Sourdough Banana Bread - Squirrelly Girl Starter

Sourdough Banana Bread | Easy Sourdough Discard Recipe

Squirrelly Girl Sourdough Recipe

🍌 Sourdough Banana Bread

Moist. Soft. Loaded with banana flavor.

Got overripe bananas and extra sourdough discard? You've got banana bread waiting to happen.

Beginner Friendly Uses Sourdough Discard One Loaf 55–65 Minutes

This isn't your average banana bread. Ripe bananas bring natural sweetness and moisture, while sourdough discard adds a subtle tang that makes the flavor more interesting without making the recipe complicated. The result is a soft, tender loaf that's incredibly easy to make and perfect for breakfast, coffee time, or that completely legitimate late-night snack.

🍌 Why You'll Love This Recipe

✔ Uses extra sourdough discard

✔ Perfect for overripe bananas

✔ Soft and moist crumb

✔ Deep banana flavor

✔ Warm cinnamon flavor

✔ No kneading or complicated fermentation

✔ Easy enough for a beginner

✔ Bakery-style results without bakery-level effort

🍌 Sourdough Banana Bread

15 min Prep
55–65 min Bake
1 Loaf
350°F Oven

🍌 Batter

  • 1 cup (240 g) sourdough discard
  • 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups bread flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

🌰 Optional Add-Ins

  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
Baker's Choice: Chocolate chips turn this into a dessert-style banana bread. Walnuts give it a more classic, bakery-style texture.
1

🔥 Preheat & Prep

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Grease a standard 9 × 5-inch loaf pan, or line it with parchment paper.

Beginner Tip: If you use parchment, leave some hanging over the long sides of the pan. Once the loaf cools, you can simply lift it out.
2

🍌 Mash Those Bananas

Peel your three ripe bananas and place them in a large mixing bowl.

Mash them with a fork until mostly smooth. A few small banana pieces are perfectly fine.

THE UGLIER THE BANANA...

The better the banana bread.

Deeply spotted, very soft bananas have more concentrated sweetness and stronger banana flavor.

3

🥣 Mix the Wet Ingredients

Add the sourdough discard, eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla to the mashed bananas.

Whisk until everything is evenly combined.

Pro-Level Tip: Let the melted butter cool for a few minutes before adding it to the eggs. Warm is fine. Hot is not.
4

🌾 Add the Dry Ingredients

Add the bread flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Gently fold everything together until the flour has just disappeared.

STOP MIXING HERE

This is a quick bread, not a sourdough loaf. You don't want to develop lots of gluten. Mix just until combined for the softest crumb.

5

🍫 Add Your Extras

If you're using walnuts or chocolate chips, gently fold them into the batter.

You can also leave the loaf plain. The banana and cinnamon combination is plenty delicious on its own.

Easy Upgrade: Reserve a small handful of chocolate chips or walnuts and sprinkle them over the top just before baking. It gives the finished loaf a bakery-style appearance.
6

🥖 Into the Pan

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan.

Gently smooth the top with a spatula.

If you're adding extra chocolate chips or walnuts, scatter them over the top now.

7

🔥 Bake

Place the loaf in your preheated 350°F (175°C) oven.

BAKE 55–65 MINUTES

Start checking around 55 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center. It should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Pro-Level Check: Don't rely only on the color of the top. Banana bread can look beautifully browned while the center still needs more time.
8

❄️ Cool Before Slicing

Let the banana bread cool in the pan for approximately 15 minutes.

Carefully transfer it to a wire rack and allow it to cool further before slicing.

THE HARDEST STEP

Waiting.

We understand if you don't make it.

🍌 The Secret to Incredible Banana Bread

The bananas matter more than almost anything else in this recipe.

If your bananas are yellow with only a few spots, they'll work.

But if they're deeply spotted, brown, soft, and almost too far gone?

That's banana bread gold.

As bananas ripen, their starches convert to sugars, giving you a sweeter and more intensely flavored loaf.

👩🍳 Squirrelly Girl Baker's Tips

🍌 Use Very Ripe Bananas Brown and heavily spotted bananas give you the strongest flavor and natural sweetness.
🌾 Measure Flour Carefully If using volume measurements, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it rather than packing it down.
🥣 Don't Overmix Overmixing is one of the easiest ways to turn a soft banana bread into a dense one.
🧈 Cool Your Butter Slightly cooled melted butter mixes more safely with eggs.
⏳ Let It Set The loaf continues to firm up as it cools, giving you cleaner slices.

⚠️ Baker's Warning

You will tell yourself:

"I'm only cutting one small slice."

Then you'll cut another because the first one wasn't quite big enough.

Then another for quality control.

This is completely normal sourdough behavior. 😂

☕ How to Serve It

Slice it thick and serve it warm with butter.

Pair it with coffee for breakfast.

Add chocolate chips for dessert.

Or warm a slice and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

There really isn't a wrong answer.

📚 Continue Your Sourdough Journey

Ready to go beyond banana bread? Keep building your sourdough skills with the Squirrelly Girl guides designed to make sourdough easier to understand — whether you're just starting or looking to sharpen your baking skills.

🍞 Sourdough Academy 🥣 What Is Sourdough Starter? 🌾 How to Activate Sourdough Starter 💧 How to Feed Sourdough Starter 🧬 How Sourdough Starter Works ✅ How to Tell if Sourdough Starter Is Ready

🐿️ Ready to Make Better Sourdough?

Great sourdough baking starts with a strong, active starter.

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❤️ Happy Baking!

Don't throw out those overripe bananas.

Don't throw out that extra sourdough discard.

Turn both into something delicious.

That's the Squirrelly Girl way. 🐿️🍌🍞

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