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Paleo & AIP Plantain Waffles and Pancakes are a healthy breakfast treat, full of good complex carbs — made with convenient pantry staples. Egg-free waffles can be tricky, but this recipe is easy to make, affordable and super satisfying.
Plantains in waffles or pancakes
Plantains are a healthy starch worth loving. Paleo and AIP Plantain Waffles or Pancakes are gentle to digest and yet delicious for eaters of all ages. Amazingly, plantains are so starchy that very little flour is needed when baking with them. Similarly, you can make plantain recipes work without eggs. So they’re excellent for those with certain eating restrictions.
And now, let’s jump right into this recipe that is made just for you, my AIP, egg-free, nut-free, dairy-free friends! May you enjoy all that you can have. This recipe is all about living it up — with nutrient dense foods — within the boundaries that help you to flourish and heal.
Below, I give a few tips for this recipe.
What color/ripeness of plantains are best
If you’ve cooked with plantains before, you know that different ripenesses are called for in different recipes:
- Green, unripe plantains are very hard and used for their starch.
- Ripe, yellow with black spots, or all black, plantains have less starch, are sweeter and purée more easily.
In this recipe, we use yellow plantains with black spots. Mostly yellow plantains retain some of their starch, which can take the place of flour. But they’re still soft enough to purée into the batter consistency. (I do use grain-free flours in this recipe for the best textured waffle.)
If you use green plantains in this recipe, the recipe will still work. But green plantains tend to leave hard bits of plantain behind, so the batter is not completely smooth.
I don’t recommend using black plantains either, as they are SO ripe that the waffle is too soft and comes apart too easily. Some starch in a partially ripe plantain is ideal.
How to peel plantains
Have plantains at room temperature.
- Cut off both ends.
- Cut in half length-wise.
- Cut each half in half again, width-wise.
- Insert thumb between flesh and peel and unwrap sticky peel.
Ingredients in Paleo & AIP Plantain Waffles or Pancakes
In addition to plantains, these other ingredients help to make a lovely batter for either pancakes or waffles:
- coconut oil — Good solid fat helps to create the right texture and also provides balanced macronutrients for a healthy meal.
- arrowroot — Gives structure to the soft batter.
- coconut flour — A bit of coconut flour helps to strengthen the batter and give it subtle cake-y solidity.
- coconut sugar — Coconut sugar adds a rich note but also creates a good texture in the finished pancake or waffle.
- apple cider vinegar — ACV reacts with baking soda to create rise in our baked goods.
- gelatin — Gelatin binds everything together, in addition to the plantains doing this job.
- cinnamon — Cinnamon is great for blood sugar levels, but also delicious with plantains.
- baking soda and sea salt — Leavening and heightened flavor come from baking soda and sea salt.
Can you make substitutions to these ingredients?
Typically, I don’t recommend subs in AIP or egg-free baked goods. But you can make a few that are minor:
- Coconut oil can be replaced by another solid fat of your choice, such as lard or palm oil (or ghee if you re-introduce it on AIP).
- Filtered water can be replaced by the milk of your choice.
- Coconut flour can be replaced with tiger nut flour, by doubling the amount. (So 1/2 cup tiger nut flour.)
- Coconut sugar can be replaced by maple sugar.
Other tips for success when making Plantain Waffles or Pancakes
The main tip to know when making any recipe with plantains is that ripe plantains burn quickly.
It’s best to use low heat and check your pancakes or waffles a bit sooner than you might expect. Unlike other waffle recipes, you can not cook plantain waffles for 5 minutes. Check your waffle at 2 to 3 minutes depending on the iron. Open the lid slowly and peek.
Same goes for pancakes: Use a spatula to check it. You’ll be fine using lower heat, but we aware.
Also, use grease or fat of some kind when you make the waffles the first time. (This is already indicated with pancakes.) You don’t really need to with a new non-stick iron, but the plantain batter sticks a teeny bit. So open the waffle iron slowly, and use a bit of fat on top of the batter before shutting the lid to add peace of mind. You’ll quickly see how the batter performs.
