Home FermentSourdough Sourdough Carrot Cake Banana Bread

Sourdough Carrot Cake Banana Bread

by Kaitlynn Fenley

Making carrot cake banana bread with sourdough starter adds a deep, delicious flavor and fluffy texture. This sourdough carrot cake turned banana bread incorporates shredded carrots and warm spices for a fun autumn flavor.

Sourdough Carrot Cake

Since this is a sourdough banana bread, it doesn’t go straight into the oven after mixing the ingredients. Instead, I let my sourdough carrot cake banana bread rise for two hours. This allows the flavor to develop and allows the sourdough microbes to digest the flours making the bread easier for us to digest. Since I added shredded carrots in this recipe, the two-hour rise time really adds a nice carroty flavor.

showing how easy it is to glaze a sourdough loaf with just a spoon.

Carrot Cake Banana Bread

I stick to this saying: If I’m making bread, I’m figuring out a way to make it sourdough bread. A lot of our blog readers know that I was gluten-free for about a year. I did an elimination diet to help heal my eczema. When I reintroduced gluten into my diet, I decided I wanted to stick to sourdough. First, sourdough has way more flavor and tastes better than regular bread. Also, sourdough is more nutritious and digestible. Since the dough ferments for a longer period of time, it’s kind of like the microbes in the sourdough starter pre-digest some of the bread for you.

Sourdough Carrot Cake Starter Options

For this recipe, I used our Sprouted Rye Sourdough Starter, but any sourdough starter will do. We also have an Easy Sourdough Starter Recipe with Sourdough Starter Feeding Instructions.

a slice  sourdough carrot cake banana bread with white icing on top on a white plate.

Making Carrot Cake Banana Bread

Most sourdough banana bread and zucchini bread recipes I’ve seen don’t allow for any rise time. Instead, the bread is treated more like a muffin mix with a bit of sourdough starter added, which goes straight into the oven after just combining the ingredients.

I decided to try out my own sourdough baking instincts, and create my own recipe with time for rising. Trust me, letting this bread rise will result in the BEST banana bread you’ve ever had. The flavor is so rich, it’s unbeatable.

a loaf of sourdough carrot cake banana bread with white icing on top, cut into slices.

How to Make Sourdough Carrot Cake Banana Bread

This recipe is so simple and quick! Basically, you’ll mix all the wet ingredients, then separately mix the dry ingredients. Then, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Next, transfer to a loaf pan, let it rise for two hours, then bake. I personally like very moist banana bread, so I usually add an extra 1/2 cup of carrots to this recipe.

For icing the icing I just picked up some of this vegan Simple Mills vanilla icing.

Other Sourdough Recipes to Try

a loaf of sourdough carrot cake banana bread with white icing on top.
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Simple Sourdough Carrot Cake Banana Bread

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4.7 from 7 reviews

Making carrot cake banana bread with sourdough starter adds a deep, delicious flavor and fluffy texture. This sourdough carrot cake turned banana bread incorporates shredded carrots and warm spices for a fun autumn flavor.

  • Author: Kaitlynn Fenley
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: 15 Servings
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baking
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients 

  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 Cup Rye Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 1/4 Cup Rolled Oats

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Sourdough Starter
  • 1/2 Cup Milk
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
  • 2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
  • 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil, Melted
  • 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup 
  • 1 Cup Carrots, Grated

Toppings

  • vanilla icing

Instructions

  1. Line a loaf pan on all sides with parchment paper. 
  2. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix until evenly combined. 
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk until the mixture is uniform. 
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold in gently until evenly combined. Don’t over mix. The mixture will be wet and stretchy.
  5. Transfer the mixture to the parchment paper-lined loaf pan. Using a spatula, spread the mixture into the pan evenly. 
  6. Allow rising at a warm temperature for 2-3 hours. 
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  8. Bake for 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through.
  9. Allow to cool for one hour, then add icing and slice  

Notes

  • I use a 4.5×8.5 inch loaf pan
  • for milk you can use whole milk or plant-based

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a 5-star review below if you loved it! Tag @cultured.guru on Instagram

 

Nutrition information is auto-calculated and estimated as close as possible. We are not responsible for any errors. We have tested the recipe for accuracy, but your results may vary.

author avatar
Kaitlynn Fenley Author, Educator, Food Microbiologist
Kaitlynn is a food microbiologist and fermentation expert teaching people how to ferment foods and drinks at home.

