This sourdough banana bread with chocolate chips and pecans is one of my favorite ways to use up leftover sourdough discard! It's soft, fluffy and has that slight tang from the sourdough starter! It comes together super easily in just one bowl!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make the best sourdough chocolate chip banana bread!
Sourdough Starter - I typically use leftover sourdough discard to make this banana bread because I always need to use up extra discard, but ripe sourdough starter works just as well! This recipe uses a little bit of baking powder to help it rise, so the sourdough is just for that tangy flavor.
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my banana bread because it makes it super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Bananas - Brown bananas are welcomed here! They are much softer and sweeter than unripe bananas and help provide the moisture needed for soft, fluffy banana bread.
Chocolate Chips - If you like dark chocolate, I highly recommend the Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate baking chips. The flavor is amazing and the baking chips are slightly larger and flatter than normal chocolate chips and melt beautifully inside your banana bread.
Pecans - I love adding pecans for extra crunch, but you could also substitute walnuts or just leave them out all together.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Sourdough Banana Bread
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until fully combined and smooth.
Add in the sourdough discard, mashed banana, and milk and whisk until fully incorporated. The batter will be lumpy, that's okay.
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and fold until just combined.
Gently mix in the chocolate chips and pecans.
To get your banana bread to come out of the pan easily, I highly recommend using a high quality pan and preparing it properly!
I love all of my USA Pan cake pans because they are extremely sturdy and truly nonstick. However, I still like to prepare my pans to ensure the cake comes out easily.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray. You can also use solid metal binder clips to hold the parchment in place.
Pour the sourdough banana bread batter into the prepared loaf pan and top with extra chocolate chips and pecans, if desired.
Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out *mostly* clean (you don't want thick wet batter, but a few moist crumbs is okay).
Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Sourdough Tips & Tricks
If you've never baked with sourdough before, it can be a little tricky. But don't worry, I have a full Sourdough Starter Guide all about making and maintaining a sourdough starter! I also have a full guide on different types of flour you can use to make sourdough and of course a guide on how to make a Beginner Homemade Sourdough Loaf. Below are a few quick tips and key terms you need to know.
- Sourdough Starter - A culture of wild yeast and bacteria that leavens and flavors sourdough bread. I use what's called a "liquid starter" versus a stiff starter. This means the starter is made with equal parts flour and water and should be a consistency similar to cake batter.
- Sourdough Discard - The portion of your starter that is discarded when feeding your starter (can be used in tons of recipes like sourdough discard blueberry muffins or sourdough pancakes).
- Ripe Starter - A starter that's ready to be used in baking. Your starter is ripe roughly 6 hours after feeding and will have doubled in size, have lots of visible bubbles, and a fresh acidic aroma.
Weigh your ingredients! For all my sourdough recipes, I measure the ingredients in grams because it's much more accurate! I highly recommend getting a kitchen scale if you don't already have one! However, I have included alternate US customary measurements for your convenience.
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If your oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all breads and baked goods! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Easy sourdough recipes for beginners! If you've never made sourdough bread before, I recommend starting with some simple, no-fuss recipes like my sourdough naan or sourdough bagels! But if you're already a pro, I have a ton of fun sourdough recipes you can try!
Recipe Tips & Tricks
You can easily make this sourdough banana bread into muffins! Simply line a muffin pan with muffin liners, and reduce the baking time to 25-30 minutes! This recipe will make about 12 muffins.
I highly recommend actually measuring out your mashed banana so that you don't end up with too much or too little. If you don't have enough banana, you can replace the rest with applesauce or sour cream!
If you're feeling fancy, I also recommend substituting the butter for brown butter for an rich, nutty depth of flavor!
Recipe FAQ's
Yes!! Just note that the active starter will cause the bread to rise a little bit more, and the discard will yield a tangier sourdough flavor.
Nope! You can use very ripe (almost completely brown) bananas for this sourdough banana bread!
Wrap the banana bread in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Sourdough Discard Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup sourdough starter discard
- 1 cup ripe banana, mashed (2-3 large bananas)
- ¼ cup whole milk, substitute sour cream or applesauce
- 2 cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare your loaf pan. Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until fully combined and smooth.
- Add in the sourdough discard, mashed banana, and milk and whisk until fully incorporated. The batter will be lumpy, that's okay.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and fold until just combined.
- Gently mix in the chocolate chips and pecans.
- Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and top with extra chocolate chips and pecans if desired.
- Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out *mostly* clean (you don't want thick wet batter, but a few moist crumbs is okay).
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Pep says
If you use active starter, do you skip the baking powder?
Kyleigh Sage says
No you still want to use baking powder! Banana bread (and other quick breads) are more similar to cake than actual bread so the leavening process is different and the baking powder is still necessary. The sourdough starter/discard is really just for flavor and a way to use up leftover discard.
Melissa says
I made this today and it is a definite crowd pleaser. My kids loved it and it came out perfectly!
Ang says
wow! This is absolutely amazing. I used active starter. I will be making this again!
CAs says
Came out perfectly. So good!
Alicia says
This recipe is excellent but far too sweet for me. I'll just cut back in the brown sugar next time. Thank you!
Tina says
I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve made this - my whole family love it. I’m getting ready to make it again.
Chef Dennis says
We are going to have this sourdough discard banana bread again! It's really delish.