Cinnamon Plantain Fritters cook up in 15 minutes + make your gluten-free breakfast a breeze!
I’m a little disappointed in myself – I’m willingly watching a reality show about WWE girls called Total Divas. It just happened to be on when I turned the TV on and the remote is just a foot too far away to warrant removing the blanket from my body. I had no idea wrestling was loved worldwide. I have and never will understand why humans like watching other humans elbow each other in the gut and divebomb someone on the head.
You know what’s much more interesting to me? Staring at succulent gardens while making annoying slurpy noises in my almost-empty iced tea. Oh no, now I’m watching a show about Nick Lachey opening a bar in his hometown. We haven’t had cable in over a year, and since we are subletting an apartment right now, we are privy to sublease dude’s cable stations. TV has only gotten worse since the last time I checked. 98 Degrees was my favorite in the 90’s. I like “Jeff” – I can’t recall his last name. I ended up marrying a man of the same name, but a much, MUCH worse singing voice. My Jeff sounds like a 90-year-old man with a sinus infection who also just got punched in the throat when he sings.
So this recipe was inspired by my will to create a pancake for the project I’ve been working/slaving on. Really, sweating. Sweating all over the food because my teeny, teeny, teeny kitchen has zero ventilation and even thinking about turning the oven on increases the air temperature by 3 degrees.
This recipe turned out less than traditional pancake texture and more fritter-y but still delicious, so I thought I’d share them on here instead. I did end up coming up with a pancake recipe made from green bananas instead though for the book! Num. Num.
We topped these with a good drizzle of honey (or maple) but you could make them less sweet with a pat of ghee or coconut oil or some coconut whipped cream. We probably make pancakes 1 morning every month or two, which is the morning I forgive my “no sweetener before dinner” rule and also try to serve them with a side of sausage to regulate the blood sugar levels. Because me + sugar in the morning = “Is it time for a nap? It’s 10 a.m.!”
Cinnamon Plantain Fritters
- Prep Time: :10
- Total Time: :10
- Yield: 5 to 6 fritters 1x
- Cuisine: breakfast, dessert
Description
Scale
Ingredients
- 2 green plantains, about 1 1/4 lbs
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil + additional for cooking
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Peel and slice the plantains and place in a blender or food processor with the remaining ingredients except the coconut oil used for frying. Blend for about 20 seconds until pureed. The batter may be slightly chunky, but it will not affect the end recipe.
- Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once hot, drop rounded ¼ cup of batter into pan, leaving 2 inches between fritters. Using the back of a wooden spoon, smooth and flatten the batter so create circles 4-inches wide and no more than 1/3-inch thick. For the best results, ensure the fritters are of even thickness all around.
- Cook on each side for 4 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Fritters are easiest to flip when using a large metal spatula and sliding carefully under the entire fritter. Just make sure the underside is well cooked to prevent the fritter from falling apart when flipping.
- Serve drizzled with additional honey and topped with coconut whipped cream, if desired.
Notes
16 Responses
I whipped these up today and they were amazing just plain! I fried them in bulletproof Ghee soooooo good!
That sounds delicious, Jacqueline! Nothing beats ghee in flavor for cooking!
Is there enough liquid in this? They are so stiff that nothing was dropping. Look s they could be amazing though.
It sounds like you used plantains that were too starchy
My were a mess. stuck to pan, burned and folded up when I tried to turn them. What did I do wrong?
It sounds like the plantains were too ripe OR the type of pan you used. What kind of pan did you use and were there a lot of brown spots on them?
LOL, after a successful first experience several weeks ago, this was me today too. The first time I made them (beautifully) I had super-green plantains and a nonstick pan. The second time (today) I had plantains that were in-between fully green and fully ready-to-make-maduros… mostly yellow, with significant brown spots, no more green hue. (Me being a silly “creative” amateur, I also added in an actual banana, about 1/4 c blueberries, and 1 T cassava flour ‘cause why not…). Also, today everything was cooked in a stainless steel pan. HOT MESS. However I did still thoroughly enjoy the resulting “plantain porridge”! 😉 I’ll be curious to try this again with legit bright green plantains on a stainless steel pan, just to see whether that was a big contributing factor to the pan-sticking situation.
So tasty! Though, DEFINITELY eat these while they are still hot—I saved mine for a couple hours so I could have them at my office desk, and while they were still warm, by the time I ate them they had settled into a slightly different texture that wasn’t quite as satisfying as the fritter I had tried fresh out of the pan! It was my first time working with plantains at home and I admittedly had to YouTube a green-plantain-peeling video since it didn’t come off with quite the banana-like ease I was foolishly expecting (a paring knife is very helpful here). Also had to do a good deal of pushing the batter around in my blender, the blades didn’t want to grab everything at once because it was so thick (don’t expect a pourable pancake-like batter—this was stiff enough that I was able to hand-form my fritters in the palms of my hands before dropping them into the hot coconut oil!). I topped mine with strawberries and a drizzle of maple syrup. YUM. Who knew AIP could be so tasty… 😉
Yes – plantain firms up SO quickly once it cools. I just reheat them in between two damp paper towels, and that helps a decent bit. Sounds delish!
Would yellow plantains work?
As long as they aren’t too ripe – they may not hold up if so.
Thanks for all you do to provide awesome recipes to the AIP community! Have a question about this one – is there any coconut oil in the recipe? The instructions say not to add coconut oil because it’s used for cooking, but then the list of ingredients say “melted coconut oil” plus additional for cooking. Does the melted CO go in the recipe? Thanks for your help!
I was admittedly frustrated as I was trying to blend these…. the bottom became smooth but the top half remained huge chunks for over a minute of screaming blender time. Buuuut, I added a little coconut milk, 1tbsp maybe, and continued with my effort. I also added a scoop of gelatin. Turned out beautiful! And probably the best texture of many aip/paleo pancake attempts over the years! Saving the remaining Batter to try cooking fresh later, I don’t like plantain after it has cooked so hoping this will help! Used a cast iron skillet, batter was super thick so spread it out best I could. No sticking or anything, and cooked decently quick. Totally green is the best way to go to get a good starchy texture! Almost like the real thing! Helped ease the pain of the rest of the family eating real pancakes today 😉 will try more of your recipes! Thanks!
These were quite tasty. After reading the above comments I confirmed what I already knew…those over ripe plantains have too much sugary goodness in them and they stick to the pan no matter if it is a nonstick pan. One tip that then negates the vegan part is to add an egg. My pan was a bit too sticky still, but the fritters did hold together better. Still tasty no matter what…add the mushy mess to some hot cereal concoction if you are not a paleo follower.