Golden Plantain Bread

This super easy loaf is a great way to use up old plantains. It is sweet, buttery with a slight savoury taste that compliments the flavours nicely.

Inspiration for this Dish

This recipe is based on banana bread with a distant connection to baked spicy plantain loaves known as ofam. Everyone is familiar with banana bread so think of this as banana bread that swaps plantains for banana. Not many people know what ofam is so this is a perfect time to explain it. Ofam is a baked plantain loaf made with overly ripe plantains, onion, ginger, spices, red palm oil, flour and occasionally peanut. The sweetness comes from the plantains with no added sugar. it is not a very popular preparation of ripe plantains but it is enjoyed during special occasions. This was not the inspiration I was going for with this recipe but I do like the vibrant the palm oil adds to ofam, hence the addition. A traditional recipe for ofam will be shared in the future.

What you will need for this recipe

• Plantains: these are the star of the dish. If you want to learn more about plantains, please check out Ultimate Plantain Guide
• Flour: I only tested regular All-purpose flour for this recipe. If you are gluten-free, you are more than welcome to substitute with a 1 to 1 gluten-free all-purpose flour. Bob’s Red Mill has a great blend
• Leavening Agents: For this recipe, I chose to use baking powder and baking soda for extra lift
• Spices: To add flavour we are using nutmeg and cinnamon. You can omit the cinnamon and just keep the nutmeg, which I think is a more important flavour
• Palm Oil: The red palm oil adds a vibrant yellow tone to the loaf. You are more than welcome to use coconut oil, which behaves in a similar manner but will give a different flavour.
• Liquid: to loosen the batter, I chose to use soy milk. It has more fat content and it’s a creamier plant-based milk. feel free to use any plant-based milk of choice

Print Recipe

Golden Plantain Bread

By Afia – Serves: 10-12

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 45 minutes – Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 medium plantains overripe mashed
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup red palm oil**
• 1.5 cups plant based milk

Instructions

1

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F

2

2. In a bowl, mix all your dry ingredients

3

3. Once all the dry ingredients are combined, add your wet ingredients.

4

4. Mix everything well

5

5. Pour the mixture into a well-oiled loaf pan

6

6. Bake for 45 minutes or use a toothpick to gage if it's done by poking it into the centre and checking to see if it comes out dry

7

7. Let it cool down completely

8

8. Slice and enjoy with some butter.

Notes

** can sub for coconut oil