed to leftover starter discard would increase the rise… and it did!
Alternatively, you can use leftover discard instead. It just won’t rise as high.
Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe: Step by Step
Grab Your Ingredients
Ok, so you know the drill: measure out everything before you begin.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (that’s not a typo).
Baking the sourdough banana bread 10 degrees higher than 350 F gives the bread a nice lift.
You’ll also need a stand mixer or electric hand held mixer.
Butter Your Loaf Pans
Typically, I’d bake this sourdough banana bread in a traditional 9×5-inch loaf pan.
I’m using three 7x3x2-inch mini loaf pans instead. I like to freeze them individually. So cute!
Coat nicely with softened butter.
Mix the Ingredients
Start by creaming the brown sugar, vanilla and bananas together. Don’t bother to slice the bananas, just break them up by hand.
Then add the eggs and the sourdough starter. Followed by the flour, baking soda and salt.
Now add the oil & milk…
The liquids will not blend in right away. Just keep mixing on low speed until completely absorbed.
Bake the Banana Bread
Place the loaf pans onto a sheet pan and transfer it to the oven.
Bake on the center rack until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool before serving.
Bottom Line?
Friends, please look no further!
This sourdough banana bread is truly unique.
It’s soft, sweet, and packed with comfort and flavor (everyone always asks for the recipe when I make it!).
Take a cue from The Boathouse and serve it with salted butter or mascarpone cheese for a decadent treat. But plain is fine too!
More Sourdough Discard Recipes You’ll Love!
- Sourdough Discard 101: Recipes & Faqs Answered
- Best Sourdough Zucchini Bread
- Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes
- Cinnamon Sugar Sourdough Waffles
Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf or 3 mini loaves
- Category: Sourdough Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Banana bread is a comfort food classic. My secret is plenty of brown sugar, overripe bananas, and a specific mixing order for the ultimate sourdough banana bread. Recipe adapted from The Boathouse restaurant in Manly, Australia.
Notes:
Out of sourdough starter? You can still make this recipe (and it’s delicious!). Increase the milk to 125 ml (1/2 cup) total.
You will need a standard 9×5-inch loaf pan or three 7x3x2 mini loaf pans for baking.
Ingredients
- Butter, for coating the pan
- 375 g overripe bananas (appx. 1 1/2 cups lightly smashed)
- 225 g (1 1/4 cups lightly packed) light or dark brown sugar
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 100 g (appx. 1/2 cup) bubbly, active sourdough starter
- 250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 125ml (½ cup) neutral flavored oil
- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
- Powdered sugar, butter, and mascarpone cheese for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360 F.
- Lightly coat three 7x3x2 mini loaf pans or one 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter.
- Add the bananas, sugar, and vanilla to a bowl. Cream with a hand held mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, about 30 seconds to 1 minute (some small lumps of banana are okay).
- Add the eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. Add the sourdough starter.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl. Working in batches, add this to the banana mixture.
- Add the milk and oil and mix until just combined. Do not over do it; the banana bread will be tough.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). If using the mini loaf pans, place them onto a baking sheet and transfer to the oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes (for the mini loaf pans) or 60- 65 minutes (for the standard 9×5-inch pan), until rich golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cover with foil if the loaf browns too quickly.
- Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve with powdered sugar for a nice touch!
Keywords: sourdough banana bread, banana bread, easy banana bread, boathouse banana bread
Comments
Swati says
Thank you for this recipe! I was looking for something new in which I could use my discarded starter. The starter was only a week old and the muffins came out fluffy. The only change I made was I used frozen bananas and swapped the amounts of milk and olive oil (after reading the comments). I also used baking cups so it’s easy to pack and share.
It turned out perfect! I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
★★★★★
Kari says
This turned out terrific. I used olive oil.
★★★★★
Marita says
I loved this recipe! I modified slightly by using half whole wheat flour, adding chopped pecans and chocolate chunks at the end, and baking as muffins, yielding 18. They were absolutely divine. I live at 7,000 feet, fyi, and I never measure my bananas very carefully, but I always use about four of the very ripe frozen bananas, that inhabit the freezer. And my sourdough starter is very happy. Oh, and I used olive oil.
