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.
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 was too shy to 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
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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
- 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, weighed with the skin on (about 2 medium bananas)
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 100% hydration 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
Anna K says
This was tasty! I didn’t bother using any other tools but a whisk and a couple of bowls. It took about 1hr 15 min for a single loaf to be done (no convection) and it came out a bit too dark and crispy around the edges. I recommend baking in 3 mini loaf pans as the resipe suggests or in muffin tins.
★★★★★
Jenn says
So I have a fav recipe that I altered and replaces the white flour with WW and rolled oats, so I tried that here and it turned out delicious! I did bake it in a rectangular glass dish as I was concerned it might not cook in the middle as a large loaf based on their comments. The result was a lovely light cake / loaf. Next time I will try to cold ferment it for a few days to make it more healthy!
Paul says
A wonderful recipe! Tried it last night. I’m curious what part the sourdough starter plays in this, as there’s not enough time to ferment the batter. Is it a flavor enhancement? I’m assuming the rise came from the baking soda like a quick bread.
★★★★★
Shelley says
This is really the ultimate BEST banana bread! Thank you very much for sharing this awesome recipe. Appreciate it!
The banana bread is so moist and soft; a comfort breakfast which I enjoyed it with some walnuts and a good cup of tea. It’s a happy Monday (in KL here) hahahah…..
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
So glad you liked it, Shelley! Thank you! :)
Claudia from Nevada says
This came out delicious! I realized after it was in the oven that my banana weight was without skins which explained why it took a bit longer. I made the following substitutions/changes: Used coconut milk 1:1 for regular milk, olive oil, old bananas in my freezer that we use for smoothies that we thawed, 1 c of unpacked brown sugar as recipes are often sweeter than I would prefer, I left out the vanilla so I could better taste the caramelization of the bananas, 3 scoops of vegetable based protein powder, and I dumped in the remainder of the walnuts I had in my fridge. The baking time took approximately an extra 10 minutes due to my poor reading re: the bananas and I tented with foil for the last 25 minutes. The outside is dark and I thought I over-baked and ruined the loaf, but I was surprised to find that it was still very moist and delicious and the outside had a lovely subtle crunch. It would have been best cooked a few minutes less, but it is still lovely.
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Claudia, this sounds so good! Love the addition of walnuts, too! :)
Dave says
This recipe is awesome! I found that I needed 3.25 black large bananas and I weighed everything in grams. I also added cinnamon-sugar coated almonds chopped up, which meant that I would need to add more leavening agent so I added about a tsp. of baking powder. This by far the lightest, moistest and yet silky banana bread I have ever made! Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Dave, the almonds sound AMAZING! Thanks for sharing with us :)
Mark says
Can you make the batter the night before, put in fridge and back in the morning?
Emilie Raffa says
I haven’t tested it, but I know it can be done with some adjustments. For example, the following day, you might have to add more liquid if the batter becomes too thick on the overnight. Additionally, you might have to increase the bake time. Enjoy!
Marce says
I just tweaked the recipe. Instead of All purpose flour, i used bread flour. Then i also used 350 grams of mashed bananas, and decreased the brown sugar to 150 grams. Lastly i added about 1/2 cup of cashew. Baked it for 40 minutes at 350 centigrade. It’s perfect! The banana in itself is already sweet that’s why i had to decrease the sugar. I love it, i’ll surely make it again :
★★★★★
Sophie Betser says
I am not sure what you mean by centigrade, but 350 celcius degree would definitely burn your cake. 350 f would work. Or between 180-190 centigrade.
Brenda says
This will be my third time making the recipe but I realized I’m low on canola oil! What else can I use instead? I only have olive oil and butter. Amazing recipe by the way. I’ll be making them in muffin tins this time.
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Brenda, olive oil will work (I’ve done this many times) and so will butter about 2/3 cup.
Patricia says
How many grams of just the fruit-banana?….but W/O the skin. I made this recipe once; it is truly great with sd and brown sugar, but the banana amount is vague; the bananas I had were apparently large b/c the inside of loaf was undercooked and outer was very done. I’ll definitely make it again, but need clarification on the proportion. Thank you, Emilie!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Patricia! How did you measure for this recipe? Weight or volume for all ingredients? Thanks!
