Plantain Bread – Moist, tender, and perfectly sweet, this plantain bread (or cake makes a beautiful breakfast or snack. One bite and you’ll never throw out those overripe plantains again. 😅
When your plantains have passed the tostone mark and are getting a little too black for even fried sweet plantains, plantain cake or bread is the answer! This bread is cake-like in texture with subtle plantain notes that are highly delicious.
Plantain bread is super easy to make, too. It only takes a few minutes to make the batter and less than an hour in the oven for perfectly baked plantain bread. It’s one of those simple recipes the kids love to help with that comes out delish, every time. 💯
Banana Bread vs. Plantain Bread
If you love banana bread, I promise you’ll love plantain bread. Plantain bread is similar to banana bread with a few minor differences. The bread itself is a little denser.
Flavor-wise, plantain bread is still sweet, but the actual plantain flavor is less intense than bananas. And while riper plantains have a stronger flavor, it’s never overpowering.
Recipe Ingredients
- Plantains – Two large plantains are all you need for this recipe. If you have more overripe plantains around you need to use up, feel free to make a double batch.
- Flour – I used cake flour, but all-purpose flour works. Baking soda and powder act as leavening agents for a good rise.
- Sugar – Since plantains are already fairly sweet, you won’t need to add much sugar. But a little does improve the overall texture and flavor, IMO.
- Dairy – Milk and butter add richness and flavor while sour cream (or yogurt) keeps the cake moist and not overly dense.
- Eggs – Classic cake-binding ingredients; you’ll need two large eggs for this recipe.
- Spices – Grated lime zest and nutmeg are my spices of choice for this cake.
How to Make Plantain Bread
Prepare the Batter
- Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease a loaf or cake pan generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Peel the plantains, slice them, and then puree them in a food processor or blender until thoroughly mashed. Set aside.
- Dry Ingredients – Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar on high in a stand mixture until fluffy and looking white. It takes 3-4 minutes. Then add the yogurt and mix for a minute more.
- Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Then add the plantain puree and mix until combined.
- Mix Wet and Dry Ingredients – Sift the dry ingredients into the batter, a little at a time. Then add the grated lime zest, nutmeg, and milk.
- Stir well until everything is fully combined, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as you go.
Bake the Plantain Bread
- Pour the cake batter into the greased loaf pan (or cake pan).
- Bake at 325℉ (160℃) until a tester inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean, 45–50 minutes. Transfer it to a wire rack, and allow it to cool.
Recipe Variations
- Customize the spices. Feel free to use orange zest, omit the nutmeg, add cinnamon, cloves, and cardamon, or customize the spices any way you see fit.
- Plantain banana bread. Can’t decide what kind of bread to make? Use one large banana and one large plantain and bake as per recipe instructions. Yum!
- Make plantain muffins. Bake this cake in a muffin tin instead for personal portions of plantain bread. They won’t take quite as long to bake, so keep an eye on them.
- Add-ins. Add chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.), dried fruit, or chocolate chips if you please. 😉
- Switch recipes. Can you use plantains in banana bread? I get that question a lot. And as long as the plantains are super ripe, go for it.
Tips and Tricks
- Use super-ripe plantains! This bread tastes best with the sweetest, ripest plantains you’ve got. Definitely don’t try making it with plantains that are still green or even fully yellow. The blacker the better.
- A potato masher or a fork will mash your plantains just fine instead of a blender. Just make sure you mash them until they are creamy and have no chunks.
- Right before you put your bread batter in the oven to bake, tap the pan on your work surface a few times. That will eliminate any large air bubbles that might have formed and promote even cooking.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Plantain bread fresh out of the oven is amazing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make this ahead of time. In fact, it’s even better the next day.
Bake it a day or two ahead of time and wrap it in plastic after it’s completely cooled. Then store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Serving and Storage Instructions
Let plantain cake cool for about 15 minutes before you slice it, slather it with butter, and dig in.
Keep leftover plantain bread at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days or in your fridge for 3-5 days. You can reheat single slices in your toaster oven for that fresh-out-of-the-oven taste. Or zap it in the microwave for a few seconds.
What Goes With Plantain Bread
Indulge in plantain bread with a cozy cup of ginger tea or a specialty coffee like a pumpkin spice latte. You can always dress it up and turn it into a more cake-like experience by topping it with some cream cheese frosting or a dollop of homemade whipped cream. Go ahead and add some of that to your coffee, too. 😜
More Delightful Plantain Recipes to Try
- Fried Sweet Plantains
- Stuffed Baked Plantains
- Plantain Frittata
- Klako (Plantain Fritters)
- Crunchy Plantain Chips
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”KaB5erKH” upload-date=”Tue Aug 07 2018 11:38:08 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Plantain Cake” description=”Plantain Cake – easy, light and delicious plantain cake or bread that serves as a great breakfast or afternoon snack. You could eat the whole thing without realizing you have gone overboard!”]
This blog post was originally published in April 2015 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Plantain Bread (Plantain Cake)
Ingredients
- 2 large plantains (overripe)
- 1 teaspoon (6g) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 2 cups (210g) sifted cake flour
- 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (230g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (80g) plain yogurt or sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon (6g) lime zest, grated
- ¼ cup (60ml) milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease a loaf or cake pan generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Peel the plantains, slice them, and then puree them in a food processor or blender until thoroughly mashed. Set aside.
- Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar on high in a stand mixture until fluffy and looking white. It takes 3-4 minutes. Then add the yogurt and mix for a minute more.
- Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Then add the plantain puree and mix until combined.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the batter, a little at a time. Then add the grated lime zest, nutmeg, and milk.
- Stir well until everything is fully combined, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as you go.
- Pour the cake batter into the greased loaf pan (or cake pan).
- Bake at 325℉ (160℃) until a tester inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean, 45–50 minutes. Transfer it to a wire rack and allow it to cool.
Tips & Notes:
- Use super-ripe plantains! This bread tastes best with the sweetest, ripest plantains you’ve got. Please don’t try making it with plantains that are still green or even fully yellow. The blacker, the better.
- A potato masher or a fork will mash your plantains just fine instead of a blender. Just make sure you mash them until they are creamy and have no chunks.
- Right before you put your bread batter in the oven to bake, tap the pan on your work surface a few times. That will eliminate any large air bubbles that might have formed and promote even cooking.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Kadie Robinson says
I just finished making this…did a little tweaking because I like to do my own thing..lol it came out absolutely perfect I was really surprised at the texture, so soft and tasty.. never thought about using plantains that way…didn’t want to waste my over riped plantains..Thank you for the recipe…oh I added a bit of cinnamon, mixed essence..
ImmaculateBites says
Great additions Kadie! Need to try that sometime. Thanks for letting me know .
Theresa says
Great Recipe! Thanks for posting it….Tastes just like banana bread!
ImmaculateBites says
Glad you enjoyed it!
rita says
im going to try it this weekend in Arizona….
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Do let me know how it works out for you.
Yazz says
I made it am. I had extra batter so i made a couple mini loaves. Next time im going to make all mini loaves. Cook time was about 30 minutes in a toaster oven for mini
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
sammy says
Is it possible to make a similar thing like this from unripe plantain flour? if yes how can one make the flour rise to form a sandwich bread
ImmaculateBites says
Sorry I haven’t tried it yet. So can’t over details.
Donna says
Made this today that is plantain bread. Been meaning to and I finally did. Added couple ripe bananas and a half of an Apple as well. Actually used sour cream too. Very moist and delicious.
Serached for similar products as mine and found this one. Deelishus yum
elsie says
Hi immaculate, i read through your recipe with delight. However, i would not crush/ blend my plantains to do a cake/bread. I cant afford to get it to that stage when its so soft bcos of scarcity. Anyway, could one use Plantain flour (ie dried up plantains that is ground to flour ) in place of the plantains then you wont need to add AP flour? I would like to try it. And vegetable oil in place of butter? By the way, plantain flour is avaliable in the markets. It is used to make foo foo in africa.
ImmaculateBites says
You could use plantain flour but it is not going to have the same texture as this one. Do let me know how it works out for you.
MISH says
I think it’s lovely that you choose to use the real thing instead of flour in your bread loaf. Just as you would use bananas in a banana bread. Elsie you can alter any recipe to your liking but me personally would try this recipe replacing any eggs though I want to make a vegan version.
Janet says
Hi MISH what did you use as an egg replacement as I’d like to try this out. I’ve heard you can use chai seeds blended but I’m not sure. Thanks
Juliet Anthony says
Pls Imma which one is cake flour incase I don’t get it can I use my normal all purpose flour?
ImmaculateBites says
Juliet,You can use all purpose flour.
Juliet Anthony says
Ar u teacher b/4 u switched over to food cos u really know how to illustrate things very well that even d block heads wil understand,ooo God bless u for us mothers
Yeancah Yemmy says
looks delicious
Naa says
I can imagine toasting this up and slathering with butter for breakfast yum yum….. but then again, this baked like a biscotti will be great with nuts added (made without milk and swapping cake with AP flour). and the drying out maybe a tablespoon of canola oil might help it stay moist.
ImmaculateBites says
Love your suggestions, you really are making me want to make some this weekend with nuts.
Coker Tosin says
So proud getting this site. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
ImmaculateBites says
Aww, thanks Coker. Let me know which ones you try!
loveth says
oh!!! dear immaculate, love your step to step illustrations, even dumbest person will understand you. God bless you real good.
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Loveth. Glad you appreciate the step-by-step pictorials!
Doo says
This is definitely a cake, not bread. LOL. But it looks delicious. I can’t wait to try it.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Doo!Please let me know how it works for you
Oh Shut Up says
We call banana bread “bread” even though it’s a cake. The word isn’t literal in this context.
Ofunne says
I think it’s called a bread because it’s baked in a loaf pan like bread
chinasa says
Am going try out this recipe cos I see it has yoghurt. I used the same recipe for both my carrot and banana cake, just add carrot or banana depending on the one I want. Am still looking for recipes that don’t dry out. Tanks once again
ImmaculateBites says
Fresh from the oven this is moist. Only when left outside, sour cream helps out!
Nagi@RecipeTinEats says
I wish we had fresh plantains here in Sydney. I’ve never seen them. But we are a bit behind with everything, eventually they will come here! I’ve only tried the fried chips using frozen ones 🙂 I can just imagine the flavour of this though!