My son and I thank you for this recipe!
★★★★★
Trayk14 says
This turned out really good! I used coconut oil and added cacao nibs and walnuts because I love that. Couple things I would change in the future (was afraid to mess with it due to first time using sourdough starter): 1. would use MUCH less sugar (maybe none, just a bit of maple syrup). Would love to know if I would need less liquid if I leave out the sugar? I find that bananas are so sweet they don’t need a lot more.
2. Less oil. Tasted great but a little oily. Perhaps coconut oil is greasier but felt it could be lighter with less oil (the bread is airy but HEAVY to hold).
Otherwise LOVED it and was so happy at my first stab at using my Sourdough starter for banana bread. What a difference! Much yummier. thank you!
★★★★
Casey says
Hi, I read the diff between using baking soda and baking powder is that baking soda needed an acid product to go with it to leaven the mixture.
May I know the rationale for the use of baking soda (rather than using baking powder – which has tartar in it) since there is no acidic ingredients in your recipe ?
Maz says
The acidic component is the sourdough starter.
Ya-Ru says
Excellent recipe! I keep buying bananas to make sure I have ripe bananas ready when I finished my bread so I can make it straightaway!!
I have been using spelt flour. I first use sunflower oil, my partner said it taste oily (I didn’t agree). This time I used coconut oil instead, and I like it.
I have been thinking about replacing flour or some with some almond meal, just want to try some different flavour.
★★★★★
Jen says
Umm….I made this and replaced the banana with pureed pumpkin and lots of spices and it was the best pumpkin bread I have ever had….thank you!!!
★★★★★
Jenn says
This recipe just didn’t work out for me. It smelled heavenly while baking, but it was heavy and oily with a cake-like texture. I tented foil over the top because it was browning way faster than it was cooking. I used a scale to weigh out ingredients but cut the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup. The flavor was ok, but i was really disappointed in the texture.
★★
Emilie Raffa says
Oh no! Bummer. It shouldn’t be heavy or oily at all. I’m happy to troubleshoot, but I’m honestly not sure what went wrong (especially since you weighed your ingredients). Sounds like there was too much liquid in relation to the amount of flour.
Sarah says
Wow!!! This was the best I’ve ever had!!!
★★★★★
Yvette says
This is one of my favorite go to sourdough banana bread recipes. It is a no fail recipe just remember not to overmix when adding the oil and milk at the end. I would recommend this recipe to others.
Emilie Raffa says
Thanks Yvette!
LR says
I would like to make this recipe, but want to bake it fresh in the morning. How do you think it would do mixing the batter the night before and then baking fresh in the morning? Would you make an modifications to how you make the batter if I was going to try this?
Dolly says
I’ve made this recipe twice and it is delicious!
I make sourdough bread once week so I always have starter.
This banana bread is the best!
★★★★★
Rene says
Very soft/fluffy bread. Loved it with a big spread of peanut butter. It lasted just over a week and still stayed moist (ps could be the very ripe bananas I used)
★★★★★
Renee says
Hello! This recipe was so delicious! My 12 year old ate like 6 in a row lol. So fluffy and sweet. I love all of your recipes from your cookbook. Especially the country white loaf I make every single week! Everything is just fabulous.
THANK YOU!
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Excellent! Thanks so much Renee!! Compliments from 12 yr olds are like gold ;)
LJG says
My husband liked this, but said it was more like banana cake than banana bread. He’s not a huge sweet tooth so it wasn’t AS preferable to him (but he did still enjoy it!) Did I make a mistake for it to turn out that way?? (I’m allergic to bananas so I didn’t try it myself)
Emilie Raffa says
Hi there! It depends on how you define banana cake… was it the texture? The sweetness? Thanks!
LJG says
Texture, is what he said.
