Ripe Plantain muffins are baked with the goodness of ghee, millet flour and warm spices like nigella seeds and cardamom and are best served with a cuppa.

Don't we all end up with an overripe plantain that cannot be used in the usual Malabar plantain recipes? Now you can use them to make these muffins that are nothing short of satiating.
Plantain Muffins
I made these muffins by tweaking my Ripe plantain sweet bread recipe. You will find plantains tagged as Kerala bananas, cooking bananas, nenthra pazham or ethapazham. These muffins are perfect for a mid-day grab-and-eat snack or evening chai snack. This recipe uses both plain flour and some millet flour. Also, If you know me, I don't skip the nigella seeds for banana bakes.
The jumbo plantain muffins look so beautifully baked that I couldn't stop myself from clicking the half-eaten muffins.

Ingredients used
- mashed ripe plantain
- Flour: I have used all three types of flour - all-purpose flour (maida), finger millet flour (ragi) and whole wheat flour (atta). You may replace the millet and atta flour with plain flour.
- sugar
- baking powder and baking soda
- cardamom powder
- nigella seeds
- egg
- melted ghee
How to make plantain muffins?
The best thing about this recipe is you don't have to take out any gadgets to make this muffin. All you need is two bowls, one whisk, and a rubber spatula! We use the muffin mixing method to make the batter.
- Whisk the dry ingredients
- Whisk the wet ingredients
- Add the wet to the dry
- Fold gently taking care not to overdo
- Spoon the batter into a greased and floured muffin pan and bake!
I tried the Grease and Flour method to grease the muffin holes. You may use muffin liners or cupcake liners or baking paper.

📖 Recipe
Ripe Plantain Muffins | nenthra pazham muffins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (maida)
- ¼ cup finger millet flour (ragi)
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour (atta)
- ⅓ cup sugar can go up to ½ cup for a sweeter bread
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon nigella seeds more to sprinkle on top
- a pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup melted ghee
- ¾ cup ripe plantain mashed (best to use a processor or mixie)
Instructions
Prepare the oven and pan
- Preheat the oven to 180°C with the wire rack in the middle. Lightly grease and flour a 6-hole muffin tray (medium size) or use muffin liners.
Prepare the batter
- Add all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg, then add the processed ripe plantain and melted ghee. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a spatula. DO NOT overmix. Fold in the same direction until combined.
Fill the muffin pan
- Spoon the batter into the muffin holes up to the rim for larger muffins (you will get 5 muffins this way). For 6 muffins, spoon the batter only up to ¾th of the hole. If going with large 5 muffins, fill the empty muffin hole with little water to aid even baking. Sprinkle some nigella seeds over each muffin.
Bake the muffins
- Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Remove and let the tray cool on a rack. The muffins will release easily.
Serve and store
- Serve for breakfast or tea time with chai or coffee. Store at room temperature in an airtight box for 2 to 4 days.
Nammi says
looks yumm, very curious about the taste especially with the nigella seeds and the different flours
Unknown says
I made them this morning and they are extremely delicious. I doubled the recipe to feed a small crowd.Unfortunately, I was out of cardamom, so I added cinnamon and some walnuts , and a pinch of salt.I only had all purpose flour so I used that. The texture and flavor are wonderful, and adaptable!