Sourdough Banana Nut Bread

Sourdough banana nut bread is a delicious & tangy fusion of mashed bananas, sourdough discard/starter and chopped walnuts. It is also a great way to use sourdough discard. Why throw out your sourdough discard… when you can turn it into an amazing banana flavored dessert or snack??!!

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

My sourdough banana nut bread recipe takes me about 10-15 minutes to prepare and clean up (excluding the baking time, of course!). Please be aware that this is an oven-baked banana bread recipe. It is not made with a bread machine. FYI – You will find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Key Ingredients – Ripe Bananas, Sourdough & Chopped Walnuts

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 Cups – Mashed Bananas (ripe) – 288 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Sourdough Discard (or Starter) – 115 milliliters – I prefer to use sourdough discard for this recipe. However, you can also use active sourdough starter. See tips section below for more info.
• 1/2 Cup – Vegetable Oil – 115 milliliters – Use a neutral tasting vegetable oil such as corn, canola or mild olive oil. For more info, see the tips below.
• 2 Large Eggs – 114 grams – Large eggs (not extra large or jumbo eggs)
• 1 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 215 grams
• 1 3/4 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 150 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 1 Cup – Chopped Walnuts (fresh) – 115 grams
• Optional – Sprinkle an extra 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts on top of the batter just before baking

Servings – Roughly 12 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, long wooden spoon, 9 by 5 inch metal bread pan, oven mitts, silicon spatula, cooling rack and an oven.

Sourdough Banana Nut Bread – Fresh Out Of The Oven

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C).
• Mash bananas with a fork.
• Stir mashed bananas, sourdough, oil, eggs & sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Mix until fully blended.
• Mix in remaining ingredients (except the chopped walnuts). Stir until the batter is fully mixed.
• Add 1 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter. Make sure the chopped walnuts are evenly spread throughout the batter.
• Pour finished batter into a nonstick bread pan. Smooth out the top of the batter within the bread pan.
• Optional – Sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts on top of the batter before placing into the oven.
• Bake in the oven at 325 degrees F (163 degrees C) for 65-70 minutes. FYI – I am usually closer to 67 minutes when making this banana bread.
• Take out of oven and let the banana bread cool down in the bread pan for 10 minutes. Do not remove the banana bread from the bread pan during this 10 minute cool down period. Use oven mitts as the bread pan will be very hot coming out of the oven.
• After 10 minutes, remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Place the banana bread on a cooling rack in order to completely cool. This cool down may take 1-2 hours.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common banana bread problems.

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help banana bread “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience.
• Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• Since this sourdough banana nut bread recipe contains walnuts, please do not serve it to anyone with a nut allergy. Also because this banana bread contains chopped nuts, it may be a potential choking hazard for young children. So please use caution when serving any type of banana nut bread.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Banana Bread Recipes such as pecan banana bread, Greek yogurt banana bread and blueberry banana bread.

• Use RIPE bananas for the BEST flavor. Ripe bananas are soft and have a yellow peel covered with many small black spots. Hard yellow/green(ish) bananas are too starchy and have much less banana flavor. FYI – A beautiful pure yellow banana (without any spots) is not fully ripe!!
• Using UNRIPE bananas will result in a very bland banana bread (with little banana flavor).
• To avoid any recipe problems (e.g. the banana bread is too dry or too wet), you should use EXACTLY 1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas.

• Use FRESH walnuts. After you have opened a bag of chopped walnuts, the walnuts can go rancid (bad) quickly due to their high oil content. Once the walnut package has been opened, you should store the chopped walnuts in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer. Do not use old walnuts that have been sitting in your pantry in an already opened bag. Also check the expiration date on sealed (unopened) walnut packages in order to make sure that they are still good.
• Optional – Sprinkle extra chopped walnuts on top of the batter (after the batter has been poured into the bread pan) if you want a more “walnutty” top for your walnut banana bread.
• If you run out of walnuts (or you are tired of walnut-based recipes), you can use chopped pecans as a nice walnut substitute.
• Visitors – What additional ingredients have you added to this recipe to make it more unique or special? Different nuts (e.g. pecans or almonds)? Extra spices? Chocolate chips? Dried fruit? Please post your sourdough banana nut bread suggestions & variations in the comment section below.

