With an intense banana and a rich peanut butter flavor, this Sourdough Discard Banana Snack Cake will be your new favorite way to use up overripe bananas and excess discard.
I absolutely love banana bread, but when I accumulate too many overripe bananas, I love making this peanut butter banana snack cake! It's lighter and airier than a normal banana bread with a rich flavor thanks to the addition of sourdough discard and peanut butter.
Looking for more ways to use overripe bananas? Try my recipes for Sourdough Discard Banana Bread, Sourdough Banana Nut Bread, Sourdough Banana Muffins and Sourdough Banana Cookies.
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Baking with sourdough discard
Baking powder and baking soda helps this cake rise, instead of biological leaveners (commercial yeast or sourdough). As the batter bakes, baking powder produces carbon dioxide which imparts a soft, and fluffy texture to your cake. Because you won’t be using an active sourdough starter to make this cake rise you can bake with your sourdough discard straight from the refrigerator without activating or feeding it first.
Love easy sourdough cakes? Check out my recipe for Sourdough Sweet Potato Apple Coffee Cake, Lemon Lavender Bundt Cake and Sourdough Discard Chocolate Cake.
What you need
- All-purpose flour - the low protein content of all-purpose imparts a soft, tender texture to this cake
- Baking soda - the main leavening agent, makes the cake rise and helps with browning
- Kosher salt - intensifies the flavors of the rest of the ingredients
- Peanut butter - adds a rich flavor to the cake
- Unsalted butter - adds richness and softness
- Granulated sugar - adds sweetness, structure and tenderizes the crumb
- Sourdough discard - adds a tangy flavor and added moisture which makes this cake taste fresher for longer
- Whole milk - loosens up the batter and adds moisture
- Eggs - adds richness and structure
- Overripe bananas - overripe bananas are essential for great results, it adds sweetness and intense flavor
- Vanilla extract - adds a rich flavor and additional sweetness
- 70% chocolate (optional) - I love topping my snack cake with chocolate chunks but you can substitute with nuts or dried fruit
Step-by-step instructions
- Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt
- Cream peanut butter, butter and sugar using an electric mixer
- Add eggs in one at a time
- Stir in bananas, sourdough discard and vanilla into batter
- Fold flour mixture into batter a third at a time, alternating with milk to loosen up the batter
- Pour batter into prepared baking pan
- Sprinkle chopped chocolate over batter
- Bake cake at 350 F for 40 to 50 minutes
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Simply use the same proportion of freshly fed sourdough starter in the recipe. Your starter won’t add a strong tangy flavor to your muffins, but will still work.
If you don’t have a starter, but still want to try out this recipe, simply add 28 grams of all-purpose flour and 28 grams of water to your batter.
If you don’t have overripe bananas, bake unpeeled bananas in an oven preheated to 400 F for 5 to 10 minutes or until they are completely browned. This caramelizes the sugars and intensifies the flavor of the bananas, similar to overripe bananas.
There are a few reasons your cake may end up dense:
1. Your baking soda may be past its prime, make sure your baking soda is fresh before making this recipe
2. The gluten in your cake may have been over developed because the batter has been overmixed
3. You may have opened the oven door too early, this causes heat to escape rapidly which can cause your cake to sink
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Sourdough Discard Banana Snack Cake
Equipment
- hand mixer
Ingredients
- 156 grams all-purpose flour
- 6 grams salt
- 3 grams baking soda
- 56 grams unsalted butter softened
- 75 g peanut butter
- 250 g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 56 g sourdough discard
- 7 g vanilla or rum
- 28 grams milk
- 227 grams overripe bananas mashed
- 60 grams chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (176 C). Line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.156 grams all-purpose flour, 6 grams salt, 3 grams baking soda
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the peanut butter, butter and sugar until the mixture appears light and fluffy.56 grams unsalted butter, 75 g peanut butter, 250 g granulated sugar
- Add eggs one at a time until each is fully combined.2 eggs
- Add bananas, sourdough discard and vanilla until well-incorporated.56 g sourdough discard, 227 grams overripe bananas, 7 g vanilla or rum
- Fold in half of the flour mixture with a spatula until the flour is hydrated. Add milk and the remaining flour until fully incorporated but do not overmix or your cake may turn out rubbery.28 grams milk
- Pour batter into your prepared baking pan and sprinkle chocolate chunks on top.60 grams chocolate chunks
- Bake cake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
Evie says
Hi Hannah! Just made this today and kept looking for when to add the chocolate chips and how much, but I think it’s missing from the recipe.
Make It Dough says
Oh no! I usually just top with chocolate chips. Thank you for catching this! I'll be sure to edit the recipe.
mamadolson says
Hi - I made this recipe today. It's not clear when to add the peanut butter. Reading over the recipe, I thought either with the butter and sugar or with the sourdough discard. So I opted for the later. The texture looked good. It's in the oven now and I'll let you know.
Make It Dough says
So sorry about that! It was an oversight on the recipe that I just corrected. I hope you enjoyed the cake!