The Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe
Sourdough banana bread is the ultimate snack for my family. But there are so many recipes out there on how to make banana bread. A lot of banana bread recipes are either dry or they have very dense structure. After trying many recipes, I found the one! This sourdough banana bread recipe is the best I have made so far! It is sweet, airy, soft and like velvet from, inside.
The sourdough journey
The journey to this amazing sourdough banana bread began last year. During the first lock down in march 2020, we run out of yeast. Next to toilet paper, it was probably the most wanted grocery item. Let it be that I had the idea of making sourdough starter already in my mind and on my to do list for months. But with to young kids and a lot of excuses I never actually got to make it. This was the perfect time to start a project like this! After a few failed attempt to make sourdough starter, I was about to give it up. Till my good friend Sabena told me about Emilie Raffa’s blog The Clever Carrot. It is the most straight forward way to make sourdough starter. Within less than a week I had my own bubbly and live sourdough starter.
The sourdough banana bread recipe
Fast forward, after making a few amazing sourdough breads I wanted to see if there are other recipes on The Clever Carrot website, in which sourdough starter is used. So I stumble on her recipe Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread.
I have tried many recipes to make banana bread but this recipe just amazing!!! I have modified her Ultimate Sourdough Banana Bread recipe. Instead of brown sugar, I use dates to sweeten it. The biggest secret is to use super overripe bananas and the specific order in which she mixes the ingredients. If you don’t have the sourdough starter yet, follow the tutorial Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe from The Clever Carrot. And if you are interested in my other healthy and creative recipes check out my Recipes page.
What you need for sourdough banana bread
Grab all the tools and ingredients that you need. And let’s start!
You will need this:
- Blender
- Mixer
- Loaf pan
- Two bowls
- Fork
- Blend cup
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 65 minutes
The list of ingredients:
- Butter, for coating the pan
- 375 g overripe bananas,weighed with the skin on (about 2 medium bananas)
- 100 g dates (if you want it more sweet add more dates)
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 100 g (appx. 1/2 cup) bubbly, active 100% hydration sourdough starter
- 250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 125ml (½ cup) oil or melted butter
- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
- Optional: raisins or blueberries
How to make it:
- Preheat the oven to 360 F (182 °C).
- Lightly coat the loaf pan with butter.
- Add the bananas and vanilla to a bowl. Mash the banana with a fork of with a hand held mixer for a few seconds. Some small lumps of banana are okay.
- Remove the pits from the dates and soak them in water to get soft. Then blend the soaked dates with the eggs in a blend cup, till it has the structure of a smoothie.
- Add the egg-dates mixture, little by little, until fully incorporated. Add the sourdough starter.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl. Working in batches, add this to the banana mixture.
- Add the milk and oil and mix until just combined. Do not over do it; the banana bread will be tough.
- Sometimes I add fruits like raisins or fresh blueberries to the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and transfer to the oven.
- Bake for 60- 65 minutes (for the standard 9×5-inch pan), until rich golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cover with foil if the loaf browns too quickly.
Then let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes, and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
You can add some fresh berries or just eat it plain. Enjoy it!
P.S. If you want more sourdough bread recipes, check out Emilie Raffa’s amazing book “Artisan Sourdough Made Simple: A Beginner’s Guide to Delicious Handcrafted Bread with Minimal Kneading”.
