Jane’s Journal

Sourdough banana bread saved us from the snow

Sourdough banana bread first came into my life last month - on the magnificent cake counter of Fernandez and Wells cafe at Somerset House in London - and it has been a constant since.

I recently began baking sourdough bread, but try to restrict making it to the weekends.

I have a problem with being in the same house as a good loaf of sourdough and would happily eat a loaf to myself every day of the week.

This has meant that I often have some extra starter around and I hate the idea of pouring it away. My youngest daughter loves baking so, when we were snowed in last week, I set her the job of perfecting the sourdough banana loaf.

I used to think that I was sensitive to wheat and that it was responsible for bloating and cramping - however, like many people, I have discovered that I can eat things made with sourdough starter without any symptoms (as long as I don't eat the whole loaf).

This basic recipe is an adaptation of one on the Simple Life by Kels website which you can check out for comparison here (It is also better if you are looking for US measurements)

Sourdough Banana Bread.

Ingredients

2 ripe/over ripe bananas

275g sourdough starter

110 g soft butter

160 g sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g plain flour

65g spelt flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

150 g chopped chocolate.

Method.

Heat oven to 350g.

Grease a 1 lb loaf pan or use a greaseproof liner.

Mash bananas.

Cream together the sugar and soft butter then add in the bananas.

Slowly add the sourdough starter - keep mixing, it may look gloopy to begin with, but will eventually mix smoothly - a whisk may help.

Add in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.

Finally stir in the chocolate chips .

Pour into loaf tin and bake for 1 hour. Put a baking sheet underneath the loaf tin, just in case the mixture overflows (baking with sourdough starter is slightly more unpredictable than other baking)

The loaf is ready when a metal skewer put into the middle of the top comes out clean.

Leave to cool and enjoy.

Variations of this banana bread kept us going right through the week we were snowed in.

Katie also tried glace cherries and walnuts instead of the chocolate and, though the spelt flour was originally a substitution demanded by being short of plain flour and able to get out to go to the shops, it gave a really soft nutty taste so I have kept it in the recipe.

If you enjoyed this you might enjoy reading about how I started baking sourdough bread

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