Banana bread is a comfort food classic. My secret is plenty of brown sugar, overripe bananas, and a specific mixing order for the ultimate sourdough banana ultimate banana bread. At the time, I didn’t ask for the recipe, so I searched online until I found it.
And now, my version is yours: one with sourdough and one without. When combined with perfectly overripe bananas and pure vanilla extract, it creates the most exquisite caramel flavor. Second, the ingredients are mixed in a specific order. Typically, when making a quick bread like this you’d simply combine the wet and dry ingredients and call it a day. But here, you’ll cream a portion of the wet ingredients first, then add the dry ingredients, followed by the milk and olive oil. But upon further research, this particular mixing order is the science behind its velvety soft texture. Third, there’s no cinnamon in this sourdough banana bread.
Cinnamon is strong, and the lack of it really lets that caramel flavor shine though. Finally, I added bubbly, active sourdough starter to the original recipe. Alternatively, you can use leftover discard instead. It just won’t rise as high. Baking the sourdough banana bread 10 degrees higher than 350 F gives the bread a nice lift. You’ll also need a stand mixer or electric hand held mixer.
I’m using three 7x3x2-inch mini loaf pans instead. I like to freeze them individually. Then add the eggs and the sourdough starter. Followed by the flour, baking soda and salt.