Sourdough banana bread with bourbon-soaked bananas takes this beloved classic up a notch along. Plus, it’s topped with a slightly caramelized cinnamon sugar crust. Scrumptious!
Banana bread couldn’t be easier to make, but here’s a video tutorial in case you want to see how it’s done! If you’re new to the Kitchen, you’ll see that I do things a little different around here when it comes to my videos… Like what you see? Subscribe to my YouTube channel!
SOURDOUGH BOURBON BANANA BREAD VIDEO
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If you're brand new to sourdough, be sure to check out my post on
how to make and maintain a sourdough starter! GET THE KITCHEN SCALE READY
When it comes to baking, scaling ingredients keeps things precise.
A kitchen scale is a practical tool to have on hand and will save you from fussing over the age-old question: to pack the brown sugar, or not to pack it?
Here’s what we’ll need.
3-4 ripe bananas (see below)
1 oz bourbon
100g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
100g (1/2 cup) sugar
100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (I like using homemade vanilla extract)
250g (1 cup) sourdough starter discard, stirred
180g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
cinnamon sugar (make a small batch by mixing up 1/4 cup sugar to 1 tbsp cinnamon)
A NOTE ON THE BANANAS
The number of bananas used in this recipe impacts the batter’s volume.
Three bananas yield the perfect amount for a loaf pan (I like using a 9″ pan).
Four bananas will give you extra batter for muffins!
It really depends on your banana situation, but I always like making extra to surprise and delight someone.
GET READY TO MIX
When I’m making something quick and easy like this sourdough bourbon banana bread, I often mix the batter by hand.
I resisted trying them out for a while, but I have come to love dough whisks for this task.
Of course, you can also get the job done with a hand mixer or a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.
MAKING SOURDOUGH BANANA BREAD WITH BOURBON
Most classic banana bread recipes take almost no time at all to whip up, but this recipe is an exception.
After all, we need to get the bananas good and boozy!
THE BOURBON BANANAS
This quickbread is easy to mix up, but the bananas need some time to soak in the bourbon.
Let your bananas macerate for at least an hour before preheating the oven.
Just like you would with any other banana bread recipe, mash up the bananas in a bowl.
If you’re meticulous, you can puree the bananas for a smooth texture, but I like keeping mine a bit chunky.
Stir in the bourbon, cover, and rest.
GET READY
When your bananas are good and boozy, preheat the oven to 350ºF or 175ºC.
Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it with butter (or your preferred grease of choice) and dust it with flour.
Dusting a greased pan with flour will help that loaf of sourdough banana bread pop out like a charm.
CREAMING AND MIXING THE BANANA BREAD BATTER
I used to hate creaming butter and sugar by hand, but that changed when the dough whisk entered my life!
If you’re unfamiliar with this term, by the way, creaming involves beating the butter and sugars together until you have a smooth, uniform paste.
Next, beat in the egg until it’s completely incorporated.
Once the egg is in the mix, add in the bourbon bananas, sourdough discard, and the vanilla extract.
Finish the job by mixing in the dry ingredients and then…
BAKE THE SOURDOUGH BANANA BREAD
Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan, being careful to leave an inch of space.
The chemical leaveners will cause the batter to expand, so if there’s not enough room, it will overflow.
Trust me.
The last thing you want is to be greeted by a blaring smoke detector in a smoky kitchen and a hot mess in the oven because you thought you could get away with less headspace.
If you wind up using four bananas, fill the muffin tins while you’re at it.
Pop the loaf in the oven and let it do its thing for an hour.
By the way, did you know that oven temperatures are often off?
In addition to dough whisks, I put off investing in an oven thermometer for the longest time (much longer than dough whisks, actually) because I thought they were useless.
It turns out my oven consistently runs 25º cooler than it reads!
I digress.
Loaves bake for an hour, muffins for 25-30 minutes.
Test them for doneness by piercing them with a toothpick.
The toothpick will come out clean when it’s ready.
LET IT COOL
When the banana bread comes out of the oven, let it rest in the pan for 10-15 minutes.
After patiently waiting for this time to pass, flip the banana bread out of its pan onto a cooling rack.
Allow it to cool completely before slicing into it.
If you’re feeling extra decadent, smear those slices with butter.
Bon appetit!
FREEZING BANANA BREAD
If you’re wondering whether or not you can freeze this sourdough banana bread, the answer is YES!
Let it cool down (you do NOT want to put warm banana bread in the freezer) and then wrap it up in saran wrap and stick it in a freezer bag.
It will be best if consumed within six months of freezing it.
Oh, and remember to label the freezer bag!
Labelling is one of my cherished kitchen rules, otherwise, it’s easy to forget what something is and how long its been buried under the bag of forgotten frozen corn.
CUSTOMIZING YOUR BANANA BREAD
One thing I like encouraging my readers to do is owning the recipe.
Personally, I think my sourdough bourbon banana bread is pretty darn delicious, but we all have our preferences.
If you don’t like vanilla, omit it.
Are you out of bourbon?
Use rum or brandy instead!
Maybe you want to taste more cinnamon, in which case, add half a teaspoon to the batter.
The last time I made a four banana batch and had extra batter for muffins, my husband made a plea for chocolate chips.
Walnuts are delicious, too.
The bottom line?
Have fun, experiment, and make it your own!
THANK YOU FOR DROPPING BY THE KITCHEN!
I hope you love this bourbon banana bread recipe as much as I do.
If you decide to give it a whirl, I really hope you’ll pop back on here to leave a quick rating and to let me know how it goes!
In the meantime, here are some other recipes that might be up your alley…
OTHER GREAT BAKING POSTS TO CHECK OUT
Bourbon Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies
Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers Two Different Ways (rhubarb ginger & maple cheddar)
Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart made with a Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Pie Dough
SHOP THIS POST
Dough whisks (oh my gosh, these are the best!)
Oven thermometers (because everyone should have one)
PRINTABLE SOURDOUGH BOURBON BANANA BREAD RECIPE CARD
Sourdough Bourbon Banana Bread
Equipment
- loaf pan
Ingredients
- 3-4* ripe bananas
- 1 oz bourbon
- 100 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter softened + extra for greasing
- 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
- 100 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g (1 cup) sourdough starter discard stirred
Dry Ingredients
- 180 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour + extra for dusting
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Roughly an hour before baking, mash up the bananas, stir in the bourbon, and cover them up. Let them soak, steep, macerate.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC.
- Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it with butter and dusting it with flour
- In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with both of the sugars.
- Add the egg to the creamed butter and sugar and beat it in until it's fully incorporated, then mix in the vanilla, sourdough discard, and bourbon bananas.
- Fold in the dry ingredients until combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan, leaving an inch of space to prevent overflow. If there's extra batter, fill up a few muffin tins (those take 25-30 minutes to bake).
- In a small jar, shake up the cinnamon and sugar to combine it, then sprinkle a generous layer (as much as you'd like) over the loaf prior to baking.
- Bake for one hour, checking for doneness with a toothpick.
- Once out of the oven, allow the loaf to sit in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning it out on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- For extra batter (to make muffins), use 4 bananas.
- Consider adding chocolate chips or walnuts to the batter.
- If you don’t have bourbon on hand, bananas also pair well with rum and brandy.
- Maple syrup may be used in place of the brown sugar, but use 66g instead of 100g
PIN IT FOR LATER
Love and gratitude,
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