Riper plantains darken more quickly when fried. If you use one green plantain in this recipe, the batter is harder to get smooth, but you’ll get a golden brown waffle more easily. The waffles in my photos used half ripe and half unripe plantain, but see the little light-colored bits? Those are the unripe plantain. So it’s a trade-off. This waffle batter works either way (you can use 1 unripe plantain), just check the cooking waffles and pancakes sooner if you use all ripe fruit so they don’t get too dark.
My family likes this recipe best with all medium-ripe plantains (yellow with black spots).
Paleo and AIP Plantain WAFFLES or Pancakes
Equipment
- bowl
- waffle iron (or pan for pancakes)
Ingredients
- 3 whole plantains , peeled and chopped small, medium ripe (yellow with black spots)
- ½ cup arrowroot powder/flour
- 5 Tablespoons coconut oil , melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 3 Tablespoons filtered water
- 2 Tablespoons coconut sugar
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoon gelatin
- 1-½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda , sifted
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Place the peeled, chopped plantains into the blender. Add the melted coconut oil, water and apple cider vinegar. Blend on low speed, increasing the speed slightly, until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Place all remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl: arrowroot, coconut flour, coconut sugar, gelatin, cinnamon, baking soda and sea salt.
- Pour plantain purée in large bowl with dry ingredients. Stir together until well mixed.
- For waffles: Plug in/turn on waffle iron. Cook according to manufacturer's instructions, adding about ¾ cup batter to iron per serving, depending on waffle iron's size. Typically makes 3 to 4 full size waffles. Note: Plantain batter burns more quickly than other batters, so check waffles early to be sure they don't burn. About 3 minutes cooking time per waffle.*For pancakes: Melt 1 T. coconut oil in a hot pan, and pour in the first batch of batter in ⅓ cup rounds, turning the heat to medium-low once the batter is poured in. Allow the edges to dry out a bit and some bubbles to form, as you would with traditional pancakes, then flip and cook on the second side (see photo below in Recipe Notes). Proceed in this manner until all the batter is cooked, keeping the first batch warm in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve. Note: Plantain batter burns more quickly than other batters, so check pancakes early before flipping to be sure they don't burn.
- Garnish as desired: with pure maple syrup, lightly sweetened coconut butter, coconut oil, berries, applesauce etc. Serve alongside meat of choice.
Yummy Inspirations says
I am intrigued! The pancakes look lovely!
Megan Stevens says
Thanks! 😉
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
I’m loving all of your pancake recipes … haven’t used plantains before, so I appreciate the info.
Megan Stevens says
🙂
Renee Kohley says
YEAH! I am so all about trying these!
Megan Stevens says
Yea, so glad!
Anna @GreenTalk says
I love the picture of the pancakes.
Megan Stevens says
Thanks, Anna. 🙂
Megan Stevens says
Hi Nilou, thanks for writing! I’ve had that happen with plantains but only if I omit the coconut or cricket flour. With coconut flour, they have always turned out more like a “normal” pancake. Hmmm, I’m not sure. I do make these for my littlest no-egg kiddo a couple times a week. I wish I had more to contribute as far as what might have gone wrong…
nilou says
That’s why I was so excited to find your pancake recipe – my kids are both allergic to eggs and can’t have any grains right now. Would you increase the coconut flour or the gelatin? I’d love to make this recipe work for us. Our diet is sooooo limited right now. We’re technically not even supposed to have plantains at the moment, but we’re all craving some starch!
Megan Stevens says
Yes, try increasing the coconut flour, but just a little, like adding 2 tablespoons more. You may need to fold it in by hand. I understand. We have been there!! Can you all have winter squash, too? They have been our saving grace for years! Hugs and blessings!! Good luck!! At least they liked the recipe. And yes, lower heat so they don’t burn.
nilou says
Yes, we can have winter squashes, but in small portions (we’re currently treating my 7 yo’s SIBO, and the whole family is doing the diet, but the kids also have food allergies and sensitivities which limit options even more). My 3yo will eat simple roasted or pureed squash, but my 7yo needs some more variety, hence the search for compliant pancake, quick “bread” and flat “bread” recipes.
Thanks for your feedback. I’ll try again next time I have ripe plantains 🙂
PS Made the Raw Strawberry Lemon Cream Pie from your ebook last night with a few modifications. It was a big hit, even for our non-restrictive diet guests. Thanks!
