Sourdough Carrot Cake
Since this is 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 flour, making the bread easier for us to digest. Since I added shredded carrots to this recipe, the two-hour rise time really adds a nice carroty flavor.
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.
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.
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
Simple Sourdough Carrot Cake Banana Bread
Bake some sourdough carrot cake banana bread this spring or fall! My carrot cake banana bread incorporates shredded carrots & warm spices for the best flavor that perfect for Easter or any fall get together.
- Prep: 30 minutes
- Cook: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 Teaspoon Salt (dry)
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda (dry)
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour (dry)
- 1 Cup Rye Flour (dry)
- 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon (dry)
- 1 Teaspoon Nutmeg (dry)
- 1/4 Cup Rolled Oats (dry)
- 1 Cup Sourdough Starter (wet)
- 1/2 Cup Milk (wet)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla (wet)
- 2 Ripe Bananas, mashed (wet)
- 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil, Melted (wet)
- 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup (wet)
- 1 Cup Carrots, Grated (wet)
- vanilla icing (topping)
Instructions
- Line a loaf pan on all sides with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk until the mixture is uniform.
- 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.
- Transfer the mixture to the parchment paper-lined loaf pan. Using a spatula, spread the mixture into the pan evenly.
- Allow rising at a warm temperature for 2-3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake for 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through.
- 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
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.
Truly incredible. Best carrot bread/cake I’ve ever had. I didn’t even add the frosting. Dreaming about making it again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for trying it and leaving a review!
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.
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
I use active bubbly starter in this recipe!
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!
This is a great recipe that exceeded my expectations. I used 1 cup of ww flour and 1 cup of all-purpose instead of the 2 cups of all-purpose. Used agave instead of maple syrup. Plain yogurt instead of milk. Added 1/2 cup of hemp seeds AND used 285 g of discard. It’s amazing!
So glad to hear this! Thanks for leaving a review!
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.
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!
I don’t have rye flour can I just use all unbleached all purpose white flour?
I think that will work
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 🙂
yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
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!!
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!
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.
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.
What size loaf pan is needed for this recipe?
4.5 x 8.5 inch
Hi! I will try this tomorrow and can’t wait! Instead of Maple syrup do you think I can substitute with honey? Thanks
honey should work great!
How much does 1 cup of your sourdough starter weigh? I would think the weight could vary depending on how active is the sourdough starter.
Recipe looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it. Lots of great recipes here to try! Thank you for sharing your creativity!
yes, the weight can vary depending on what flour you use and how bubbly your starter is. But this recipe is quite forgiving, so you can measure it by the cup.