Lorri says
This is absolutely delicious! Doubled the recipe and loved how the brown sugar and banana caramelize and the banana flavor shines through. Used coconut oil and will try adding some cardamom next time for subtle spiciness. Did not experience the rapid browning like others mentioned but weighed my ingredients and made sure my pans were in the very middle of the oven.
★★★★★
Meg says
This is tasty, but the top baked way faster than the middle. I turned down the temp to 350 and trimmed off brown corners when the center was still complete liquid. I’m wondering if this is because of the large amount of oil?
★★★★
Penny says
I notice she hasn’t replied to this comment. I wish I had read your question before baking. Mine is still in the oven but is already burnt looking on top, I opened the door to put foil over it after reading your comment. I’m also dubious about the conversion rate for the banana from Cups to grams, it seems an awful lot?
Emilie Raffa says
H Meg! This can happen sometimes depending on if you weighed or measured your ingredients. This is because volume to metric conversions are not exact, only approximate. Next time, weigh your ingredients if you have a kitchen scale. If not, cut back on the liquid in the recipe to make up for variance in measuring cup sizes and conversion approximations. Also: what size is your loaf pan: 9×5 or 8×4? If using the smaller loaf pan, the bread will need more time in the oven. Hope this helps!
Autum Wieder says
Wow… what a winner!! So light and happy and moist!! So good! I added a scoop of my fav collagen from UMZU and used coconut oil for added sweetness! Definitely will be saving this recipe!🙌🏼🙌🏼
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Ooo, coconut oil sounds delicious! Yum! Glad you enjoyed it Autum.
George says
Can you add nuts to the Sourdough Banana Bread & if so how much would you recommend? It is the most moist banana bread we have had.
★★★★★
Samantha says
My starter is about 90% hydration, can never get it to rise at 100%. Do you think it will make much of a difference?
Emilie Raffa says
Samantha, that’s totally fine. The hydration % doesn’t have to be exact (you’re close enough anyways). I’ve indicated that 100% is best for this recipe due to its texture, which is not too thin or thick.
Michelle says
I have a wonderful sourdough starter, so I decided to use it in banana bread. The results were amazing! Thanks for your recipe and the discussion on the mixing order. It truly is the best banana bread ever!
★★★★★
Michelle says
I’ve been making banana bread and sourdough for years. Stumbled upon this recipe and now it’s my go to favorite. The joining of my two favorite things!! Thank you!!
★★★★★
Jackie says
Love this recipe! Have you tried whole wheat flour in any quantity? I’m wondering if I could do half and half, WW and AP.
★★★★★
Pearl says
Really delicious. I got a skyhigh rise on the two loaves I made. (I had extra bananas perfectly ripe and the perfect amount of sourdough starter so I made two at the same time in one mixer and divided it into two loaves. I was worried it might taste overmixed, but it was fine.) Right from the oven, it had a nice crispy caramelized crunch to the top. Now that it’s a day later, the crunchy top is no longer crunchy, but it’s had time to settle, the banana flavor intensified, and it’s super moist. This will be my go-to banana bread from now on.
Heather says
This is the most amazing, caramely, perfectly textured banana bread I’ve ever had. I’m in love!!!! Thank you for posting this incredible recipe!!!
★★★★★
Derrick R. says
What is the purpose of the baking soda? It needs an acid to activate the leavening agent. I did not see an acid in the ingredients.
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Derrick! Sourdough starters are comprised of both lactic and acetic acids. The baking soda works in conjunction with them.
Casey says
Hi, I realised someone had posted the same question i just did today. Sorry about it.
To your response to his question, would u agree that a discarded starter would have more acids of lactic and acetic compare to an active starter?
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Casey! Typically, it would have more acetic acids which is why you’re discarding it in the first place. But this is not concrete. It could be more lactic. It just depends. Why? Because we each feed and maintain starters differently. Not to mention, sourdough is a living thing so nothing will ever be black and white. For example, my discard might be more lactic than yours depending on how often I feed it, what type of flour I use, the temperature etc.
Anna Tan says
We love it … so moist. Delicious. We added chocolate chips too.
