Sourdough discard banana bread

Sourdough discard banana bread uses unfed starter straight from the jar, so nothing goes to waste and the crumb stays tender. You mash very ripe bananas, fold in 120g of discard, and bake at 175C/350F for about 55 minutes. The discard adds a faint tang and a little extra moisture. No long proof, no shaping, just mix and bake.

Why discard works here

Banana bread is a quick bread. It rises from baking soda and baking powder, not from a long fermentation, so your starter does not need to be active. Cold discard pulled from the fridge is fine. The acidity in the discard reacts with the baking soda and helps the loaf lift, and it sharpens the flavor against all that sweet banana.

If your jar is overflowing, this is one of the better uses for it. For more ideas on managing the jar between bakes, see feeding your starter.

Ingredients

This makes one 9x5 inch loaf (about 23x13 cm).

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 340g peeled)
• 120g sourdough discard, unfed, room temperature or cold
• 100g granulated sugar
• 50g light brown sugar, packed
• 113g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

The bananas should be heavily speckled or nearly black. Pale yellow bananas will not give you enough sweetness or that deep banana flavor.

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 175C/350F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and line it with a strip of parchment for easy lifting.
2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until mostly smooth. A few small lumps are fine.
3. Whisk in the melted butter, both sugars, eggs, and vanilla until combined.
4. Add the sourdough discard and whisk until the batter looks uniform.
5. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
6. Tip the dry mix into the wet and fold with a spatula just until no dry flour remains. Stop there. Overmixing builds gluten and gives you a dense, gummy loaf.
7. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
8. Bake for about 55 minutes. Start checking at 50. A skewer pushed into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.
9. If the top browns too fast before the center sets, lay a loose sheet of foil over it for the last 10-15 minutes.
10. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift the loaf out onto a rack. Let it cool at least another 30 minutes before slicing.

Timings are estimates. Pan material and your oven’s true temperature both shift the result, so judge by the skewer and by the loaf pulling slightly from the pan edges.

Notes and swaps

• Want a coarser, nuttier loaf? Replace 50g of the flour with 50g whole wheat. It bakes a touch faster.
• Add 80g chopped walnuts or 80g chocolate chips with the dry ingredients.
• Stored wrapped at room temperature, the loaf keeps 3 days. It freezes well in slices for up to 2 months.
• The batter scales cleanly if you weigh everything. If you bake by ratios often, a tool like [/calculators/hydration] helps you keep track of how much liquid your discard is adding.

The crumb sets up better the next day, so if you can wait, slice it then. The flavor deepens and the texture firms.