The Best Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe
Who doesn’t love banana bread? It’s so moist and sweet! But, it can be loaded with sugar and white flour, which isn’t the healthiest options. Thankfully, I have come up with a recipe for sourdough banana bread made with freshly milled whole wheat (you can use store bought) and is long fermented for the health benefits!
This is my take on a classic banana bread and I believe it is the best banana bread I’ve ever had!
If you hang around here much, you know my love for sourdough. It’s the healthiest bread option and the flavor is unlike anything else. So, I try to make all of my recipes into sourdough recipes. It’s trial and error, but, is always worth it.
My husband and I eat a lot of bananas. They are a great source of potassium and satisfy the sweet tooth. With that being said, we usually buy too many when we go to the grocery store and inevitably we have several over ripe bananas. This sourdough banana bread recipe is a great way to use them up!
Why Sourdough?
Sourdough is a method for making bread products that involves using a sourdough starter. When flour, water, and starter are mixed, they ferment. Meaning, the starter eats off of the sugar in the flour and creates gases that causes it to rise.
This process breaks down the sometimes hard to digest parts of the flour making it much easier to tolerate for a lot of people.
Sourdough also has a different flavor than conventionally yeasted breads. It’s delightfully sour and tangy! However, in a sweet bread like this one, it’s hardly noticeable.
What you’ll need:
Sourdough Starter
You will need an active sourdough starter. If you are brand new to sourdough start here: How to make a Sourdough Starter – The Rose Homestead
Active starter is starter that has been fed within the last 24 hours and is bubbly and active. Recently fed starter has a yeasty smell and is quite active looking.
Sourdough starter discard is hungry starter or starter that hasn’t been fed in a while and may have a liquid on top signaling it is hungry.
Flour
I use freshly milled flour for this recipe. You can use all purpose flour, bread flour, or whole wheat flour.
Bananas
For best results use overripe bananas as they are much sweeter and have the most banana flavor. This is the perfect recipe for those extra bananas you have laying around.
Honey
Olive Oil
You may also use vegetable oil, melted butter, or melted coconut oil.
Cinnamon
Salt
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Vanilla Extract
Step by Step Instructions for making Sourdough Banana Bread
The night before you plan on making the bread, combine in a large mixing bowl the starter, honey, and oil. Add the flour and mix well. It will be a stiff dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment on the counter overnight or up to 24 hours.
*Note: If making a quick version, add dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine. In a separate bowl, add the wet ingredients. Combine all together and bake*
The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and add the bananas, vanilla, and eggs to either a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
The fermented dough will be very stiff, so, I prefer to take my hands and break up the dough into small crumbles. You could also break up in a food processor or stand mixer.
Add the banana mixture, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well. You may use a potato masher to make sure it is mixed smoothly or mix in a stand mixer.
Prepare a loaf pan by greasing and dusting with a little flour or line with parchment paper.
Pour the batter in the loaf pan and place in preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Carefully remove the loaf from the pan and let the bread cool on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Variations
Add chocolate chips for an extra delicious bread.
Scoop batter into a muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes for sourdough banana muffins.
Storage Tips
Store in an airtight container or plastic bag for 3-4 days.
You can freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Try my Sourdough Zucchini Bread Recipe: https://therosehomestead.com/sourdough-zucchini-bread/
Sourdough Banana Bread
Equipment
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Loaf Pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup active/fed sourdough starter
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 cups freshly milled or store bough whole wheat flour may use all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- The night before, mix starter, oil, honey, and flour to a large mixing bowl. This will be a stiff dough. Mix well, cover and allow to ferment for 8-24 hours.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a blender or food processor add the eggs, bananas, and vanilla and process until smooth.
- The fermented dough will be stiff, so, take your hands and break it up into small crumbles. Alternatively, you could pulse in a food processor or in a stand mixer.
- Add the banana mixture, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to the dough.
- Mix well. You can do this with a potato masher or in a stand mixer/food processor.
- Prepare a loaf pan by greasing and dusting with a little flour.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Carefully remove the loaf and place on a cooling rack.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing.
- Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
I was glad to find a recipe for a long fermentation banana bread that uses eggs. Great idea to add them later, after the fermentation. I went one step further and included the stick blended bananas to the fermentation which made it a more fluid dough. Then I just had eggs, salt, baking powder and soda, and cinnamon to add although the latter 3 were a little hard to incorporate into the beaten eggs. I folded the mixture in gently to not develop gluten. The result was delicious, with excellent texture which is what I would expect from the long fermentation. Thanks for the recipe.