Sourdough Banana Bread
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This is the best sourdough banana bread. Naturally sweetened with honey and made with fermented grains, this healthy banana bread recipe makes the perfect breakfast or snack. Can be made long fermented or even as a quick bread recipe
Almost every single recipe I explored for a sourdough banana bread had two things in common. They weren’t fermented, and they called for regular sugar, something I rarely use.
Although, the last few weeks I’ve shared these cookies and scones recipes with you that do contain regular sugar…
But I wanted to create a healthy snack that was sweetened with honey and included fermented grains so everyone in the family could enjoy it (my daughter is sensitive to wheat).
Bonus points if the bread could qualify as breakfast, too.
This recipe hits the mark. It’s delicious and addicting.
Thankfully, I’m a recipe blogger, so I have to keep trying and testing the recipe to make sure it works. I’m willing to make that sacrifice for you.
But truly, you need to try it. Spread on some butter, and you’ll be sold.
I still have at least one more recipe up my sleeve for this unofficial official sourdough month.
Everyday, I tell myself to put my starter in the refrigerator because I’m not going to be baking with it for a week.
Yet, every day I’m also like, “Hmm, muffins sound good.” “How about some sourdough banana bread.” “When was the last time I baked cookies??”
Let’s just say it’s a thing.
Really though, it’s made my life easier and helped lower my grocery bill, so I’ll take it.
Tips For Making This Recipe:
- If you are new to sourdough and want to learn the quick and easy way to make a sourdough starter, you can find my recipe here.
- The dough will be really thick after fermentation. This is totally normal, and once the banana and eggs are incorporated, it will be much thinner.
- Because this recipe has a lot of liquid, it takes a long time to bake. If it starts to brown too much, just cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper to finish out the baking.
- Sourdough can be fickle. Your outcome often depends on how hydrated your starter is.
- Use a stand mixer to mix together the batter after fermentation. It makes the process much easier.
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FAQ:
Do You Have To Ferment This Recipe?
No. You could definitely just mix it together and bake to make a sourdough quick bread. The texture is slightly different, but it is still yummy.
The natural yeasts in the starter will help rise the bread. It will only contain some fermented grains from the starter.
Is This Recipe Sour?
Nope. Even though the grains have been fermented, it doesn’t have that sour taste that you may be used to with regular sourdough bread.
Instead, it is sweet and has a nice banana flavor.
Is sourdough bread healthier than regular yeast bread?
Yes! The fermentation process not only helps break down the gluten making it easier to digest, it also breaks down phytic acid. See phytic acid is an anti-nutrient that doesn’t allow the body to absorb vitamins and minerals, so when this is broken down during fermentation it makes the nutrients more bio-available. Plus, it tastes amazing.
Why isn’t my sourdough banana bread rising during fermentation?
This recipe doesn’t rely on the wild yeast in the sourdough starter to give it rise, rather it uses baking soda and baking powder. So during the fermentation time, you will notice little to no rising at all.
Is it OK to add yeast to sourdough?
Yes you can. This is especially when using sourdough discard or maybe a sourdough starter that isn’t super active yet, adding yeast can be a full proof way to make sure it rises.
Be cautious that when adding yeast to a sourdough recipe, the fermentation time will change and yeast rises much faster than wild yeast in sourdough.
Ingredients:
Sourdough starter – active starter or sourdough discard will work.
Butter – Could also substitute for melted coconut oil or avocado oil for a dairy free option.
Honey – Maple syrup will also work
Banana – The riper they are the more delicious and sweet banana flavor they will have.
Eggs
Salt
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Leaveners: This recipe uses baking soda and baking powder to give the bread its rise.
Vanilla extract – Store-bought or homemade. Homemade is super easy to make and is way cheaper than store-bought.
Tools You May Need:
Stand mixer or hand mixer
Dry measuring cups and spoons
Loaf pan (like this one)
Silicon spatula
Watch How To Make This Recipe
How To Make Sourdough Banana Bread
In a large bowl (I like to use my stand mixer bowl so I can just put it right in the stand mixer the next day), mix together sourdough starter, honey, melted butter, and flour.
Cover and allow to ferment for 12-24 hours. I usually do 24 hours of fermenting, because these are the easiest to digest for my family. If you want to skip the fermentation process, then proceed to the next step.
