The Best Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe (with Sourdough Discard!)

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A great way to use up those brown bananas and leftover sourdough starter, this sourdough discard banana bread is light, fluffy, and so easy to make! Ready in an hour, this easy banana bread will become your new favorite recipe!

The slices of sourdough discard banana bread are shown with bananas on the right side and a serrated knife on the left side of the loaf.

Banana bread is one of my favorite things to make! It's so versatile and so easy to make.

This recipe is a great way to use up that extra sourdough starter you have in the refrigerator. The sourdough starter adds extra tang and a little bit of rise to this bread.

Check out these other moist banana bread recipes as well!

Be sure to check out what to serve with banana bread for lots of delicious recipes!

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Why You'll Love This Sourdough Discard Banana Bread
Ingredients For Sourdough Discard Banana Bread
Substitutions and Variations
What is Sourdough Discard?
Step by Step Photos
Tips and Tricks
How To Quickly Ripen Bananas
Storage Instructions
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Recipes To Try
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love This Sourdough Discard Banana Bread

You can make sourdough discard banana bread in one bowl! Mix together the wet ingredients and then top them with the dry ingredients. Mix and bake! No need to break out the stand mixer or the hand mixer for this recipe. That's the great thing about quick bread recipes. They are simple and come together fast!
It's a great use for leftover sourdough discard. Don't throw out that extra sourdough discard after you are done making sourdough bread. Make banana bread using your leftover sourdough discard! Keep it in a mason jar in the refrigerator and then use it in recipes like sourdough discard sandwich bread and recipes just like this!
This recipe is great for meal prep! You can make this recipe on a Sunday and eat it for breakfast or snacks throughout the week. This will quickly become your family's new favorite banana bread recipe!

Ingredients For Sourdough Discard Banana Bread

Ripe Bananas- You want your bananas to be brown and spotty. The browner the better. When bananas get really brown, they get super sweet and intensify their banana flavor. Yellow or green bananas don't have the sugar that overripe bananas would have.
Sourdough starter- inactive, meaning it hasn't been fed and likely is coming straight out of the refrigerator. You can use sourdough discard to make sourdough pumpkin bread, sourdough zucchini bread, sourdough corn muffins, or sourdough Irish soda bread.
Light Brown Sugar- For added sweetness. Granulated sugar can be used instead of brown sugar. Coconut sugar is a great option too!
Baking Soda and Baking Powder- to help with leavening. Even though we are using sourdough starter, the baking soda and baking powder do most of the rising in the bread.
Butter- To add fat and texture to the bread. If you would prefer this dairy free, you can substitute coconut oil instead.
Vanilla Extract and Cinnamon- For added flavor to the banana bread.

See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Add one cup of chocolate chips to make a chocolate chip banana bread.
Use a mixture of flour! Use half all purpose flour and half white whole wheat flour for a little extra fiber and nutty flavor.
Mix in one cup of chopped walnuts for banana nut bread.
Swirl in ½ cup of peanut butter for a peanut butter banana bread.
Substitute ½ cup of coconut oil for the butter to make a dairy free banana bread.
Add one cup of white chocolate chips or cinnamon chips for added sweetness!

What is Sourdough Discard?

Sourdough starter discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you are not feeding. When you are "feeding" your starter to make bread with, you feed it equal parts water, flour, and starter. You can't feed your entire starter, as it doubles and sometimes triples in size, and that's a lot of starter to have on hand!

You can make your own sourdough starter from scratch, buy one, or get one from a sourdough friend! Keep your excess sourdough starter in a mason jar in the refrigerator. If you are new to sourdough, be sure to check out how to keep a sourdough starter post all about how to keep your sourdough starter happy.

Step by Step Photos

The dry ingredients are added to a large mixing bowl. — **Step 1:** In a medium bowl, mix together the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set that aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Set that aside.

The eggs and brown sugar are added to the large bowl. — **Step 2:** In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas until they are pureed.
Add the starter, melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the bowl with the mashed banana. Mix well until fully combined.

The dry ingredients are added to the wet ingredients. — **Step 3:** Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together until just combined. It's ok if there are a few lumps left in the batter.

The batter is added to the greased loaf pan. — **Step 4:** Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place the loaf pan into the preheated oven.
Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the bread and comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool on a wire cooling rack before slicing.

Tips and Tricks

Make sure your butter the loaf pan well. The bananas have a lot of sugar in them, plus there is brown sugar in the recipe, so it might stick. Butter is the best to use. I find that cooking spray causes the banana bread to stick.
If the top of the bread starts to brown too quickly, tent aluminum foil over the top of the bread. This will slow the browning of the bread.
This sourdough banana bread recipe makes one loaf, but you could separate this into small loaves if you have the tins. You could also easily double this recipe.

How To Quickly Ripen Bananas

To ripen bananas faster than they normally would, place the bananas in a brown bag with an apple. The gases from the skin of the apple speeds up the ripening process. This way will take about a day to ripen.
If you are in a pinch and want to ripen bananas quickly, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the whole banana on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for 15 minutes. When the skins turn completely black they are ready! Carefully peel the banana and let it cool, then proceed with the recipe.
Otherwise you can do what we do, leave them out on the counter until we forget about them and then make banana bread!

The sourdough discard banana bread is sliced and laid out in an S shape with a serrated knife and a cup of coffee.

Storage Instructions

Place this delicious banana bread in an airtight container and it will stay fresh on the counter for 3-4 days. You can also keep the banana bread in a Ziploc bag on the counter.

Once the bread is comes to room temperature, wrap the bread in plastic wrap and place it in a gallon Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 4 months. When ready to defrost, place the Ziploc bag on the counter to defrost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use active sourdough starter instead of inactive starter?

Yes! If you have extra active starter you can use that. The rise will be a little higher, but there's nothing wrong with that!

Can I make this sourdough discard banana bread in to muffins?

Yes! Spoon the batter into prepared muffin tins and set the baking time to 20-22 minutes. Butter the muffin tin or use muffin liners for banana bread muffins.

Why did my banana bread sink?

If you've overmixed the batter, the bread might sink. Make sure to mix until the batter is just combined. It's ok if there are a few lumps left in the batter when you bake it.