• This is NOT a super sour banana nut bread. The 1/2 cup of sourdough discard or starter adds a very mild “tangy” flavor. I think the sourdough adds a more sophisticated flavor to banana breads.
• This recipe uses a little less mashed bananas than my regular banana bread recipes (1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas versus 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas) and little less flour. Why? Because the sourdough adds ROUGHLY 1/4 cup of water & 1/4 cup of flour so this replaces the “missing” 1/4 cup of mashed bananas and 1/4 cup of flour (versus my other recipes).
• I think walnuts enhance the mild sourdough flavor of the banana bread because walnuts often taste a little tart as well as having a rich & nutty flavor. In my opinion, they help improve the overall flavor versus making just a plain sourdough banana bread.
• However, you can also easily turn this recipe into a plain sourdough banana bread by simply removing the nuts from the recipe.
• My sourdough banana nut bread recipe does not use spices (such as ground cinnamon) because I think that they would overwhelm the mild sourdough flavor. However, if you would like to add some ground cinnamon, many people like to add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to their banana breads.

• My sourdough banana bread recipe requires you to use LIVE sourdough and not just add some dry sourdough starter to the batter.
• Dry inactive sourdough starter is not the same as live sourdough. Dry sourdough starter must be “activated” by feeding it with water & flour (over a number of days) before it turns into a sufficient quantity of live sourdough in order to make sourdough banana bread, bread & other baked goods.
• What is dry sourdough starter? Dry sourdough starter is made by dehydrating live sourdough starter. This preserves the natural bacteria and yeast that is contained in live sourdough starters and allows for longer term storage options. FYI – Dry sourdough starter usually looks like powder.
• FYI – I like to use dry starter to make my sourdough (versus buying more expensive live starter). Why? Because life gets busy or I go on vacation for a couple of weeks and then I forget about the starter in my refrigerator. Then I am forced to restart all over again when I finally remember it!!!
• If you want your sourdough starter/discard to taste more tangy/sour, you should feed it with whole wheat flour (versus all purpose flour), allow it to ferment longer in the refrigerator and use a mature starter (because it takes a while for a new starter to produce lots of the sourdough natural acids).
• Optional – If you want to add a little more sourness/tanginess to your banana bread, you can replace 1/4 cup of mashed bananas with 1/4 of sour cream or plain unsweetened Greek yogurt. Therefore, you would use 1 cup of mashed bananas plus 1/4 cup of sour cream/Greek yogurt (versus the 1 1/4 cups of mashed bananas called for in my recipe). FYI – Sour cream usually adds more sourness than Greek yogurt.

• What is sourdough discard? Sourdough discard is the portion of sourdough removed from the jar before feeding it with new flour & water. If you don’t remove the discard, the feedings will cause the sourdough starter to outgrow the jar.
• People don’t like to waste the sourdough discard so they often turn the discard into sourdough discard pancakes, sourdough discard pizza dough… and of course, delicious sourdough discard banana bread!
• I like to use sourdough discard to make this sourdough banana nut bread recipe. However, you can also use active sourdough starter.
• Nevertheless, I feel that you do not need the leavening effect of a sourdough starter (because the banana bread recipe already includes baking soda/powder). The starter’s extra leavening might even cause the banana bread crust to crack & break a little more during baking.
• Visitors – Do you use sourdough discard or sourdough starter to make your sourdough banana nut bread? And why? Please comment below. Your answer is a great help to sourdough beginners.

• Sourdough benefit #1 – The sourdough adds a slight “tang” to this banana bread. IMO – I think sourdough banana bread is a more adult tasting banana bread (versus more kid friendly banana breads such as chocolate chip banana bread).
• Sourdough benefit #2 – You avoid throwing out & wasting your sourdough discard.
• Sourdough benefit #3 – This is a more “fun/creative” banana bread because you need to grow & maintain your own sourdough. FYI – Feeding & learning about a sourdough starter can be a fun project to do with your kids.
• Sourdough benefit #4 – This recipe is good for sourdough beginners because sourdough discard banana bread is much easier than making artisan sourdough bread. There is not overnight rising, no Dutch oven required, no difficult loaf shaping involved, no scoring the bread, etc. It is just a simple combination of sourdough discard and a nice banana bread recipe.
• Visitors – Why do you like to make sourdough baked goods? Obviously for the great taste! But for any other reasons as well? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

• If you need to buy some sourdough starter, please check out my Sourdough Tools page.
• When starting from scratch (with dry sourdough starter), it generally takes me about 6-7 days (depending on room temperature) to build up enough live starter for this recipe.
• However, as I stated above, an older & more mature sourdough starter (e.g. one that you have been feeding for over a month) will likely have a stronger sourdough taste than a starter that is a week old.