After the dough has fermented, preheat the oven to 350, place parchment paper in a loaf pan and uncover the bowl.
To the dough, add mashed banana, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
Mix together on low to medium speed until everything is combined well. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom once or twice, then mix again.
The first few times I used my hands to mix it all together, then switched to a stand mixer. A stand mixer makes it 100 times easier.
Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 75-85 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean when inserted into the loaf.
Yes, this seems long, but since this is a high moisture recipe, it will need to bake for a long time.
If it starts to brown too much and it is not cooked through, cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
Take out of the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and enjoying.
How Long Does Banana Bread Last?
This recipe will last 3-4 days at room temperature.
Honestly, my family and I can easily demolish this recipe in two days or less. Something to brag about.
Baker’s Schedule:
6:00 PM: Mix flour, butter, sourdough starter, and honey together. Cover and allow to ferment overnight.
10:00 AM (or anytime the next day): Add remaining ingredients, pour into loaf pan, and bake.
11:00 AM: Allow to cook and enjoy.
Find more delicious sourdough recipes:
- Sourdough Skillet Bread
- Master Sourdough Scones
- Chocolate Chip Sourdough Muffins
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- How To Make A Sourdough Starter The Quick And Easy Way
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back, comment on the post, and give it 5 stars! Please and thank you. Tag me on Instagram @ablossominglife
Sourdough Banana Bread
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Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Sourdough starter active
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Butter melted
- 3/4 cup Honey or maple syrup
- 1 cup Banana mashed – about 2 large bananas
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together sourdough starter, honey, melted butter, and flour.
- Cover and allow to ferment for 12-24 hours. If you want to skip the fermentation process, then proceed to the next step.
- After the dough has fermented, preheat the oven to 350, place parchment paper in a loaf pan and uncover the bowl.
- To the dough, add mashed banana, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix together on low to medium speed until everything is combined well. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom once or twice, then mix again.
- Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 75-85 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean when inserted into the loaf. If it starts to brown too much and it is not cooked through, cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Take out of the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and enjoying.
Notes
- If you are new to sourdough you can find how to make a sourdough starter here.
- The dough will be really thick after fermentation. This is totally normal.
- Because this recipe has a lot of liquid, it takes a long time to bake. If it starts to brown too much, just cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper to finish out the baking.
- Sourdough can be fickle. Your outcome often depends on how hydrated your starter is.
Adjusted the baking time to 60 minutes and added some dark chocolate chips. It came out absolutely perfect and was a hit for the family. Definitely making again!
That sounds delicious! Thank you for leaving a comment and rating.
Added some chocolate chips and it was absolutely delicious.
Adjusted the cooking time to 60 minutes and it came out perfect!
Thank you for this recipe!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
This is one of the few banana bread recipes I’ve found that is actually fermented! I have made this recipe a couple times recently and even adapted it to pumpkin bread. This recipe is great, perfect sweetness, baking time is crucial for good texture, my oven seems to cook faster? I will be making this for my neighbors for the holidays! Thank you so much!
That is amazing! I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe, and that it bakes quicker for you.
I’ve been making sourdough and banana bread for years so I was excited to try this recipe. Unfortunately, this did not come together well for me. I made the long ferment version and it came together like a dough. I put it in my mixer with the rest of the ingredients, but the starter/flour mix stayed in doughy balls no matter how much I mixed it. I even let it rest for 15 min, which helped a little, but not enough. They didn’t cook out which didn’t taste very good. I think I will try it again but not the long ferment and see what happens.
That is so strange! I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. Did you change the ingredients at all? I’ve made this recipe so many times and never had it not turn out. It is definitely a little bit of a challenge for the batter to mix together the next day, but I’ve always been able too (with some chunks).
So yummy! Came out perfect on the first try! I added walnuts, raisins, poppy seeds and a bit of cinnamon. Delicious! It took 100 minutes of baking. I lowered the rack one level and also placed a sheet pan on the bottom rack to prevent any burning just in case. Didn’t need to cover with aluminum foil.
Will be my go to banana bread recipe now!
Yay! That is great. Thank you for rating and all the tips. Those sound like delicious additions.
