Tea’s ready! Sourdough Banana Bread

Yes, that’s a generous slice

I’ve had my sourdough culture for a few months now and been experimenting with different bread varieties with it – some with great results, some, not so much. It’s a bit frustrating (although I have a freezer full of breadcrumbs made from the not-so-nice loaves) but it really makes me smile that I’m dealing with something that is alive that definitely has a mind of its own – it never is exactly the same, despite me feeding it the same flour and water mix every few days. Only temperature and time differ.

My banana breads have never really come out as light as I would like. No matter how little I mix the batter or how light the butter is creamed, they have always come out a little dense. The addition of the sourdough has finally given me texture that I have been looking for. And in case you were wondering if you can taste the sourdough in this banana bread, I can say honestly that I couldn’t.

I made this in the Thermomix but you could easily use a food processor or mixer.

Ingredients

1.  200g plain flour
2. 150g sugar
3. 1 tsp sugar
4. 230g sourdough starter
5. 110g softened butter
6. 3 medium ripe bananas
7. 1 egg
8. good splash of vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan.
2. Turbo/pulse flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
3. Pour sourdough in to bowl, cut softened butter and bananas into rough chunks. Add the egg and vanilla. Cover and turbo/pulse all the ingredients together until a thick, smooth batter is formed.
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet mix and turbo/pulse to quickly combine.
5. Carefully scrape the batter into the greased loaf pan then smooth the top.
6. Bake at 180C/350F for 60 to 70 minutes or until well browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

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