Sourdough Discard Banana Bread

Name: Sourdough Discard Banana Bread
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 135 min
Ingredients: 1½ cups all-purpose flour; ½ cup granulated sugar; ½ cup brown sugar; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ½ teaspoon kosher salt; ½ teaspoon ground cloves; ¼ teaspoon ground ginger; ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1 to 1½ cups bananas (ripe, mashed (about 3), see Recipe Notes); 1 cup sourdough starter discard (at room temperature); 1 large egg (at room temperature); ¼ cup canola oil (see Recipe Notes); ¼ cup sour cream or plain yogurt (at room temperature); 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 6 ounces chocolate chips ((1 cup), see Recipe Notes); 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted); 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted); 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Moist sourdough banana bread flavored with warm baking spices and studded with chocolate chips, finished with a creamy vanilla glaze. No one will notice the sourdough starter discard!

Sliced Sourdough Banana Bread loaf in foreground with whole small loaves in background.

Jump to:

Why this recipe works
Recipe Ingredients
Tips for better banana bread
How to make sourdough banana bread
Storage instructions
Quick bread presentation ideas
Questions asked and answered
More recipes featuring sourdough discard to try
Good news for sourdough bakers!
Recipe
Comments

Why this recipe works

A moist and flavorful sourdough banana bread spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves
Chocolate chips add pools of rich chocolate
The strong flavors mask any hint of the sourdough starter discard's presence

So, about those overripe bananas sitting on your counter, or in a baggie in the freezer? An Old Fashioned Banana Cake or Banana Bread are the obvious answers.

Well, how about a chocolate chip banana bread recipe? Wait...how about a banana bread recipe that uses unfed sourdough starter? You now, two birds and all that...

And it gets better. This easy sourdough discard banana bread is flavored with cinnamon and other warm baking spices, is studded with chocolate chips, and is topped with a creamy vanilla glaze.

This sourdough starter banana bread is very flavorful from the baking spices, plus sweetness from the ripe bananas and chocolate chips. There's no detectable sourdough tang, so like with Sourdough Gingerbread, making banana bread with sourdough starter is a great place to hide the sourdough discard.

What are you waiting for?

Recipe Ingredients

You'll need the following ingredients to make this sourdough banana bread recipe:

Banana bread batter ingredients portioned into glass bowls from overhead.

And here's what you'll need for the vanilla glaze:

Banana bread glaze ingredients portioned into glass bowls from overhead.

Ingredient Notes

Bananas: Really overripe bananas, which form the basis for banana bread, provide natural sweetness. I usually freeze chunks of overripe bananas in a ziplock bag. When I have enough, that's when I make this bread. Don't be put off by the brown blob below - it's just how bananas look after they've been frozen and defrosted.

What if you don't like bananas? It happens - my older daughter studiously avoids them (although she'll really miss out this time!). You can omit the banana to make Sourdough Spice Cake, or replace it with canned pumpkin for Sourdough Pumpkin Cake. Have fun with it!

Sourdough discard: The presence of the sourdough starter discard is just a way to use it up, and won't be detected. This quick bread is an ideal use for unfed sourdough starter.

Brown sugar: Increases the bread's moisture and adds an undertone of molasses to give this quick bread a solid foundation.

Sour cream and canola oil: add richness. If you want, you can cut back on the calories by substituting applesauce for the canola oil.

Chocolate chips: Add more fun and flavor to the sourdough starter banana bread. You can substitute chopped walnuts or pecans for the chocolate chips (but really, no chocolate?). Use regular-sized chips if making a full-sized loaf, or mini chocolate chips for mini loaves or mini muffins.

See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Tips for better banana bread

Here are some hints for success:

If you're using frozen bananas, they're usually really watery after defrosting. Take some time to drain them well in a fine mesh strainer. That will keep the batter from being overly wet.
After whisking the dry ingredients together, smash out those larger lumps of brown sugar with a spoon (your hands work, too!).
Have your sourdough starter discard, egg, and sour cream at room temperature. It helps hold the bread's volume as you mix the batter.
Try not to over-mix the batter - you want the gluten network kept to a minimum.

