I am so excited, just had to share this recipe with my dear friends/readers, my exquisite plantain muffins plantain bread. It is incredibly soft, moist, flavoursome and so moreish, my mind is thoroughly blown.
I travelled out of town with daughter no. 2 and left some plantains in the fridge, on getting home they had ripened beyond the stage for frying, boiling and definitely for roasting, they were a short way to the bin. I put them in the freezer to slow down the ripening process and in the spirit of ‘waste not want not’, I had to think of what to use them for. I wasn’t in the mood for plantain pudding (ukpo ogede), plantain mosa or…in fact, I wanted something new. So the thought came, if they were bananas I would have rustled up banana bread/muffin, one of our family favourite things to eat, so why not plantains? Thank God I did.
I used my fail-proof banana bread recipe but amped it up a bit for the plantain muffins. Raw Plantains have a less fruity flavour than bananas, with just vanilla flavour, bananas will shine. Plantains, on the other hand, being starchier and more savoury, need some spice, so I added cinnamon and nutmeg, this made all the difference. It can pass for plantain muffin or plantain bread, it just depends on the vessel you use for baking it and adjusting the time to suit it.
I still have some plantains left in the freezer and thinking, what delicious recipe to make with them, any suggestions?
Do not overmix your batter, once the dry ingredients are moistened, stop mixing, or you will end up with a tough, heavy, flat and crumbly Bread/Muffin. I prefer to use either a wooden spoon or a balloon whisk instead of an electric mixer in order to control my mixing. Also, know that lumps are good, they are part of what gives muffins their lumpy crust.
P.S: I just made a large batch of this muffin for a group occasion, but I substituted part of the sugar for honey. It was a huge hit. Everyone, I mean everyone loved it. Instead of 3/4 cup sugar, I used the equivalent of 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey. Lovely.
To make Plantain muffins Plantain bread
550g plantain 3/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon rum essence (optional)
Preheat oven to 180°C, brush 2 small loaf pans with butter, or oil. If making muffins, brush 12 muffin cups with butter, or oil, or line with paper liners. Set aside.
Peel and mash plantains and sugar together in a bowl using a wooden spoon, potato masher or use a food processor, making sure to puree as smooth as possible.
In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon, set aside.
To the plantains, add oil, egg, vanilla and rum essence, mix very well.
Stir in flour mixture till just combined. Fill the loaf pans or muffin cups up to two-thirds full.
Bake for 1 hour for the loaf and 30 to 35 minutes for the muffins, until a skewer inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
Cool in the pans or cups for 5 minutes then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
Relish your plantain bread/muffins with a drink eg. beetroot juice, zobo, tea, coffee, mango lassi or custard etc.
If you enjoyed my Plantain muffins Plantain bread, you will also enjoy my Banana bread, Sweet potato muffins, Pumpkin bread and Pizza Muffin.
Do you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.
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I am Ganiru, a wife, a mother, a food blogger, a chef, an author and an accountant. I love to cook and write about food, especially Nigerian and afro-centric food...
I don’t know if you’re aware, but plantains sweeten as they ripen. Maduros is a common recipe where you let them ripen to the point that they’re soft, but not mush. While frying starchy green plantains gets you tostones, frying overripe yellow plantains makes for sweet, slightly chewy maduros. We serve ours with rice and corned beef.
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I have never heard of this before but I really like the recipe. I would definitely want to try it once. The picture looks yummy
Hi Laveena please do try it, i bet you will make it more than once.
Interesting recipe. I like baking something from time to time, but I’m no natural haha. I really love the photos in your recipe. That makes it so much easier for me to follow and try out. I hear people talking about banana bread all the time. but I haven’t tried this yet. Nice muffins!
Carola, do try it i bet you will love it. Thanks
I’ve made banana cakes before, but yours look just so perfect! The neatness and the color look so evenly baked. haha =)
Thanks so much Gilian
very nice,I will try it too
Hi, Bamidele please do try it and tell us how it turned out.
I cannot get enough of banana bread! ! I make it sometimes just because it’s so easy and absolutely delicious! I’ve never tried it with plantain but I can imagine it works really well too. Ree love30
Hi, Ree banana bread is scrummy and plantain bread is just as good. You should give it a try
wow your recipe seems very easy to prepare (and I hope I can do it perfectly!). I’m a lousy in kitchen, but I enjoyed eating.
Hi Blair, these recipes are so easy, straightforward and fail proof, I trust you can manage them. Bon apetit.
This recipe looks so yummy! I have tried banana bread before but never plantain bread. I bet it works really well for breakfast, with butter and jam on top. Yummy
Yes Joanna, definitely yum. Please do give it a try.
Yummy – thanks for explaining the different flavor between bananas and plantains since that was exactly what I was wondering as I read through! So more flavor and spice with plantains.
Thanks Erin, yes plantains do need spice, so can be used perfectly for savoury dishes.
This looks so delicious ! Given that a lot of banana and plantain goes to the bin (yes i am little lazy), I see a lot of options in you site to save them. I am glad I found you pretend chef. Let me save some of them now. Thank you for this !
Thank you so much JeevaNayagi. Please do save the recipes and try them out.
That looks really delicious!! Would love to try it!!
Thank you @Sauumye do try it
I have never heard of this before now, and it’s so easy to put together.
The finished product definitely had me salivating, need to try it out with big sister.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Imaobong, please do try it with big sister. It tastes even better than it looks.