• Beginners – Here are some links to great videos to help you learn the process of creating & maintaining your sourdough starter. Watch the YouTube videos below if you want to “see” the correct level of starter consistency.
• How to Activate Dry Sourdough Starter – YouTube Video
• How to Feed Newly Delivered Live Sourdough Starter – YouTube Video
• How to Maintain Live Sourdough Starter – YouTube Video & YouTube Video
• FYI – If you see something like 1:1:1 in articles discussing how to maintain your sourdough starter, they are talking about a ratio of weights (e.g. grams) and NOT volume (e.g. cups). If you use cups for this ratio (instead of weight), you will be adding too much liquid.
• Visitors – If you have any great sourdough starter tips (e.g. feeding & maintaining the sourdough starter), please post them in the comment section below. This would be a great help to beginning sourdough users.

• Sourdough starter growth will vary in part due to room temperature. Warmer rooms (e.g. during the summer) result in faster rising and colder rooms (e.g. during the winter) result in slower rising.
• Make sure to mix your starter thoroughly when you feed it with flour and water. You do not want pockets of dry flour in your starter and/or bread.
• Live sourdough starter should smell slightly sour, yeasty & doughy. The starter should not smell bad, funky or rotten. In addition, any starter that has signs of mold should be thrown out.
• If you like sourdough recipes, check out Bread Dad’s recipe for Bread Machine Sourdough Bread.

• Use a neutral-flavored vegetable oil (e.g. canola oil or corn oil) for the best results when making this sourdough banana nut bread. Strongly flavored oils (such as extra virgin olive oil) can negatively impact the flavor of the banana bread.
• If you want to use olive oil (e.g. for health reasons), I would recommend using a “mild” or “light” olive oil as it would have the least impact on the flavor of the sourdough banana bread.
• FYI – Banana breads made with oil tend to taste MOISTER than banana breads made with butter. The main reason is because vegetable oil remains liquid at room temperature whereas butter turns back to a solid at room temperature. Therefore, the use of vegetable oil helps to create a moist banana bread.
• However, you should feel free to replace the oil with softened unsalted butter on a 1:1 basis if you prefer to use butter to make your banana breads. Some people prefer the flavor of banana breads made with butter (versus those made with vegetable oil).

• Do NOT use an electric mixer to mix your ingredients (when combining the wet and dry ingredients). Stick to an old fashioned wooden spoon. An electric mixer can overmix the ingredients and the banana bread will turn out rubbery & gummy.
• Make sure to use level teaspoons & tablespoons when measuring ingredients (such as flour and baking soda). You can level off the ingredients in a measuring spoon or cup with the flat back of a butter knife or similar utensil. No “mountains” of ingredients in your measuring spoons & cups!! Adding too much of an ingredient can lead to recipe problems (such as too much flour can result in overly dry baked goods).

• To prevent your banana bread from sticking to the bottom of the bread pan, you should consider either “greasing” the bottom of the pan with butter or vegetable oil, using a cooking spray, using a nonstick pan or lining the interior of the bread pan with baking parchment paper.
• If you have trouble getting banana bread out of a bread pan and/or smudging the top of the banana bread when removing it from a bread pan, you can try using baking parchment paper (lining the interior of the bread pan). Baking parchment paper makes it easy for you to lift the banana bread out of the bread pan (without having to flip the bread pan upside down, etc.).
• FYI – Baking parchment paper is NOT regular paper. It is a specialty paper designed for use with baking.