How to make sourdough banana bread

Step 1: Make the batter

Whisk together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices (photo 1). If necessary, mash any large lumps of brown sugar.

Mixing the flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, and spices in a glass bowl from overhead. — Mixing the dry ingredients

Combine the bananas, sourdough discard, egg, canola oil, sour cream, and vanilla (photo 2). Mix together until smooth.

Mixing the sourdough starter, egg, canola oil, sour cream, and vanilla in a glass bowl from overhead. — Mixing the wet ingredients

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips (photo 3).

Collage of making chocolate chip banana bread batter. — Mixing up the batter and adding chocolate chips

Step 2: Bake the bread

Spray a standard loaf pan with baking spray. You can line it with parchment paper also if you'd like, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Note: This recipe will make one extra-large loaf. See the below for alternate sizing options and baking times. In the pictures, I made one full-sized loaf to have for now, plus two mini loaves to put in the freezer for later.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350˚F for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (photo 4). Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and allow it to cool completely.

Collage of banana bread loaves before & after baking. — Banana bread before and after baking

Step 3: Glaze the bread

Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl, then add the melted butter and vanilla extract. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of the milk and stir. Continue to add milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you have a consistency of a smooth, flowing glaze (photo 5).

Collage of making the glaze. — Mixing up the glaze

Once the bread has completely cooled, use a spoon to drizzle on the glaze, allowing some to drip down the sides (photo 6). You can drizzle it on in a pretty pattern, or choose to cover the breads. More vanilla glaze goodness!

Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Collage of banana bread loaves before & after glazing. — Vanilla glaze adds that extra touch

Storage instructions

Sourdough Banana Bread keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, wrap the loaves well in plastic wrap, put in an airtight bag, and freeze up to 3 months. These loaves also make great gifts and ship well!

Quick bread presentation ideas

This chocolate chip banana bread recipe will make one extra-large quick bread, but you have lots of choices for other sizes and shapes:

Full recipe
- One extra large loaf in a standard loaf pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes
- One large loaf in a standard loaf pan and two mini loaves using mini loaf pans. Bake the large loaf for 35 to 40 minutes and the mini loaves for 25 to 30 minutes.
- 12 muffins in a standard muffin pan. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes
- 48 mini muffins in two mini muffin pans. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes
- One large bundt cake in a 10- to 12-cup bundt pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes
Half recipe
- One large loaf in a standard loaf pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes
- Two mini loaves using mini loaf pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes
- One small bundt cake in a 6-cup bundt pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes

The benefit of having the smaller loaves is that they make great gifts, and they ship well! Just wrap them in wax paper to protect the glaze, then in plastic wrap to keep the bread fresh.

Sourdough Banana Bread two small loaves on slate closeup

Questions asked and answered

Here are some questions you might have...

How ripe should bananas be for banana bread?

You really want over-ripe bananas for banana bread. The skin will have thinned, and be turning dark brown, if not black. The banana inside will be soft and mushy - there's no such thing as a too-ripe banana for this recipe. If you're not ready to use them or don't have enough yet, you can freeze chunks of ripe bananas in a ziplock bag in the freezer for later.

Does microwaving bananas ripen them?

If you want to make banana bread, but your bananas aren't ripe yet, you can soften them in the microwave. Poke holes in the unpeeled bananas, then cook them on a plate or paper towel on High for 30 seconds. Repeat until they're at the softness that you want.

Why is my banana bread not moist?

Having a dry banana bread is most unappealing, and that comes from not having enough bananas or other wet ingredients in relation to the flour. If you "pack" your flour into a measuring cup instead of spooning it in and leveling it off, you can end up with too much flour. Replacing some of the flour with unfed sourdough starter helps.

If you use too much banana, sourdough discard, or another wet ingredient, that will lead to a heavy bread that's damp in the center. Another unappealing choice. To prevent both these scenarios, using a kitchen scale to measure out your ingredients is the best way to make sure you're using the right amount of each ingredient.