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19 comments

Kelly November 26, 2020 - 2:27 am

So delicious! Delicately sweet- the vegan cream cheese frosting will top it nicely. I used 1/2 Whole spelt And 1/2 organic white flour and added a few nuts to half of the batch. Also made some muffins on the side because this recipe made more than my loaf pan would fit.






Reply
Hadley July 11, 2022 - 9:58 am

Truly incredible. Best carrot bread/cake I’ve ever had. I didn’t even add the frosting. Dreaming about making it again.






Reply
Kaitlynn Fenley July 11, 2022 - 10:08 am

I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for trying it and leaving a review!

Reply
Hadley July 11, 2022 - 2:05 pm

Update: made it again! (the last review was meant for June 3) you guys…nothing compares. I didn’t have rye this time so I replaced with whole wheat bread flour. And decided to try applesauce in place of oil. It still turned out perfect. I love that it is a true sourdough loaf. The texture is unreal it has some of the chewiness of a traditional sourdough loaf. I’m in love. The crust is incredible too! I love that it’s lightly sweet and more of a bread texture than a cake or banana bread. We slice it, toast it, and eat it was butter. Perfect treat that leaves you feeling good.
It’s also freezes really well.






Reply
Missy September 8, 2022 - 7:12 am

Love this recipe. Did u feed your starter first or did you use it straight from the refrig? I’m new to this starter stuff. Thx

Reply
Kaitlynn Fenley September 8, 2022 - 10:51 am

I use active bubbly starter in this recipe!

Reply
Danica December 11, 2023 - 7:48 am

If I did want to make these as muffins, do you suggest making any changes to the proportions? I’m so excited to try this!

Reply
Sarah March 3, 2024 - 10:54 pm

unfortunately, this loaf never baked through. i bumped up the temperature and baked for 30 more minutes and let it cool for an hour, to no avail. i would recommend squeezing out any moisture from the carrots in the future.
also, i was skeptical about the lack of sugar. it smelled great, but the baked edges just tasted like straight maple syrup. Great idea, but it just fell short of my expectations.






Reply
Kaitlynn Fenley March 4, 2024 - 9:07 am

Sorry to hear this! This is not a discard recipe, so I hope you used active sourdough starter. Thank you for your feedback, though. I’ll give this recipe a retest to make sure it’s up to standards!

Reply
Tina March 7, 2024 - 4:24 pm

I don’t have rye flour can I just use all unbleached all purpose white flour?

Reply
Kaitlynn Fenley March 10, 2024 - 8:36 am

I think that will work

Reply
Tina March 12, 2024 - 10:05 am

I needed up getting dark rye flour and it turned out great. It was a crown pleaser and gone in one day, so I made another loaf the next day. I want to make this again and I’m going to add walnuts and raisins next time 🙂






Reply
Kaitlynn Fenley March 12, 2024 - 11:08 am

yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!

Reply
Anonymous May 7, 2024 - 9:06 am

Great recipe! I intended to follow exactly and then got lazy and didn’t feel like dirtying up the food processor for the carrots, so I used an extra banana instead. Delicious banana bread!!






Reply
Tmax May 31, 2024 - 2:49 pm

Is it possible to use discard and let it rose for longer or is the peak starter a must for this recipe? I used all my starter for bread this morning and have some really ripe bananas, so wanted to ask. Thanks!

Reply
Kaitlynn Fenley May 31, 2024 - 3:17 pm

I haven’t tried it with discard. The starter is used for rise in this recipe, so I recommend using an active starter for best results.

Reply
Stacy July 31, 2024 - 3:54 pm

I made this recipe, and we live at 6000ft. altitude in Colorado. Added in some flax seeds, chia, and sunflower seeds. Absolutely phenomenal! Turned out fantastic! I used whole wheat flour in place of the rye flour, this is a top notch recipe! The house smelled amazing, and it does every time I pop a slice into the toaster!
And the ferment yielded a crumb strong enough to produce a slice that doesn’t crumble in the toaster. Thank you SO much!
I started my sourdough journey when my wife had one GI diagnosis after another, most recently metaplasia. It’s a life changer. Metaplasia is gone too.






Reply
Bay Girl August 25, 2024 - 6:38 am

What size loaf pan is needed for this recipe?

Reply
Kaitlynn Fenley August 26, 2024 - 7:50 am

4.5 x 8.5 inch

Reply