How to Make a Sourdough Chocolate Banana Bread

My Sourdough Chocolate Banana Bread recipe is the perfect after-dinner dessert or mid-afternoon snack with your tea or coffee. This recipe was the inspiration behind my Sourdough Pumpkin Loaf. This recipe is also great without the chocolate – just leave out the cocoa powder and chocolate chips for a plain, yet great-tasting banana bread.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

What is long fermenting?

For starters (pun intended), you need a sourdough starter. You can read about how easy it is to start or where to buy if that is more your thing in my How to Start a Sourdough Starter from Scratch post.

Read about some benefits to Sourdough Bread in my How to Make Sourdough Tortillas post. You can access all my Sourdough recipes here.

Long fermenting sourdough is when you mix your sourdough starter with the flour and a few other ingredients (that won’t typically go bad if left on the counter overnight) and allow it to sit at room temperature for around 12 to 24 hours before finishing the recipe.

This waiting period allows the active ingredients in the starter to work on the other ingredients. According to the website Cultures for Health; the long fermentation process:

1. Allows for better digestion of the sourdough food
2. Better flavour
3. Don’t need to knead the dough as much

What you need to make Sourdough Chocolate Banana Bread

Dry Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups organic unbleached flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar or 2 tbsp if using Splenda brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup sourdough starter, stirred
• 2 mashed bananas

Recommended tools

• Stand mixer
• Glass baking dish

INSTRUCTIONS 

Quick Cooking Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf baking pan.
2. Mix all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt), in a bowl and set aside.

3. Using a stand mixer, mix the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing until incorporated.
5. Mix in the syrup, and sourdough starter.

6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer. Continue to mix until sticky dough forms (about 1-2 minutes).
7. Add in the mashed bananas and chocolate chips, and mix for another 30 to 60 seconds.

8. Pour into the greased baking pan.

9. Bake for 60 minutes or until the center is fully cooked.
10. Poke a fork or chopstick in the center. If it comes out clean the center is cooked, if it comes out with gooey batter stuck to it, it needs another 5-10 minutes of cooking time.
11. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving to prevent the loaf from falling apart.

Long Fermenting Method

1. The day before or 8-24 hours before, mix the following ingredients in the bowl of the Stand Mixer, sourdough starter, 100% maple syrup, room temperature butter, and flour.
2. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and cover with a beeswax sheet or plastic wrap.
3. The next day (or 12-24 hours later)…
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a bread baking pan.
5. Check the firmness of the dough. If it feels too hard to work, place it in the preheating oven for 3-5 minutes. This should soften the butter enough to be able to work in the remaining ingredients.
6. Place the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer, and attach the paddle attachment.
7. Add the eggs and mix on low to medium speed until mostly incorporated.
8. Add the remaining ingredients, cocoa powder, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda. Continue mixing until just incorporated.
9. Mix in the mashed bananas and chocolate chips. Mix until incorporated.
10. Pour into the greased baking pan. Bake for 60 minutes or until the center is fully cooked.
11. Poke a fork or chopstick in the center. If it comes out clean the center is cooked, if it comes out with gooey batter stuck to it, it needs another 5-10 minutes of cooking time.
12. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving to prevent the loaf from falling apart.

Save it for later!

More posts from Simple Muse!

• Low-Carb Cornbread in a Cast-Iron Skillet
• Immersive Van Gogh – Is it Worth the Money?
• How to Make DIY Cleaners for Your Home
• 6 Tips on How to Simplify Your Cleaning Routine
• Travel Backpack Review – Nest Everyday Adventure Backpack by Tropicfeel