Sweet Jamaican Plantain Dumplings

I found this recipe for Jamaican Plantain Dumplings at foodnetwork.com while searching for a Jamaican recipe to make for the My Kitchen My World January destination, Jamaica. I think these are served as a bread / side for dinner, but since I was making these for an afternoon snack, the cinnamon and sugar coating sounded just right. I was also thinking the kids would be more willing to try these if I presented them as a sweet snack...

Jamaican Dumplings with Plantains

Tyler Florence via foodnetwork

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup milk (I had to use 1 full cup of skim milk to get the dough to the right consistency)
• 1 ripe plantain, peeled and cut into coins (I used 1 and 1/2 plantains)
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Add the flour, salt and baking powder to a food processor and pulse to combine. Toss in the cold butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Add milk, a little bit at a time until it is completely worked into the dough. Once it comes together into a nice consistent ball and pulls away from the sides of the food processor, divide the dough into about 12 little balls.

Push a slice of plantain into the middle of each ball and pinch the dough around the plantain so it is completely covered by the dough.

Press each ball flat into a little cake, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before frying.

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Prick the dumplings all over with a fork. Working in batches, pan-fry dumplings until golden and slightly puffy, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.


Season with salt (I used cinnamon and sugar instead) and serve warm.

Season with salt (I rolled them in cinnamon sugar instead) and serve warm.

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The dumpling had a great flavor and went well with the cinnamon and sugar even though the dumpling dough was not sweet itself. The plantain flavor was subtle yet yummy. My mom who was visiting liked these a lot and said they reminded her of paczkis. Unfortunately the kids did not really like these, not sure why, I think they were a little unsure about the plantains since they looked like blackened bananas, which they noticed when I was making these...oh-well. This were definitely a fun recipe to make, and I thought they were delicious :)