I’ve tried a lot of waffle recipes to find one that my son, Daniel, likes. He’s beyond picky when it comes to gluten free baked goods. Just about impossible in fact. I had pretty much come to the conclusion that he actually doesn’t like waffles, even though he asks for them all the time.
And then…I found this versatile recipe for Plantain Waffles – 4 Ways from Purely Twins when I was doing a plantain cooking demo for some friends. Tostones were the primary dish I was preparing, but they take awhile, needing to be double fried, and I also wanted to show how well plantains work as a flour substitute.
The first time I tried this recipe was during the demo, in front of all my friends. I really should have tried it out myself beforehand, but that was part of the fun! I had VERY green plantains, and there is no additional sweetener, so they were a bit bitter. There was no sweetness from the plantains to counteract the cacao powder. A swirl of The Date Lady’s date syrup fixed that!
The recipe also only made 4 waffles, so I whipped up another batch and added 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, and they came out fantastic! I prefer a softer waffle instead of a crunchy one (crunchy waffles hurt the roof of my mouth!), and these have the perfect consistency. A hint of sweetness, a hint of chocolate, and lots of protein from all of the eggs!
Both batches of waffles disappeared before everyone left, so the next test was to make it for the kids. I followed the same modification, adding 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, and my plantains were around medium ripeness. A swirl of date syrup, topped with strawberries, and I set the plate tentatively in front of Daniel and waited to see what happened. He liked them, a lot!! Hooray!
I like these waffles for a breakfast because there are 4 eggs in a single batch, no flour, and minimal natural sugar. My next test will be to start adding a few spinach leaves in, increasing the amount with each batch, to see if he notices. I’ll keep you updated.
This recipe from Purely Twins offers four variations of plantain waffles: Basic (plain), Protein, Green Monster, and Chocolate. I’ve only tried the chocolate, and will merge that with the green monster by adding spinach on the next go round. I’ll probably try the basic soon as well–I like using waffles for sandwiches and as a bread substitute in other ways. The recipe page also offers lots of creative ideas for how to serve these waffles.
Tried & True Tips:
- These really are a cinch to whip up – just dump all 5 ingredients in a blender
- Add 1 tbsp of maple syrup for a hint of sweetness – more or less might be needed depending on the ripeness of the plantains
- For me, 200 g of plantains was about 2 medium plantains, but I did use my scale to be sure
- I used vanilla instead of cinnamon, but you could use any flavor or spice
- If you’re not sure how to peel a plantain, watch The Paleo Mom’s tutorial here
Tried & True 