Are you a fan of plantains and coconuts? Well then you’ll love this plantain and coconut bread. It’s similar to banana bread in that it’s called a bread but is really more of a snack cake. That and it tastes extremely similar to banana bread. Anyway, if you’re a fan of any of those things or happen to have some mushy old plantains lying around, this is for you.
Plantains vs Bananas and are they interchangeable here?
While plantains and bananas share a lot of similarities, they do have different sugar and starch contents. Plantains are more starchy and less sweet than bananas. They also behave differently when cooked. If you were to sauté a banana, it’d get mushy and soft, whereas if you were to do the same to a plantain, it’d start to get crispy. All that said, for the purposes of this recipe, plantains and bananas are totally interchangeable. Plantains will yield a less sweet finished product, so if that piques your interest, use plantains. Using bananas will give you a sweeter, moister bread. So go with your preference or with what you have on hand. It’ll be delicious either way.
Let’s talk ripeness.
Y’know how when you bake banana bread it’s best to use bananas that are close to death? Soft, mushy, and mostly (if not fully) black. Well, same goes for plantains in this recipe. In fact, it’s even more important! Plantains are very starchy, so they’ll be hard to mush if they’re not extremely ripe. They probably also won’t be as sweet. Don’t worry, though. If you need to expedite the ripening process, you can absolutely do that. Simply bake plantains (in their peels) at 300° Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, or until they’re black and mushy. This also works for bananas if you’re using those.
How to measure flour
Bakers will all tell you that the best way to measure flour (or any ingredients, really) is with a kitchen scale. And if I’m being honest, they’re right. I mean I’m not gonna make you buy one if you don’t want to (though this is the one I use if you do want one). Even though they’re quite small and affordable. No, I would never do that to you.
Instead, just make sure that you spoon flour into your measuring cup and level it out with a knife rather than scooping directly with the cup. Direct scooping often results in you inadvertently packing in way too much flour, which can bake. So tread lightly with the flour. Or weigh it. Your choice.
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Plantain and Coconut Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Butter Unsalted, 113g
- 1 cup Granulated sugar 200g
- 2 Large eggs
- 1 cup Overripe plantains Mashed, 200g
- 1 cup Shredded coconut Unsweetened, 71g
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract 4.2g
- 2 cups All purpose flour 250g
- 1 tsp Baking soda 6g
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and grease a bread pan with butter or cooking spray.
- Cream together the butter and sugar. I like to use a stand mixer for this but you can also do it by hand (or with a hand mixer).
- Add the eggs, mashed plantains, shredded coconut and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and mix to incorporate.
- In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then add this dry mixture to the wet one and stir until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
- Pour batter into greased bread pan and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and when you place a toothpick through the middle it emerges clean. Then remove from the oven and move to a cooling rack for about 20 minutes before slicing!
And there you have it! If you end up making this, I truly hope you love it. You’ll have to let me know what you think (and how you feel it compares to banana bread) in the comments or on Instagram! Bonus points if you tag me in a photo. It always makes my day when I get to see your beautiful creations.
Fan of banana bread but like to mix things up? Try my passion fruit banana bread! Or my self-proclaimed life changing (it really is magical) banana bread with a brigadeiro swirl. I also have a vegan banana bread that’s got guava and cardamom! Lots of options here, as you can see.
Oh! And if you’ve never French toasted banana bread, you’re really missing out. My friends Angela and Mark over at Cooking with Wine Blog have an outrageously decadent banana bread French toast recipe. I actually make it with this plantain bread, and it was an absolute dream.