• The baking time for this sourdough banana nut bread may be a little more varied than my other recipes. Why? Sourdough discard/starters can vary in moisture levels (depending on how they are made). A banana bread using a wetter discard/starter may need a little more time baking. Make sure to use the testing methods below (toothpick test or bread thermometer) to ensure that your banana bread is fully baked.
• This doesn’t happen often but if the top of the banana bread looks too moist or undercooked, you should try the “toothpick test”. Gently push a long wooden skewer into the top of the bread and see if any batter sticks to the wooden skewer. If batter is sticking to the skewer then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread pan back into the still hot oven for another 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan will be very hot. After the 2 or 3 minutes, remove the bread pan and test the banana bread again with the wooden skewer.
• Instead of the “toothpick test”, some people like to use a bread thermometer to test if their banana bread is done. Generally, a “quick bread” (e.g. banana bread or pumpkin bread) is done when the internal temperature reaches 200-205 degrees F. Just make sure to measure the temperature in the center of the loaf for the most accurate reading.
• Problem with a sunken or collapsed middle in your banana bread? Then check out my Why Does My Banana Bread Sink In The Middle? page for reasons & potential solutions.

• Make sure that your oven has been completely preheated. If the oven has not been properly preheated, this quick bread could come out undercooked. I like to use a hanging oven thermometer to check my oven temperature and ensure the oven has been properly preheated.
• It takes roughly 10-20 minutes to preheat most ovens with some variability due to the size of the oven, planned baking temperature (hotter takes longer), etc.
• FYI – Do not open your oven during the baking process in order to “check” on the banana bread. This will allow the hot air to escape & cold air to rush in and this can cause your banana bread to collapse.

• Always try to use relatively FRESH baking soda & powder for the best results. For example, using baking soda from an open container (that has been deodorizing your refrigerator for months) may lead to subpar results. Old & hard baking soda/powder may lead to rising problems and/or leave small bitter clumps in your walnut banana bread.
• Store your ingredients (e.g. flour & sugar) in airtight containers to avoid “funky” flavors & smells being added to your baked goods. Airtight containers also prevent contamination by moisture (in the air), dust, pests, etc.
• Old flour absorbs moisture from the air (if kept in an open bag and not an airtight container). This extra moisture can throw off recipes and leads to overly wet batter and/or underbaked banana bread. You know there is a problem when the flour looks “lumpy” and pours out with many clumps of flour. FYI – Sometimes, even new flour can have an excess moisture problem if the paper package is not tightly sealed. I occasionally have this problem with “generic” supermarket brand flour.
• This recipe uses all purpose flour. Do not use bread flour to make banana breads or they are more likely to turn out dense and/or gummy. Banana bread recipes work best with all purpose flour.

• Long-term storage – If you want to keep your banana bread for more than 1-2 days (depending on your home’s temperature & humidity), you will need to freeze it. Please read Bread Dad’s How To Freeze Banana Bread for more details.
• In case, you didn’t see this in the “equipment used to make this recipe” section, this recipe is based on using a standard 9 by 5 inch bread pan. This means that the interior of the bread pan (not exterior) measures 9 inches in length, 5 inches in width and 2 1/2 inches in depth/height. Of course, Bread Dads are crazy about exact measurements… thus the use of measuring tapes! Ha!
• Please use the suggested 9 x 5 bread pan to make this recipe. If you start using different sized pans, there is a greater potential for bread top collapses (potentially less bread pan “wall” support for the quick bread as it rises), different interior batter to exterior crust ratios (thus the need for different baking lengths), smaller pans are more likely to overflow, etc.

• My recipes are based on using a metal bread pan and NOT a glass bread pan. Glass bread pans bake faster than metal bread pans. If you use a glass bread pan for my recipes, you are more likely to overbake your banana bread (e.g. burnt crust).
• My recipes are based on using a regular oven and NOT a convection oven. Convection ovens bake faster than regular ovens and require less baking time than what is stated in my recipes.
• Place your banana bread in the middle of your oven. If you place it on the top or bottom racks, the banana bread may be too near the oven’s heating element and bake faster than expected.
• If you like banana nut bread recipes, you might also like to try Bread Dad’s recipes for Easy Banana Nut Bread (with walnuts), Almond Banana Bread, Mini Banana Nut Bread (small loaves), Peanut Butter Banana Bread and Pecan Banana Bread.

• If you have a problem with a banana bread recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (e.g. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (e.g. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (e.g. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (e.g. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (e.g. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a hot oven and bread pan.
• For more delicious banana bread recipes (e.g. cranberry banana bread or blueberry banana bread), please visit Bread Dad’s sections on easy Banana Bread Recipes.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Banana Bread
2. Wikipedia, Sourdough

Related Recipes

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2. Easy Banana Nut Bread
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4. Peanut Butter Banana Bread
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6. Bread Machine Sourdough Bread

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