An easy, soft sourdough banana bread. Bake them as mini loaves, or as one large loaf.
I love adding candied ginger to this delicious sourdough banana bread for a little something extra.
If you're not a candied ginger fan, you can simply omit it from this recipe and just make it a classic sourdough banana bread or add chocolate chips!

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An easy sourdough discard recipe
If you're looking for sourdough discard recipes after making regular sourdough bread, this sourdough discard banana bread is the perfect way to use up excess sourdough starter.
You can use an unfed sourdough starter discard or a bubbly starter.
This is sourdough banana bread recipe is a simple recipe, based on classic banana bread but with the addition of a sourdough discard starter and optional candied ginger.
It is moist and full of flavour. This recipe is best made using overripe bananas. It's a great way to use them up if you've got old bananas lying around! Overripe bananas are the sweetest, have the most banana flavor, and are easiest to mash. For another delicious discard recipe, try these sourdough strawberry muffins or sourdough chocolate chip muffins.
What is candied ginger?
Candied ginger is made from a ginger root that has been cooked in sugar syrup and then dried out into sweet, spicy and chewy flavour explosions. It's strong in flavour so a little goes a long way.
You can cut it into large pieces, or spread out the flavour more and finely dice it. An addition like this adds something special to banana bread.
Sourdough banana bread overnight
This is a quick bread recipe that can be made in under an hour. However, if you want the sourdough starter to ferment the flour, the batter can be rested in the refrigerator overnight.
Tin sizes
This recipe can be made in a range of tin sizes. Either -
- an 8 tray mini loaf pan
- or an 8x4 inch loaf pan (21x11 cm)
The ingredients
The ingredients are listed in the full recipe card at the bottom of this post but here is a run-through of them with a few extra details.
- Bananas - This is an obvious must-have in a sourdough banana loaf. Extra-ripe brown bananas are best. They provide sweetness and flavour to the recipe as well as add moisture to the bread. It needs about 2 large mashed bananas.
- Butter - melted butter for rich flavour.
- Brown sugar - sweetness and caramel notes.
- Eggs - for structure.
- Vanilla & salt - For flavour.
- Sourdough starter - Unfed, leftover starter or bubbly fed starter can be used but acidic unfed starter will give the best results.
- All-purpose flour - For a little extra fiber, half the all-purpose flour can be substituted with whole wheat flour.
- Baking soda - This reacts with the acid in the starter to create the rise in the bread.
- Candied ginger - an optional extra but one that brings little explosions of flavour through the banana bread. Finely dice it into tiny pieces, or leave them a bit bigger depending on preference.
The method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease an 8 mini loaf pan or one large loaf pan.
Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove. Let it cool slightly.
Finely dice the candied ginger into pieces of your choosing. It's very strong in flavour so smaller pieces are best. I cut mine into 2mm pieces.
In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, then stir in the butter. Add in the brown sugar, egg, vanilla and sourdough starter and stir it well together until all combined.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking soda.
Tip the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients along with the diced ginger and fold it together until the flour mixture is well combined but not overmixed. Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf pan.
Sugar topping
In a small bowl mix together cinnamon and granulated sugar. Sprinkle this over the top of the batter for a little extra flavour and crunch.
Baking
Bake in the preheated oven. The mini loaves will bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. The top of the bread should spring back when touched and a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf should come out clean.
If baking a large loaf, the baking time should be increased to 50-60 minutes, depending on the loaf pan size. You can add an extra sliced banana on top for decoration if you like.
Serving and Storing
Serve the banana bread fresh with a pat of butter. Leftover sourdough banana loaves can be covered and stored at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Banana bread freezes very well too. Cover the cooled bread tightly with aluminium foil or in an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.
Want to try another banana bread recipe? Here's a gingerbread banana loaf, full of spices!
More sourdough discard recipes
Full Recipe
Sourdough Banana Bread with Candied Ginger
Soft sourdough banana bread with spicy candied ginger. Bake them as mini loaves, or as one large loaf.
Ingredients
Sourdough Banana Bread
- 100g butter
- 250g (about 2 large) overripe bananas
- 150g soft brown sugar
- 100g sourdough discard starter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 50g crystallised ginger (optional)
Cinnamon sugar Topping
- 2 tablespoon granulated white sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 extra banana, sliced lengthways (if baking in a standard loaf tin)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F.
- Grease an 8 mini loaf pan or one large loaf pan. You can use an 8x4 inch( 21x11 cm) or a 9x5 inch (23x13 cm) loaf pan.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove. Let it cool slightly.
- Finely dice the candied ginger into small 2mm pieces.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, then stir in the butter. Add in the brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and sourdough starter and stir it well together until all combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Tip the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients along with the diced ginger and fold it together until well combined but not over-mixed.
- If you want to ferment the batter before baking, the bowl can be covered and refrigerated for 6 hours, or overnight before baking.
- Spoon the mixture into loaf pans.
- Mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping and sprinkle a little over each loaf. You might not need it all. If baking in a standard loaf pan, slice an extra banana lengthwise and add it on top for decoration.
- Bake the mini loaves for 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back when touched and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- If baking a large loaf, the baking time should be increased to around 60-65 minutes.
Notes
Overnight banana bread
If you want the sourdough starter to ferment the flour, the batter can be rested in the refrigerator overnight.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 337Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 407mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 5g
Maryse says
The recipe doesn’t say when to add the 150g brown sugar ???
I forgot about it but then added at the end as the batter didn’t taste right 😊
Elien says
Thank you so much for pointing that out! I have fixed that up now
Viv says
Absolutely divine. 5 stars for this recipe thanks .
Elien says
Thank you Viv!!
Carol mcKee says
Hi, I would really like to try this banana bread recipe but don't have a recipe for a sour dough starter. Can you please help me with this.
Elien says
Hey carol, you can find how to make a sourdough starter here - https://homegrownhappiness.com/starting-and-maintaining-a-sourdough-starter/ 🙂
Richard says
This is a keeper, loved the simplicity and great use of extra starter.
Appreciate you sharing your passion... my bread making has improved heaps.
one point, in Oz we have baking powder and bicarbonate soda. I assumed the latter and it worked fine.
Home Grown Happiness says
So happy you loved it! And you assumed right, in NZ we call bicarbonate soda ‘baking soda’ 🙂
Elena says
Hi,
I would like to try this as have heaps of sourdough discard to use up. I wondered if I could sub some or all of the brown sugar with honey and also reduce the amount of sugar? I am cooking for toddlers hence the question.
Cheers
Home Grown Happiness says
Hey yes you can! That’ll still work well 🙂
Eric says
Really nice and simple recipe.
I added a spoon of strong (sweet chestnut) honey (couldn't resist) and a few broken pecan nuts.
Thanks for sharing your talents and recipes!
Peggy says
Can you please give the standard measurements (cup / tablespoon/teaspoon/etc.)? I don't have a scale for measuring the ingredients.