The reason I first made this bread was I received two really black over ripe plantains from a friend and didn’t know what to do with them. At first I thought about throwing them away, but then an idea popped into my mind. I looked into my fruit basket in the kitchen and there stood two ripe bananas. I thought how about I blend both together, they are from the same family, so let’s see what happens if I combine them.

My husband and brother are always my guinea pigs when trying something new. I couldn’t wait for it to cool down, so I served it warm, but the next day the spices had matured and the bread tasted even better. They said the plantain/banana walnut bread was a winner. Yippee!! To me it tasted like banana bread, but with a little more dense texture and it also had chunks not only of walnuts but of plantain too.  It had a nice rich banana bread taste. You have to try this recipe. I hope you like it as much as we did.

Plantain Banana Walnut Bread Recipe
Makes 1 loaf

What you need…

2 very ripe plantains, cut into ½ inch slices
2 ripe bananas cut into ½ inch slices
1 tablespoon unsalted butter for preparing baking pan
½ cup of melted unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ – 1 teaspoon allspice (or more to your taste)
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ -1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
¼ cup half and half or evaporated milk
½ – 1 cup walnuts; coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (optional)

What to do…

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put a small layer of butter and flour around loaf pan so the batter will not stick to the baking pan and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add sliced plantains and bananas. Sauté until softened and bright yellow; about 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl whisk together flours, baking soda, salt and allspice.

In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, melted butter and half and half.

Fold wet and dry ingredients together

Mash cooled plantains and bananas and add to egg/flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan, smooth the top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Place in oven and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy as is or toasted with a pat of butter.