Caramelized Plantain Pancakes
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Give your pancakes a sweet taste of the Caribbean, with this delicious & easy 20 minute recipe for Caramelized Plantain Pancakes!
It’s the last day of “Jamaica Week” on the blog, where I’m sharing recipes inspired by my recent trip to Jamaica, and I saved the sweetest recipe for last!
On Monday, I shared a deliciously easy recipe for 30 Minute Sweet Potato Soup. On Tuesday, I shared a tasty recipe for Jamaican Jerk Beef Patties. And on Wednesday, I shared a scrumptious Jalapeno Pumpkin Dip recipe.
Today, I’m taking it to the sweet side, and sharing my Jamaican inspired Caramelized Plantain Pancake recipe!
Each morning in Jamaica, we would venture down to The Patio Restaurant at Couples Resort for breakfast. This restaurant served fresh fruit, pastries, made-to-order omelets and pancakes, mimosas (a must every morning on vaca!) and fried plantains.
Like clock work, every morning, I’d head straight for the made-to order pancakes, then pile on the fried plantains (the proof is in the Insta photo!) I became totally obsessed with my creation of plantain pancakes and couldn’t wait to come home and make them in my own kitchen!
I’ve always been a fan of plantains, and would order them whenever they’re on the menu anywhere, but I had never actually cooked with plantains at home.
Are plantains the same as bananas?
Plantains are not the same as bananas. They’re a very starchy sister to the banana that needs to be cooked to bring out their maximum potential of deliciousness!
How to tell if a Plantain is ripe
The color of the skin determines how ripe a plantain is. The darker it gets, the sweeter it gets. I first tried to make the pancakes with the plantains you see in the ingredient image below (see two images down with the green plantains), and it did not work out well.
They just weren’t ripe enough, so I bought some more, waited a week and then they were perfect. (See image directly below ↓)
These may look like they’ve gone bad with all of the dark spots, but this is actually exactly what you want them to look like for caramelized plantains!
Most major grocery stores now carry fresh plantains, but most of them will not be ripe at the time of purchase.
Plan ahead and purchase plantains on Monday to make these delicious Plantain Pancakes for brunch on Saturday, I promise it will be well worth the wait!
Caramelized Plantain Pancakes Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter – divided (1 tbsp melted)
- 2 large plantains (peeled & sliced)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
Caramelized Plantain Pancakes Instructions
Combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl.
Combine the egg, coconut milk, honey and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Add in the dry ingredients, stir to combine, then add 1 tbsp melted butter.
Combine well, then set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp butter.
Toss the sliced plantains with the brown sugar.
Add the plantains to the skillet and pan fry 4-6 minutes, or until the plantains have a nice brown caramelized color on all sides.
Fold half of the caramelized plantains into the pancake batter. Move the remaining caramelized plantains to a small bowl and set aside.
Place the skillet back on the stove over medium heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp of butter. When melted, pour the pancake batter by ¼ cup into the skillet.
Wait for the pancakes to be covered with small bubbles, then flip.
Serve the pancakes with the remaining caramelized plantains over the top.
Top with maple syrup if you’d like!
Caramelized plantain pancakes are the perfect Jamaican twist on traditional banana pancakes and are sure to be a hit with the whole family!
Thank you to Couples Resorts for providing our stay in Jamaica and inspiring this delicious Caramelized Plantain Pancake recipe!
Caramelized Plantain Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 2 large plantains, peeled & sliced
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl.
- Combine the egg, coconut milk, honey and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the dry ingredients, stir to combine, then add 1 tbsp melted butter.
- Combine well, then set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp butter.
- Toss the sliced plantains with the brown sugar.
- Add the plantains to the skillet and pan fry 4-6 minutes, or until the plantains have a nice brown caramelized color on all sides.
- Fold half of the caramelized plantains into the pancake batter.
- Move the remaining caramelized plantains to a small bowl and set aside.
- Place the skillet back on the stove over medium heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp of butter.
- When melted, pour the pancake batter by ¼ cup into the skillet.
- Wait for the pancakes to be covered with small bubbles, then flip.
- Serve the pancakes with the remaining caramelized plantains over the top.
- Top with maple syrup if you’d like!
Nutrition Facts
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2 Comments on “Caramelized Plantain Pancakes”
Thanks for sharing this great recipe!!! For better results use very ripen plantains almost dark with black spots on the skin!