This Sourdough Banana Bread, made with all-purpose flour, ripe bananas, and fermented with sourdough, takes banana bread to a whole new level.
Banana Bread has always been one of my favorite treats. It’s simple to prepare, makes a great snack, and freezes well. I never grow tired of it.
I really enjoy my tried and true banana bread recipes, but I also like to experiment with new ones. Over the years, I’ve made regular banana bread, ultimate, whole wheat, peanut butter, chocolate chip, and over-the-top banana bread to mention a few.
Just when I thought I was running out of options, the Sourdough Surprises’ Baking Group challenged us to make Sourdough Quick Breads. Sourdough! Now, why didn’t I think of that!
Sourdough takes quick breads to new heights:
This sourdough quick bread challenge took banana bread to a new level for me. There are so many possibilities. I’ve been having so much fun making banana quick bread with my sourdough starter this month. I made four different variations. The first version is featured in this post.
I used this Sourdough Banana Bread recipe for this experiment.
I started with the sample recipe (recommended by the group – link above). I followed it pretty much to the letter the first time I made the bread because I wanted to see how the original version performed and what enhancements, if any, I might like to make for future breads.
Options for using sourdough in a quick bread:
There are a couple of ways to utilize a sourdough starter in quick breads. You can use any starter you prefer, just make sure it’s fresh, meaning recently fed.
Option 1: Mix all of the ingredients, including the sourdough, omit the baking soda and let the batter ferment for at least seven hours. Then bake it. This method makes it more easily digestible. If you want to mute the sourdough flavor, add the baking soda a few minutes before baking the loaf.
Option 2: Mix the batter, including the sourdough, add the baking soda and bake the bread. If you bake the bread immediately, you won’t get the benefits of the fermentation, but it still makes a delicious bread.
This is the method I used for my first attempt. I didn’t want to wait for the batter to ferment so I added 1 cup of my recently fed apple starter, mixed the batter and baked it right away.
This version is really good for a sourdough quick bread; however, it didn’t have the banana flavor that I was looking for. The texture was perfect so I think part of the problem was the coconut oil that I used instead of butter. It gave the bread a wonderful flavor, but kind of overpowered the banana flavor. Even so, I really liked this bread, especially with the addition of chopped walnuts.
On subsequent attempts, I let the batter ferment for at least 7 hours and sometimes overnight. The fermentation gave the loaf a nice tangy flavor; however, there was still the issue of the muted banana flavor.
I finally found the sweet spot by combining a couple of different techniques to get the benefits from the sourdough and enhance the banana flavor without affecting the texture of the bread.
Banana Bread and beyond…
If you’re wondering what I meant by “and beyond” in the title of this post, stay tuned. I’ll be posting more about my sourdough banana bread adventures. Look for a follow-up post that reveals how I took this recipe, incorporated a different starter, and a method for enhancing the banana flavor and came up with my own quick bread.
And now for the next phase of my experiment with sourdough banana bread:
Sourdough Einkorn Banana Bread.
From Sourdough to Einkorn Banana Bread –- Part 2
Happy Baking!
Cathy
SeattleDee says
Wow! You have opened up a new chapter on banana bread possibilities. I can’t wait to see the rest of the project!
Anonymous says
You sure left me hanging! 🙂
Cathy W. says
Lol… Good. My ploy worked. Stay tuned for the next chapter. 🙂
Kelster says
Hey… no fair! What’s with the cliffhanger? “Haha
Marisa says
I love your option 1! When I’ve read other recipes, they specify mixing the flour and starter and leaving that for 7 hours, then mixing in the rest of the ingredients. With recipes that aren’t written to include the fermentation period, I’ve wondered if I could just mix everything together and let it sit. I guess I’ll have to stay tuned as well!
Cathy W. says
Option 1 does develop the best flavor if you’re willing to wait.
Neil says
It never even occurred to me to try sourdough in a quickbread – although now I read that back, I realise that a sourdough quickbread is an oxymoron. Nonetheless, this is something I’d like to try – thanks!
Cathy W. says
Hi Neil, you’re right! Sourdough quickbread is an oxymoron, but it’s so good! I can’t believe I never thought of making sourdough banana bread before.
Joan says
I bow down to the banana bread guru! Wow! So many recipes to try, so few bananas in my freezer. 😉
Cathy W. says
Lol… I’m not sure about the guru part, but I do like me some banana bread.
Gingered Whisk says
Delicious job! Your banana bread looks utterly prefect! Would love a slice or two with a mug of tea and a book! 🙂 Thanks for baking with us this month!
Korena says
Banana bread is a great thing to experiment with – you can never have too much, I think! Your loaves look wonderful and I’m interested to see how your experiment turns out!
Rebecca says
I love banana bread too and I have some bananas in the freezer that are calling my name. I’m looking forward to reading more about it in your future posts! That pumpkin brioche looks great too.
pizzarossa says
I can taste that beautiful bread through the pictures! Gorgeous!
Ariel says
Any updates? Thanks. I tried sourdough bread today and I was wondering about other possibilities. I followed a different quick SD banana bread recipe, but I left it out overnight to ferment and after I added baking soda, I searched more recipes saw youts. :0 I hope the baking soda ND powder do not stop the wild yeast entitely
Cathy says
Hi Ariel, The next post is about Einkorn Sourdough Banana Bread. I added a link to it in this post. Glad you caught that.
The baking soda doesn’t stop the yeast activity, it just neutralizes the sour taste from sourdough; however, it is optional so if you don’t mind the sour flavor, you can omit the baking soda. Happy Baking!