The Best Sourdough Discard Banana Bread Recipe

This sourdough discard banana bread is a slight twist on a classic recipe. Perfectly moist, slightly sweet, and just the right texture. 

Why You’ll Love It

What’s not to love about banana bread? This classic recipe is a great way to use up brown bananas. It’s a yummy breakfast or a sweet treat that makes a great gift. This sourdough banana bread recipe is moist and delicious. It’s also easy to make and one of my favorite ways to use excess sourdough discard. 

No Sourdough, No Problem! Grab my free guide to creating your own sourdough starter!

Tips For Sourdough Banana Bread

If you’ve never made banana bread before, there are a few things you may want to consider. 

• You’ll want your bananas to be overrippened. This will make them easier to mash and mix, but will also give a better flavor to your banana bread. If you don’t have over-ripe bananas, no worries. Preheat your oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place unpeeled bananas on the baking sheet and bake until the peels are black. This typically takes 15-30 minutes. 
• Don’t overmix the batter. You may be tempted to really mix in those ingredients but I recommend mixing by hand instead of using an electric mixer so that you don’t get carried away and overmix. 
• Even though this recipe doesn’t call for nuts or chocolate chips, feel free to add some. Be sure to fold in your mix-ins gently. 
• Banana bread can take a long time to bake. Be patient. You may need to cover your bread with aluminum foil during the last little bit of baking so as not to burn the top. 

Sourdough Discard Banana Bread Ingredients

All-Purpose Flour
Baking Soda– This will act as your leavening agent and will aid in making the bread rise since you will be using discard instead of active starter.
Salt
Sugar
Melted Butter
Vanilla Extract
Egg
Sourdough Discard– You can use the discard straight from your refrigerator. However, you can also you active starter if you don’t have discard on hand. 
Bananas– For this recipe, you will only need 2 overripe bananas. Read below on how to ripen bananas quickly. 
Sour Cream​-This may sound like a strange ingredient but don’t skip it! The sour cream adds moisture to the bread and gives it a softer crumb.

How To Make The Best Discard Banana Bread

Pay attention to the small details of this recipe so you get the best possible loaf. I’m not typically meticulous with measurements but you’ll want to stick closely to the recipe for this one. 

Prepare Your Oven and Pans

Preheat your oven to 360°F. By adding just 10° to your oven temperature, you’ll get a better rise! 

Butter your loaf pan. You can use any size you like but just know that larger loaf pans will take more time to bake all the way through. I typically use a 9×5-inch pan but you could use three mini loaf pans instead. 

Mix the Ingredients

First, add flour, baking soda, and salt to a large mixing bowl and set the mixture aside. 

Melt the butter and add it to a separate bowl along with the sugar. Stir it together and add the egg and vanilla. 

Add the sourdough discard.

In a third bowl, mash two bananas and then fold in the sour cream. 

Now stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold in the mashed banana mixture. 

Bake the Banana Bread

Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter. Trust me. 

Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour until it’s golden brown. Insert a toothpick into the loaf and if it comes out clean it’s done. 

Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack. 

Variations

1. Add mix-ins such as nuts, chocolate chips, and even seeds like sunflower or pumpkin. Toasting walnuts for just a few minutes before adding them to your batter gives a nice flavor. 

2. Substitute butter for browned butter for a little warmth of flavor. 

3. Swirl in a little cream cheese into your batter for more of a dessert.

How To Store Banana Bread

So that you can enjoy every last slice, the best way to store banana bread is to tightly wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature. Your banana bread should be kept for 3-4 days this way if you can keep from eating it all before then. 

Banana bread also freezes well. Simply wrap it in plastic wrap and then cover it with aluminum foil and place it in your freezer.

Additional Sourdough Discard Recipes

Easy Sourdough Biscuits
Sourdough Sugar Cookies
Discard Pancakes