Make soft, rich, same-day sourdough banana bread at home with active starter or sourdough discard. One bowl. Simple recipe. My secret? All brown sugar, overripe bananas, and a specific mixing order for a velvety soft texture and bold, caramel taste.
I’ve tested hundreds of banana bread recipes in my career and here’s what I know: this is not your average sourdough banana bread. The texture is soft and smooth, like velvet. Everyone asks for the recipe. It’s the only banana bread recipe I make.
The original version comes from The Boathouse restaurant in Manly, Australia, which I adapted to include sourdough. You can use bubbly, active sourdough or sourdough discard– whatever you have is fine.
I like to make this recipe on the same day using leftover discard from fluffy sourdough pancakes, sourdough pasta or even sourdough bread. However, feel free to ferment the batter overnight if you prefer. The texture will only change slightly due to how much the flour absorbs overnight.
Want to bake more? Check out my full collection of sourdough discard recipes here.
What Makes It Ultimate?
- All brown sugar. When combined with perfectly overripe bananas and pure vanilla extract, it creates the most exquisite caramel taste. It will blow you away. No white sugar is used in this recipe.
- Specific mixing 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. I was definitely hesitant about this mixing order (the batter looks totally strange when you get to the oil part). But it’s the science behind the banana bread’s velvety soft texture.
- No cinnamon. Shocking, I know. But your won’t miss it. Cinnamon is lovely but strong and the lack of it really let’s that caramel flavor shine through.
How To make Sourdough Banana Bread {Step-by-Step Recipe}
To Start: Preheat the oven to 360 F (that’s not a typo). Baking at 10 degrees higher than the standard 350 F gives this sourdough banana bread a nice lift. Thn coast your loaf pan with softened butter Normally, I use a 9×5-inch pan. You can also use three 7x3x2 mini loaf pans instead. I like to freeze the little ones individually. So cute!
Next: Add the bananas, brown sugar and vanilla extract to a bowl. Don’t bother slicing the bananas, just break them up by hand. Cream together with a stand mixer or hand held mixer. Add the eggs and the sourdough starter.
Add: The dry ingredients, followed by the milk and oil. The liquids will not blend in right away. Just keep mixing on low speed until completely absorbed. Pour the batter into your prepared pan(s).
To Finish: Place into a sheet pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Plan on 60-65 minutes for a standard loaf pan and 45 minutes for the mini pans. Cool before cutting into thick, sturdy slices.
Final Thoughts:
Friends, please look no further. This sourdough banana bread is truly the very best. It’s soft and moist, packed with caramel-banana flavor in every bit. Take a cue from The Boathouse restaurant and serve it with salted butter or mascarpone cheese for a decadent treat! Then come back and bake my moist sourdough blueberry muffins, these easy, no-roll sourdough scones, sourdough waffles (overnight or same day) and more.
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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 1x
- 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) active sourdough starter or or sourdough discard
- 250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
- 125ml (½ cup) neutral flavored oil
- 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!
Comments
Dana says
Has anyone tried this with butter instead of oil? And how much?
Cheryl Anderson says
So far my favorite banana bread recipe! Don’t feel like I need to look further. I used to use King Aurther recipe, but now I make this one. I do add in a little nutmeg and cinnamon, but without would still be amazing!
Elizabeth says
This was absolutely the best banana bread I’ve ever made or tasted. The family all agreed. Thank you so much for the recipe
Mel says
Can I put sour cream in this recipe?
This is my all time favorite recipe ♥️
Grace says
Does this freeze well? Or can you freeze the batter until it’s ready to bake? Or just refrigerate?
MelanieT47 says
Yes, I make this from frozen ugly bananas, then freeze the banana bread!
Cheis says
Make this so many times . by far the best banana bread recipe the banana breast recipe will rock your world.
Bunda says
This is several times i made this recipe and this time i add chocolate powder 15gr n decrease the flour tp 235gr so it become chocolate banana bread yeay.. i also decrease the sugar to 150gr coz prefer the less sweet annnd its still beautifully sofftt also delicioso.. thanksss🥰
Olivia Beasley says
So Delicious! I cut the sugar in half following this guide and it still was the most delicious and moist banana bread I have had.
Tony Shucosky says
This is my favorite banana bread recipe. I add blueberries to the batter and a cinnamon crumb topping and family and friends go wild for it.
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Meredith says
Made this tripled yesterday and added 2 cups of roughly chopped pecans. I put about 1000 g in each of 4 disposable aluminum pans. Baked all four in the same oven for 65 minutes. Rotated the two lower pans to the upper shelf and vice-versa after 30 minutes. Didn’t need to cover. They turned out perfectly! Thank you!
Melissa A. says
This was incredible! I substituted the milk for buttermilk, and baked it in a buttered and floured angel food cake pan like my Granny use to do. Next time I will try adding chopped nuts.
Meredith says
Good idea on the buttermilk! I did add pecans because we love them, and it turned out great!
CJ says
Just popped this loaf in the oven and I really hope it turns out! 🤞🏼 the batter was a lot runnier than my usual banana bread recipe 😬 I wasn’t sure if that was normal or not. We’ll see!
Allison M says
I’ve tried probably over 100 banana bread recipes, I don’t know how I stumbled on this one but it’s seriously the best ever. I used coconut sugar for a slightly lower glycemic index for sugar, it tastes just as good as the brown sugar (I’ve done both).
What I found interesting about this recipe was it just seems backwards when it comes to the steps. But somehow I think it’s the key to this winning recipe.
It’s hands down the best ever and all I’ll make now. Thanks!
Ep says
Can I use olive or avocado oil?
Melanie says
Delicious. Period.