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
Chrissy says
Simple to follow recipe with wholesome ingredients which I love. Brad came out of the oven nice and brown. Will dig into a piece after dinner tonight.
Whitnie Kain says
Looking to make this recipe but was wondering if it works good with almond milk?
Katie says
I always use almond milk and it works great ◡̈
Emilie Raffa says
You can absolutely use almond milk in this recipe.🥰
Pearly says
Made this recipe and had to make a second loaf right away because it was so popular and delicious!! Also I made it vegan by substituting the egg for JustEgg and used plant based oat milk instead and literally no one knew it was vegan. I enjoy the sweetness it has in the recipe but if you make it with 1/3 less sugar, it still turns out great and doesn’t affect the texture at all. This will forever be my go to banana bread recipe, it is absolutely divine!
Emilie Raffa says
This is excellent feedback. Thank you for sharing your tips with vegan modifications. Beautiful!
Yvette says
Made this with half the sugar amount and it was still very tasty, my children approved. The butter helped make the outside very crisp in my cast iron pan. Can’t wait to try this with maple syrup next.
Avia says
Super easy & so delicious that my partner scoffed down 2 slices in quick succession! Thank you!
Paige says
The best recipe imo!!! Thank you
Katie Pace says
Made this Banana Bread today. Amazing! Previous to this I tried 2 other recipes, both terrible. This was so different, turned out as pictured. So happy!
Carmie says
Great recipe!! Have you tried adding any nuts or chocolate chips to it?
Kim says
I added one cup of walnuts to the batter at the end and using two regular-sized loaf pans. Divine.
Emilie Raffa says
I’ve added both and they are delicious. I love chocolate and walnuts together (sometimes I’ll do miso-candied walnuts for a salty-sweet kick).
Debbie says
Recipe looks really good. My husband prefers muffins instead. Can you confirm if you would do anything different in recipe / cooking temperature and length of cooking time. Thanks.
Paddy says
I’m in the middle of baking a loaf and a couple of muffins – the muffins were done in 20 minutes and came out perfectly. I did make some modifications to the recipe which I’ll document in another post.
Debbie says
Thanks for the update. Can you confirm the modifications made to make muffins instead. Temperature/time and any changes to the recipe.
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Debbie! I typically bake muffins for 18-20 minutes @ 360 F.
Rachel says
Where is the option to ferment/culture overnight? I’d like all of the flour to be “transformed” by the sourdough culture.
Sarah says
First of all I love this recipe. Second, I’ve always made it with an overnight (sometimes 24 hour) rest in the fridge. It’s perfect!!!
Jacqui says
Do you mix all of the ingredients when placing in the fridge for an overnight ferment? I’m wanting to let it ferment too.
Becky says
I overnight fermented this recipe about 24 hours (I used cold sleepy discard) at room temperature. I did not add the baking soda until 10 minutes before baking. I got a lovely sourdough rise then the baking soda quick bread rise on top… make sure you only fill loaf pans 2/3 full.
I straight up tripled the recipe and came out with 5 various sized loaves, all delicious, all fermented.
Melanie says
I successfully made muffins yesterday. Preheated the oven to 410 degrees, and used standard muffin tins, filled to the top. Baked them for 5 minutes at 410 degrees and then reduced the oven temperature to 350 degrees and baked for an additional 15 minutes. The recipe made 12 muffins.
jeff bossardet says
Wow. I will forever be making, and sharing, this recipe. Many thanks.
Misha says
I’ve baked so many different banana bread recipes and this one takes the cake (pun intended haha). My husband said it was the best tasting banana bread he’s ever had and my kids inhaled it! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Misha! I’m so glad you love this recipe. That’s why I call it the “ULTIMATE” 😉 So good to share!
LeAnna says
Nice texture, very light and moist, not dense. Strong baking soda taste.
Squid says
I added walnuts and it’s delicious, moist and actually rose – which my cakes never do! Slightly burnt even though it was only 60 min in the oven though.
Robert says
I have made this banana bread 3 times, it is a great sweet treat!
Adding some walnuts and doing an overnight ferment before adding the baking soda this time.
TY for the recipe!