Megan Stevens says
Yes, love how that recipe uses raw zucchini. I think zucchini is my forever friend, soo low-allergy. Also, see the porridge I just published. It may work well with all of your food limitations? The apple can be optional…http://eatbeautiful.net/2015/10/11/aip-apple-cinnamon-breakfast-porridge-gaps-paleo/
LUCYNA Latos says
just made these waffles this morning and they are the best AIP waffles I tried so far and I tried a lot. will do them again
Megan says
Terrific! Thanks so much, Lucyna! We appreciate your feedback, so nice for me and helpful for other readers! 🙂
Marisa says
Hi, can I use plantains flour since I can’t find this fruit in fresh state in my country?
Megan says
I’m sorry, I haven’t tested this recipe with plantain flour. Flour has all the moisture dehydrated out of it, so it will not have the bulk or moisture of fresh plantain, so will not behave the same in the recipe.
Jay Ray says
HI Megan, I tried this recipe today using 2 large yellow plantains. We enjoyed the flavor but it was a challenging recipe. My (new) waffle iron was still steaming at 3 minutes but the waffles were very dark and still mushy inside. I’m guessing too much moisture? Could you give me an idea of how many cups of plantain instead of how many plantains? Plantain sizes vary greatly. I’m in Colorado at 5000 ft so I don’t typically have an issue with too moist.
Megan says
Hi Jay, and I’m sorry you had trouble with the recipe! I haven’t measured the plantains in a cup because that can be a bit inexact as well, but I use average size plantains, which are about 9 inches long each. Weighing is a bit more reliable, if you happen to have a scale: a peeled average-large size green plantain (not a huge one) weighs about 7-8 ounces. So three peeled green plantains will weigh about 20-24 ounces.
Paula says
mine was so thick I started to add some water until the recipe was a little thinner, like yogurt consistency. At this point I used avocado oil (alot!) in the pan since I used up all my coconut oil in the recipe itself. Well they stuck to the pan terribly and never did form. It smells so delicious and I am not sure what I did wrong. I used 4 plantains and tried to adjust the other ingredients which is where I may have gone wrong. Any ideas for me to make this turn out better? Was it the water that ruined it?
Megan says
Hi Paula, yes, it was the water. With AIP baked goods (including pancakes and waffles), the batter has to be really thick, otherwise there’s “water” in the recipe but no eggs to dry that moisture out. Eggs are actually drying. So egg-free recipes have to have really thick batter or dough. Don’t make any changes at all to the original recipe. All egg-free recipes do not do well with substitutions and have been tested repeatedly to find the exact recipe that makes it work. 🙂
Elizabeth says
These are so good!!! Made them exactly according to recipe but added some vanilla extract. Despite copious spraying, the first waffle stuck like crazy. So I made the rest as pancakes and they’re fantastic!
Thank you for a great recipe that we will definitely make again!
Megan says
Hi Elizabeth, great!! So happy to hear you enjoyed them as pancakes! Thanks for sharing that, and that you loved them so much. They stick less as waffles when the plantains are a little less ripe; sorry you had to trouble yourself with peeling that first one off the waffle iron! If you want to try them as waffles in the future, just get plantains that are a bit greener than you had for this version. 🙂
Amy says
I found these pancakes to be really gummy. I will try it again omitting the gelatin and hope it helps. Is it really needed considering the starch in the plantains? Anyone tried it without? Thanks!
Vicki says
These were really good. I was search for what to make with plantains after I received a ton of them. These waffles were a big hit in our house. These kids have already requested them again tomorrow. I thought I had coconut flour on hand but I was out so used cassava flour and they still turned our delicious!
Megan says
Great to hear, Vicki! Thanks so much for sharing, and great to know that cassava works well here, too! 🙂
Laura says
Hi, I’m wondering if bacon fat could be substituted for coconut oil?
Megan says
Hi Laura, sure!
Simone says
These are amazing!!! I used two large medium ripe plantains and made an AIP mixed berry compote to top them. Such a treat!
Megan says
Wonderful to hear, Simone! Thank you so much for sharing, sounds so delicious!