Plantain Bread

Move over banana bread and say hello to some plantain bread. That's right, it's tasty, soft with the right amount of moisture. Made from almond flour and cassava flour making it grain and gluten free with a vegan option.

What do you do when you have some leftover plantain in your house? The answer is you make some plantain bread with it.

I must admit, growing up this type of bread wasn't a thing for us. I'm sure families made it but we didn't so this is a relative new concept for us.

I might sound biased but I prefer this to banana bread because plantain is commonly eaten in the Caribbean, it just feels more appropriate to use.

This recipe is a good example, where you don't need to depend on multiple gluten free flours which can be overwhelming and costly at times. 

If you are a grain free health enthusiast then chances are you will have some almond flour (not almond meal) along with cassava flour stored away in your pantry.

Veganizing the recipe

I tested this recipe what feels like a million times - eggless and with eggs. The final result which are featured in the pictures are the egg version.

The good news is you can make this recipe with flax eggs to make it more plant based. I will forewarn you, that the end result will be slightly fudgy.

I would say 80% cake structure with 20% softness, so you will notice the bread is more moist/soft than it is crumbly.

It is really important that you use both baking soda and apple cidar vinegar when making the vegan version, as the chemical reaction from both of these agents will help the batter to rise.

Depending on how you like your bread, the overall texture may or may not be a problem. I just wanted to share my experience when testing both versions.

My family like both versions, so we like to rotate between both the vegan and non vegan version depending on our mood.

Plantain bread vs banana bread

Honestly, there really isn't much difference in taste and texture. Both plantain and banana are genetically the same and come from the same family.

Albeit plantains are larger in size than their banana counterpart.

The only difference is plantain when unripened is a lot more starchier and not as sweet when it hasn't matured.

This is why it is important, if you can of course, to make your bread with plantain that is more on the ripe side then it is unripened.

Plantain is referred as a cooking banana, because it is! It is generally not eaten in it's raw state like a banana, instead you may use any of these cooking methods - boil, fry, roast or bake it.

You can use both plantain or banana interchangeably to make bread and get virtually the same results. 

Plantains are widely embraced in the Caribbean and Africa, which is why I said you get more of an island style feel should you use it.

The ripeness of the plantain

I won't bother going into the usual spiel of defining what plantain is.

If you have been supporting the website then you will see that I already made tons of plantain recipes, so you will already know what it is and ways to cook it.

To keep your bread low in sugar, then you will want to get hold of plantain that is extremely overripe.

When the plantain is overripe, what you are looking for is the outer skin to be literally black with very few if any (even better) yellow spots.

If the skin is black, when you acutally hold the plantain it will feel very very soft. This softness is the perfect (for baking) texture.

Not only will the plantain be easier to work with but it is will be naturally sweet from releasing its own sugar because it is overripe.

However, depending on where you live, plantain is not always easy to get hold of let alone having the pleasure of buying overriped ones.

If that is the case, just like a banana, you can leave the plantain in a warm environment, exposed to sunlight to hasten ripening.

Alternatively, you can use plantain that is ripe, skin with black and yellow spots and add some sweetener to your bread.

I do the latter sometimes, because I cannot always get overripe plantain, it's just as tasty as the overripe bread, only one needs abit more sweetener than the other.

The steps

• Preheat the oven to 356F/180C/Gas mark 4.
• Line a loaf pan with a liner and set aside.
• Place the plantain in a large bowl and use a fork, masher or stand mixer to break down the plantain so that it is completely mashed.
• Once mashed, add all of the wet ingredients to the bowl - eggs (flax eggs), vanilla, and coconut oil.
• Now add the dry ingredients - almond flour, coconut/cane sugar (start with 2 tablespoons), mixed spice, pink salt, cassava flour and the baking soda and apple cidar vinegar if making the vegan version.

• Mix for about 30 seconds, so all of the ingredients are combined to form a smooth batter consistency.
• Before you add the batter to the pan, do a taste test to make sure you are happy with the sweetness and stir in more sugar if needed.
• Spoon the batter into the lined loaf pan.
• Peel and halve a plantain and place on top of the batter, carefully pushing downwards until the slices are embedded into the batter (you don't need to go too deep).
• Bake for roughly 50 minutes or until a knife or tooth prick/skewer comes out clean to determine its readiness.
• Half way through the baking time you may notice your bread may brown too much (each oven varies) if that is the case, cover the top securely with aluminium foil. 
• Once the bread is done, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
• Remove the bread from the loaf pan/liner and transfer to completely cool on a cooling rack.
• Leave the bread to cool for several hours or overnight if you are making the vegan version (for best results) before slicing it with a serrated (jagged edge) knife.

Notes and tips

• For best results, use overripe plantain (black outer skin with very little or no yellow spots).
• Use a serrated knife (knife with jagged edges) to slice the bread as it reduces the chance of it crumbling/falling apart.
• Only use the apple cidar vinegar in the VEGAN VERSION!
• Slice the bread when it is cold or has completely cooled down (this prevents crumbling/falling apart).
• Here is the recipe link on How to Make a Flax Egg.
• If you make the recipe with the plantain on top, any leftover bread should be wrapped up and refrigerated for up to 24hours.
• Any leftover bread should be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 days (only if you don't have the plantain decor on top.
• You can use another light/neutral tasting oil instead such as olive oil or grapeseed.
• You will need ALMOND FLOUR for this recipe NOT ALMOND MEAL (The 2 are NOT the same).
• You can use arrowroot or tapioca starch instead of cassava flour.
• If you don't have mixed spice, use ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of nutmeg instead.
• The amount of sweetener that you use, if you need to will depend on the ripeness of the plantain. If your plantain has more yellow spots of the outside, be prepared to use around ¼ cup of sugar.
• I have only tested the recipe with raw cane sugar and coconut sugar, so use a granulated form of sweetener if you need to.
• It is best to eat the bread within the first few days (It doesn't last very long in our house and I haven't tested how freezer friendly the recipe is)

Other vegan plantain recipes to try

• Sopa de Plátano Verde (Green Plantain Soup)
• Plantain Burger
• Yellow Plantain Porridge
• Mashed Sweet Plantains
• Plantain Curry
• Boiled Plantains

Gluten free baked goods

• Jamaican Ginger Cake
• Shortbread Cookies
• Sweet Cornbread
• Butternut Squash Bread
• Carrot Cake
• Coconut Rum Cake
• Jamaican Toto

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