I just made this recipe into muffins. I used maple syrup instead of honey and I also added half of a cup of chopped walnuts! Yum. It cut down the time for baking these to about 25 minutes, I kept checking till the toothpick came out clean. Thank you! I had active starter that I had fed the night before, so I didn’t let them do the fermenting. Just went ahead and put all the ingredients together and voila… delicious muffins!
So glad you enjoyed it! Maple syrup is delicious in this!
Hi Amy. Absolutely LOVE this banana bread recipe. I add dark chocolate chips for my kiddos and they devour it. I was wondering if you think subbing a cup of pumpkin would work just the same for a loaf od pumpkin bread? Would love your input.
So glad you love it! Yes it totally would. I do it all the time. You may want to make it a touch sweeter.
Fantastic, thank you! I need the longer fermentation for myself and my daughters so I’m so grateful for your recipes. I used this recipe then divided it into two smaller silicone bread pans. They were perfect at 36 minutes! I don’t have a mixer so I got dirty and used my hands to break it up. 🙂 Worked perfectly. DELICIOUS! Thank you!!
What a great idea! Thank you for sharing that. I’ll have to try that next time!
We have a dairy allergy. Any ideas on subs for butter? Would coconut oil work even with the ferment process?
Coconut oil should work!
I can’t wait to make this! Does it matter if the starter is recently fed or from the fridge (like discard)?
Thanks!
Either works!
When you say ‘active’ starter how soon after feeding sourdough is it considered active? Thanks
After 4-12 hours of feeding. Honestly discard will also work.
My dough was crumbly and not doughy at all. I added starter honey melted butter and flour. Any advice?
If long fermenting, the dough will be pretty hard (not sure that is the right wording here). As long as everything is moist enough (no dry bits) it will be fine for fermentation. Once you add all the other ingredients it will moisten up.
I am going to make this on the weekend… wondering what you think about making muffins out of this?
So looking forward to making a healthy banana bread!
These make perfect muffins. I just made a batch yesterday.
I really want to try this recipe but I don’t have a stoneware loaf pan and to be honest I don’t plan on getting one :-)….
I do have a nice fridgeaire loaf pan …metal… any idea how the baking time and temp would change?
Or could I make muffins? Again temp and time?
Metal loaf pan will work just fine. I’m not sure that it would change it that much.
I love this recipe! Made it a couple times already.
I have some apples I would love to make a bread with them. Do you think there is a way to use part of the recipe to do it?
Yay! Love to hear that. Hmm I’m not sure. I’ve never tried it. I may have to.
I posted that I love this recipe! This is true, however I added some instant yeast because it did not appear that my mixture was fermenting overnight in the refrigerator. So, my question is – does richer dough ferment slower? I would think adding sugar would make it ferment faster but it seemed to be very very slow. My starter was very active when I added it. Thanks for any advice! It still turned out fantastic! As a matter of fact my husband went and bought more bananas lol
What a compliment! Woohoo. This dough will actually not rise at all or very very little during the fermentation time. The rise from this recipe comes from the baking soda and baking powder. How did it turn out with the instant yeast?
Wow! Thank you for taking the time to post this recipe! It is FANTASTIC! I made it the other day, upped the sweetener a bit (I’ve not been very successful lately and thought “heck if it’s sweet, we’ll eat it even if it’s not great LOL) I used sugar because A) I didn’t have much honey on hand, and B) I’m old and I’ve got to die from something, might as well be sugar LOL
It is an amazing recipe, thank you so much! I am putting it in my files, it will become my ‘go-to’ recipe when I have old bananas!!
Liz
Oh my gosh that made me laugh so hard! You are too funny Liz. I’m so glad you loved it. I was just thinking of trying it using sugar over honey just to see how it turned out. Glad to know it worked.
Can you ferment for more then 24 hours, is there max? If you ferment in the fridge can you do longer for example I do pizza dough for 72 hours. Thankyou
I just polished off my last slice and I will be starting a new loaf tonight!
Thank you for sharing a recipe that uses fermented grains and is made without sugar. Delicious!
Thank you so much for the rating! So happy you loved this recipe.
This was really delicious and moist. We also used it to make French toast and it was amazing.
Do you leave the first part to ferment on the counter or in the fridge? Thanks
On the counter. Hope you enjoy!