★★★★★
Natalie says
Making this today. I’d like to record it for my channel and give full credit to your page.
★★★★★
Tiffang says
Wow, I just made this. This is the best banana bread I’ve ever had!
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it! xx
Nora says
I made this once and loved it! I’d like to make it again with less sugar so my toddler can eat it. Any sugar substitution suggestions?
Rachel Pauley says
I was wondering about fermentation and what you would recommend. I am letting it sit I overnight at the moment without the baking soda and going to add before cooking. Any suggestions.
Carol says
How did the long fermentation go?
Carol says
Can I use frozen banana? I usually freeze them and make bread when I have time.
★★★★★
Laura says
Carol,
I came to the comments to see if anyone else had used frozen bananas. You are the only comment I see regarding this. Did you ever try this recipe with frozen bananas?
(I have not tried this recipe yet. I have used a few others from this website and they all have turned out wonderful)
Angi says
Hi Emilie – This is a great recipe, much appreciated! I read about roasting bananas for a deeper and more complex banana flavor. I very much liked the results, but since the banana(s) lose a lot of bulk, next time I would use three medium size vs two. I slightly pierced the skin with a folk in a couple of places, and then roasted them at 300 degrees for 25 minutes, on a parchment covered cookie sheet till skins were black. Let cool, cut the ends, slit the long way and scoop the pulp, to add to the mix. Give it a try! :)
Love your Artisan Sourdough Cookbook, but am having trouble finding more than my one copy. I’ve looked high and low……would love to give as gifts. Is a reprint in the works?
Ellen says
SO delicious! Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★★
Brittany says
Delish! Swapped coconut sugar for most of the brown sugar, but followed everything else to a T. Turned out great.
★★★★★
Afelina says
Can I use bread flour?
Emilie Raffa says
Bread flour will work, however the overall texture might change depending on the brand you’re using (more chewy, less tender). Bread flour soaks up more liquid than regular all purpose flour.
Emma says
I made this last week and it’s absolutely brilliant! I decreased the sugar by 50g as I prefer my banana bread less sweet and it was perfect. I was wondering if I wanted to make carrot & banana bread (I have carrot pulp leftover from juicing), do I just add in carrot or would I need to substitute? Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Marian says
Hi Emilie, I am making this today and having measurement issues. Your recipe says 250 g (2 c) flour. My 1-1/2 flour measurement came to 260 g already. I am confused… ~ Marian
Emilie Raffa says
Hi there! The conversion from weight to volume is only approximate (not exact). More specifically: the reason your 1 1/2 cup measure of flour weighs 260g is based on how much flour your packed into the cup. We all do it differently. For example, some bakers lightly fluff, spoon and level the flour into a measuring cup; others scoop, pack and sweep. For best results, use a scale. For reference, most bakers define 125- 130g flour as 1 cup. Hope this helps!
Marian Michenfelder says
Thank you! I used the scale and it turned out delicious!!
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Yay! I’m so glad. Thanks for circling back. Conversions can be so confusing… ;)
Nita says
Did I read somewhere that I can use buttermilk in place of the starter? I don’t do sourdough starter at all.
Victoria says
Hi Emilie,
Can I use non dairy milk in this recipe? If so, what would we correct amount of oat or coconut milk? Thanks!
Sarah says
I made these tonight and oh. my. goodness. Fluffy and delicious!!! I wanted these for snacks for my toddler, so I subbed brown sugar for coconut sugar and I swapped out 1/2 the (coconut) oil for a pouch of no sugar added banana applesauce. I baked them in a popover tin (my muffin tin is missing!!!) for 20-22 minutes and they turned out wonderfully!!! A huge hit that I don’t feel terrible about feeding to my son…if there are any left for him when he wakes up!!! 😂 Next time I may try reducing the sugar a bit and try them in mini muffin tins to make them more toddler snack friendly, but I’m SO glad I found this recipe. Thank you!
