Cozy Banana Walnut Scones (with Sourdough Discard + Whole Wheat)
I pinky swear you will never have to scroll through my entire life story, the zodiac sign of my sourdough starter, and a 2009 road trip diary just to get to a recipe. But this time, I nearly lost my beloved starter to a hotel fridge colder than a Dementor’s handshake. So if you’re curious about how we revived it, baked two loaves, whipped up a batch of cinnamon-scented scones, and left behind a little sourdough legacy—scroll on past the recipe section for the full tale.
If you’re just here for the food? I got you.
Cozy Banana Walnut Scones (with Sourdough Discard + Whole Wheat)
Ingredients
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 tbsp cold butter cut into cubes
- 1 ripe banana mashed
- 2/3 cup plain yogurt I like Greek whole fat
- 2/3 cup sourdough discard about 240g
- 2 tbsp milk add as needed for texture
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup white chocolate chips cinnamon or caramel chips would also be yummy
Optional glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tsp milk
- splash of vanilla or lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the dry stuff: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar.
- Cut in the butter: Use a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers to cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until you get pea-sized pieces. It should look crumbly.
- Add the wet stuff: Stir in the sourdough discard, mashed banana, and yogurt. Add a bit of milk as needed to bring the dough together—it should be moist but not sticky.
- Add-ins: Fold in the walnuts, and white chocolate chips.
- Shape: Turn the dough onto a floured surface and gently pat into a rectangle about 1” thick. Cut into 12 portions. Place on the baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 18–22 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch.
- Optional Glaze: ½ cup powdered sugar + 1–2 tsp milk + splash of vanilla or lemon juice
Notes
“You’re always alone in the kitchen…”
…so go ahead and lick the spoon, bend the rules, and turn mistakes into magic. I won’t tell if you don’t.
Plot twist: The Banana Scone Redemption Arc
(Hotel Fridge Drama Included, Glaze Optional but Strongly Encouraged)
So there I was, in someone else’s kitchen, with a rogue sourdough starter that had survived a near-death experience in an arctic hotel fridge (the exploding soda can wasn’t so fortunate, RIP). The previous morning, I discovered our mason jar full of fermented love had frozen like Elsa’s forest! My plans to share the sourdough magic with distant family members for Easter weekend was in jeopardy. Naturally, I panicked.
Cue a dash to the nearest grocery store for flour, a sturdy spatula, and an emergency feeding session to see if I could revive it. Happy to report: the resilient little bacteria weren’t dead, just resting in their hypothermic jar. Whew. Shortly after arriving at our destination, I got to work.
Here’s a perfect example of using AI in the kitchen. When I’m away from home, in an unfamiliar kitchen, and browsing a pantry filled with a random assortment of ingredients like banana, walnuts, whole wheat flour, plain yogurt, a bit of sourdough discard, I can hand that list to AI like a digital sous-chef. It spits out something useful: a base recipe to work from.
But the real magic happens when human intuition takes over. Years of scone making experience has taught me how the dough should feel, how much liquid to add (or not), and that tossing in both berries and white chocolate chips might be venturing into delicious-but-risky territory. AI gives me the map, but I’m the one who decides if we’re sticking to the route or making a spontaneous stop for snacks and chaos.
I also didn’t have my food processor, or my usual baking tools, or even my favorite pan. Just a bowl, a silicone spoon, and a cookie sheet. But the dough came together easily by hand, and while the scones weren’t perfectly uniform or fancy looking, they were golden, tender, and just the right amount of sweet. The kitchen smelled like cinnamon and love. They disappeared fast. And that’s the point, right?
Between the scones and the two loaves of bread I managed to coax out of that poor frozen starter, we left behind some serious comfort food vibes and a revived jar of sourdough for future baking adventures.
Sourdough starter status: presumed dead, now delightfully risen.
Kelly Brakenhoff is the author of 15 books and a seasoned ASL interpreter. She splits her writing energy between two series: cozy mysteries set on a college campus and children’s books featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.
In 2025, two of her children’s books were selected for the CBC Favorites Award Lists, honored by teachers and librarians nationwide for excellence in children’s literature. Parents, kids, and educators love the Duke the Deaf Dog books and activity guides because they introduce ASL and the Deaf community through engaging stories.
And if you enjoy a smart female sleuth, want to learn more about Deaf culture, or have lived in a place where livestock outnumber people, the Cassandra Sato Mystery series will have you connecting the dots faster than a group project thrown together the night before it’s due.
A proud mom to four adults, head of the dog-snuggling department, and grandma to a growing brood of perfectly behaved grandkids, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.