Sourdough Miso Banana Bread
This banana bread is inspired by our trip to Sri Lanka, where we ate lots of bananas and lots of delicious banana bread.
Our favorite banana bread was (to our surprise) a miso banana bread. Who knew that miso and bananas were a match made in heaven?
And we took it up a notch here by also adding sourdough discard. This banana bread is definitely for those who appreciate a sweet and savory combo! It’s sweet, umami, sour, and a tad salty. It’s as if this banana bread has been waiting for me my whole life…
Plus, after much deliberation with my taste testers, we now have a gluten free adaptation that is nearly identical. We use a mix of oat flour and buckwheat flour (We first tried it with all oat flour, and it was too wet. Then, we tried with all buckwheat flour, and it was too dry—mix both together, and it’s just right!) to replace the whole wheat flour, and with no other changes to the recipe, it works like a charm.
This banana bread is perhaps not your typical loaf, but since when can I make anything the typical way? Life (and banana bread) is just more interesting that way!
Honestly, this has to be my favorite personal quick bread. If you like bold flavors, you should give it a go!
Sourdough Miso Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2.5-Quart Mixing Bowl
- Fork for mixing
- Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups
- 9x4x4 inch Pullman Loaf Pan*
- 400 grams ripe bananas (3-4)
- 150 grams coconut sugar or brown sugar (1 cup)
- 120 grams almond flour (1 cup)
- 100 grams sourdough starter (1/2 cup)**
- 60 grams miso (1/4 cup)
- 300 grams water or unsweetened plant-milk (1 1/4 cups)
- 355 grams white whole wheat flour (2 1/2 cups)***
- 18 grams baking powder (1.5 tablespoons)
- Pinch cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 F.
- Mash the banana until it is a mooshy goo. It is ok to have some clumps.
- Add in the sugar and incorporate. Next, add in the almond flour and mix well.
- Add in the sourdough starter and miso and mix again until well combined. You do NOT want clumps of miso in the dough!
- The dough should now be a paste. Mix in plant-milk or water until the paste becomes a liquid.
- Add in the dry ingredients. Make sure to mix until well combined. You do not want to overmix, but there should NOT be any dry spots. Dry spots will lead to uneven cooking.
- Line (using a silicone mat or parchment paper) or oil your loaf pan. Pour the batter into your loaf pan and (if using a pullman loaf pan) put the cap on.
- Bake for 65 minutes at 350 F.
- After 30 minutes, remove the cap from the pullman loaf pan. Place pan bake in the oven for 10 minutes with the oven turned off.
- Remove from the oven. Carefully transfer banana bread to a cooling rack (you may want to wait 5 minutes before doing so to avoid collapse) and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- This will last for up to two days at room temperature, but we usually store in the fridge in reusable sandwich bags and eat throughout the week. It should last at least five days in the fridge. We have not tried freezing, but I imagine it will freeze well.
Notes
*If you use a wider and shallower pan, you will have to bake for a shorter time. I would check on it after 50 minutes.
**The sourdough starter does not need to be active. You can also use gluten-free sourdough starter if you want your banana bread to be gluten-free. If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can try replacing with two flax eggs (2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds plus 6 tablespoons of water). However, I highly recommend creating a starter!
***To create gluten-free version: use 180 grams of oat flour and 175 grams of buckwheat flour in place of the white whole wheat. Ensure that your sourdough starter is also gluten-free.