★★★★★
Candace Vianna says
I really wanted this to be good. I followed the recipe exactly, weighed every thing out. What I ended up with was a bland inedible loaf with a nice crumb and strong chemical after taste. Perhaps using baking powder instead of baking soda or adding some lemon juice would help.
★★
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Candance! Oh, no! Sorry to hear that. In my experience, when you get a strong after taste like that, something is off with the baking soda and more specifically, how it reacts with the rest of the ingredients. The after taste is usually neutralized from the acidity in your sourdough starter (or say, buttermilk or lemon juice). Going forward, I’d definitely examine your starter’s acidity level first and/or use buttermilk too. Hope this helps! Thanks for your feedback.
Ramona says
Mine cooked up beautifully as well but had the same chemical aftertaste. What do you mean by examine myy starter acidity level. I’m pretty new to this but I did make your sourdough bread last week and it was awesome.
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Ramona! Definitely check your baking soda. This bread shouldn’t have an after taste. Sourdough starters contain acetic and lactic acids. Acetic acids are vinegary (sour) and lactic acids are more “sweet.” You’re looking for a balance of both for best results in sweet sourdough baking. This balance is achieved by feeding your starter often to refresh the acidity levels. More info here, Feeding Sourdough Starter: My Best Tips & Tricks.
Simi says
Delicious 😋 ! I substituted 1/2 cup of the all purpose flour with almond flour. Added chopped walnuts to the mixture in the end and some on the top. The breads came out nice and moist. They were ready in 35 minutes.
Very good recipe
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Simi! I’ve never tried this with almond flour before… sounds delicious! Yum!
Kate says
Looks like I may be in the minority here but I wasn’t impressed with this bread. I have a go to recipe that I normally use but I just started making sourdough starter so I wanted to try using up some of the discard. Followed the recipe to the T, weighed all ingredients, batter looked good. Hardly any rise in the oven, I even had to cut 17 mins off the 60 min baking time and they were still over done. Felt like the bread didn’t really have a lot of flavor and was dry (obviously from over baking). My family felt the same. I’m an avid and experienced baker, so I’m fairly confident I didn’t mess up the recipe. I’m probably just going to play with adding sourdough starter/discard to my regular recipe instead, I wanted this to work though, I don’t have a lot of time for experiments these days.
★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Kate! Thanks for sharing your feedback! I’m curious: did you add the 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda to the batter? Or was the sourdough discard used as the sole leavening agent? If so, that could be the reason it didn’t rise. In any case, adding sourdough to your existing go-to recipe will make it taste wonderful :)
Estrella says
I made this today and it came out really good and moist. Used coco sugar but scaled down to about 100 grams and added 1/2 cup of choc chips, baked at 185C for 50 mins. I have a go-to banana bread recipe but switching to this from today. I am new to sourdough baking. I live in a tropical country (Phils) so I just need 2 to 3 hours for my sourdough to reach its peak.
I have also made your sourdough bread and it was so goood as well!
Thank you Emilie for sharing this.
Emilie Raffa says
Sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing your tips, Estrella! xx
Dani says
Made this with some extra discard and some extra time. Really easy to follow and put together! I ended up having to hold the batter overnight and it cooked fine the next morning. 70 minutes for a 9×5 pan. Shared it fresh at work and it was a hit! Definitely will make it again.
★★★★★
Tony says
Definitely the best banana bread ever! I’ve tried without starter and made door stops. This is now my go to recipe!
★★★★★
Ann says
Excellent Can this recipe be doubled?
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Absolutely! I would make the batter in two separate bowls for best results. Enjoy!
Lauren F says
I’ve made this three times now, and each time has proven to be the only banana bread recipe I’ll ever need. So delicious!
★★★★★
Emily says
Thank you for this recipe! It is consistently a favorite in my home. The sourdough provides a depth that really negates the need for cinnamon or chocolate, etc. We actually prefer this one plain. I rarely alter recipes; usually the only times I do is when sugar is involved. I just want to mention that this banana bread turns out beautifully when I swap 200 grams of coconut sugar or rapadura for the brown sugar.
★★★★★