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Sourdough Berry Banana Bread

ByThe Pantry Mama Published: June 25, 2025June 25, 2025

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This summery sourdough banana bread is bursting with the bright, juicy flavors of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, making it the perfect way to enjoy the season’s best fruit. Made with ripe bananas and active sourdough starter or discard, this loaf is tender, naturally sweet, and just the right amount of tangy.

Whether you’re slicing it up for breakfast, packing it for a picnic, or enjoying it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, every bite is loaded with fruity goodness and wholesome sourdough flavor. It’s a delicious way to use up ripe bananas and celebrate summer’s vibrant bounty.

A feature image of sourdough berry banana bread. There are two slices of sourdough berry banana bread displayed on a white plate. You can see the rest of the loaf in the background of the photo garnished with fresh berries.

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

A Summer Take on Banana Bread - just like the sourdough banana bread you know and love, but with a summery twist! A great way to use up all those summer berries hiding in your fridge!

Sweet Breakfast Treat - Packed full of berries and bananas, along with the goodness of sourdough starter, this banana bread makes a perfect summer breakfast treat along with your favorite cup of coffee, no café required!

Less Waste - you'll need to use overripe, brown bananas for this recipe, making it the perfect way to use up old fruit. It's also a great way to use up less than perfect berries that might otherwise get thrown away.

Photo of sourdough berry banana bread loaf taken from above. There are a few slices cut from the loaf and laid over so you can see the bright berries inside. There are also fresh berries garnishing the top of the quick bread.

Ingredients

Bananas - you'll need around 3 medium overripe bananas for this recipe. It's best if your bananas are brown and a bit squishy.
Eggs - 2 lovely big fresh eggs are perfect for this recipe. Mine are around 60g each. If your eggs are on the small side it's best to use 3.
Butter - you'll need melted butter. As always, I've used salted, but you can use unsalted if you prefer.
Sourdough Starter - you can use bubbly, active sourdough starter or sourdough discard, whatever you have on hand.
Sugar - I've used a mix of both brown and white sugar.
All Purpose Flour
Baking Powder
Salt - just a little to balance out the flavor.
Fresh Berries - I've used a mix of fresh raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. The strawberries are diced. You can really use any berries you like. Fresh are best, but you can also use frozen if you want to.
Lemon - I've used the zest and juice a whole lemon.

How To Make Sourdough Berry Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease your pan with butter or line with parchment paper.

Mash the overripe bananas with the back of a fork until they are fairly smooth (a few lumps is fine).

Add the egg and egg yolk to the mashed bananas and whisk lightly to mix the eggs though the bananas.

3 process photos side by side showing the process of mixing the sourdough berry banana bread. Adding the eggs to the mashed banana, mixing and adding the berries to the dry ingredients.

Now add the melted butter to the mixture and whisk through.

Then add the sourdough starter and lemon juice to the egg mixture and mix throughly. It might look a little curdled, but don't worry, it will be ok.

Add the brown and white sugars to the liquid ingredients and beat together with your whisk until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix together the all purpose flour, baking powder, lemon zest and salt until well combined. Add the berries to the bowl and toss them to coat them in flour (this stops them sinking to the bottom while cooking).

Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

A glass bowl filled with sourdough berry banana bread batter. There is a white spatula in the bowl that has been used to mix the batter.

Pour the mixture into a buttered loaf pan.

2 photos side by side. The first shows a bowl of sourdough berry banana bread batter sitting behind a 1 pound USA pan. The photo to the right shows the batter inside a 1 pound USA loaf pan.

Bake at 180C/350F for around 1 hour. Baking time will depend on the size of your loaf pan and your oven.

The sourdough berry banana bread is cooked when a skewer is inserted and comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.

A loaf of sourdough berry banana bread that has been sliced and laid out on a sheet of parchment paper so you can see the colorful berries inside. There is a small dish of butter and a butter knife, as well as some yellow bananas in the photo.

How To Store + Freeze

This sourdough berry banana bread can be stored wrapped in aluminum foil or placed into a ziploc bag or air tight container for up to 5 days.

It can be wrapped in aluminum foil or placed into a ziploc bag and frozen for up to 3 months. It also freezes well in individual slices too.

3 bowls, one containing white sugar, one sourdough starter and the larger bowl contains fresh raspberries, blueberries and diced strawberries. You can also see a banana in the photo too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you use frozen berries to make this sourdough quick bread?

Yes, if you don't have fresh berries you can use frozen berries. If using frozen strawberries, make sure they are diced and not whole. Don't allow the berries to defrost before using them as they will bleed through the sourdough banana quick bread.

How do I prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom?

To stop the berries from sinking to the bottom of the banana bread during baking, make sure you toss them in the flour before adding to the wet ingredients. Coating the berries in flour helps them to stay floating through the banana bread rather than all sinking to the bottom. You can do this even with frozen berries.

Should I mash the bananas completely or leave them a little chunky?

It's really up to you. I like to have a few chunks of banana throughout this loaf, but if you prefer no chunks or are making it for kids, it's a good idea to fully mash the bananas until smooth.