Dottie says
I am a beginner when it comes to sourdough baking. and I’m happy to report that this turned out excellent on the very first try.
Wanda says
Wonderful flavor. I baked in a 9×5 pan and it took about 70 minutes. It did get a bit too brown. I think next time I’ll start it at 360 to get the oven spring, but lower it 20 deg. For the last half of baking.
★★★★★
Pe McC says
Made this banana bread for our breakfast this morning. Wife is vegan. Had to substitute for milk,eggs and butter. A real success. I used sourdough starter discard as directed. Will increase banana amount or add nuts to next loaf. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the recipe.
Sonia says
Hi, I was looking into making this recipe, but I am vegan as well. I was thinking of replacing egg with ground flax seeds mixed with a bit of water. I was wondering what you used to replace your egg and if it was sucessful. Thanks
P MC says
Bingo! 1 tbs ground flax seed + 3 tbs water for each egg. I whisk this together first and by the time I am ready for the eggs it has become as viscous as real beaten eggs. Works great for me.
Anna says
Which kind of milk did you use? Would oat work?
Thanks!
Happy new year!🙏🏻
sophie says
i used almond milk, and it was DELISH! so i think that oat would taste yummy too:)
P Mc says
Both almond milk and oat milk are good in this recipt.
Jen says
This was a big hit in my household! I made this for Thanksgiving breakfast. I folded in cranberries and pecans at the end, used coconut sugar in place of brown and also subbed in a bit of whole wheat flour. The flavor and texture was perfect! My family thought it was from a bakery. Thanks so much! I got a little baking cred from this one.
★★★★★
Ann says
Going to try this recipe. I have frozen bananas without skin in my freezer which I will use for this recipe. I know it gets watery after I thaw them so I need to drain before I weigh. What will be the right measurement to use for the thawed banana? Thank you.
TYLER BLAUVELT says
Hi! I’m making this right now, but was thinking, would it make sense to let the batter ferment for a while before baking? I tasted it after mixing and there really isn’t much of a sourdough flavor to it. However, maybe if its too sour that might not work out so well. At any rate, its a great recipe, looking forward to tasting the final product!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Tyler! You can totally do this if you want. It will deepen the flavor, for sure. However, keep in mind: baking soda tends to neutralize any overly “sour” flavors which is why you’ll get depth of flavor, not necessarily sourness.
Bailey says
So I’ve made this recipe 3…4 times in a matter of weeks….#soudoughaddict…. First time I made it as the recipe states later when making it again I didn’t realize the oil and milk were in ml and not grams…. Oops but a good oops! Later I was reading the comments and found a comment that talks about a pumpkin version…. I know we get it people like pumpkin big woop….. Wrong! Are you sitting? I hope you’re sitting because I stumbled into making the best sourdough pumpkin bread of all time. I even baked professionally for 5 years and this still is sooo much better.
I used the recipe above with these changes: I used 1c. libby’s pumpkin pie mix out of a can and substituted it instead of bananas, I added an additional 25g if flour and I may or may not have read the recipe wrong and weighted my oil and milk as though it was in grams not ml….🤦♀️ It worked out great keep reading I promise it was worth it. I doubled the salt because I am a salt person…. The end result was and is life changing! This will forever be my favorite and I’m not even a pumpkin fan! Do it…. Try it. The banana version is amazing and worth trying it’ll be soooo spongy and the best texture….. But sourdough pumpkin with this recipe as a guild will have changed me forever ❤️ thank you! I can never make a sweet loaf without add sourdough starter again…. It changed my life too much!
★★★★★
Emilie Raffa says
Bailey, oh my goodness, this is he best feedback ever. You made me laugh! I’m going to try this for sure!
Sasha says
Love this recipe. I baked it in muffin tins after trying to bake it in one loaf..that never baked through. It looked gorgeous and all but even after 1h20 it was so raw in the middle. I was suspicious when I poured it in my silicone bread pan (which I bake sourdough bread in weekly, it’s fine) because it was a lot of dough. My oven is brand new and well calibrated, follow ingredients and everything correctly. Who knows?! Muffin version cooks much faster and is amazing!
★★★★★