Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

You know how I can’t seem to NOT let a banana turn all brown and mushy and gross? It’s like one of my hobbies. Should we count the times I’ve actually reached into my purse and accidentally squished an over-ripe banana all over my wallet? It’s a lot of times. I never learn that lesson. Curse the banana for being so portable and so quick to ripen! It’s a trick of nature. This is my way of shifting the blame onto an entire species of fruit that I can’t seem to get it together and clean out my purse like a grown up. I think it’s working.

Lucky for you, my reckless regard for the shelf life of a banana is working in your benefit. Remember this Tipsy Blueberry Banana Bread? That recipe rose from the ashes of a bunch of black bananas like a gosh darn Phoenix. After that post, my lovely friend Lauren commented that I really should be freezing all of these bananas and that they don’t need to hang out on my counters dying and attracting fruit flies. Okay, she didn’t put it like that… but, I got the hint and I totally started loading up the freezer. There are a comical amount of frozen bananas in there. I am seriously waiting for my husband to open up the freezer and have an avalanche of frozen bananas rain down on him. Not only would that be comically genius, but the look on his face would be priceless and probably pretty angry. Is it wrong that I find it super endearing when he gets angry? Oh, marriage. Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

Aside from the fact I have a freezer full of frozen, ripe bananas, I made the adult decision to purchase some plantains. I really love Puerto Rican food, and envisioned myself making tostones at home. Do I even need to tell you what happened next? Flash forward to yesterday. Mushy black plantains lay squishy in my hands. Of course. This is how I came to start making brownies at 9:30 in the morning on a Thursday.  That, and in all honesty, I kind of just wanted brownies… because, YUM. Also, there is no excuse for that salted caramel sauce, but you won’t be mad I did it. Can you believe this whole chocolate caramel situation is not just gluten free but technically Paleo? #Jackpot!

Put plantains into a food processor with a whole host of other brownie making things.

Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

Pulse, pulse, pulse. Pause, add chocolate chips and then pulse it a couple more times.

Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

Once it’s all pulsed together, you are going to pour it into a greased-up skillet.

Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

Pop that in the oven, and start on your caramel sauce.

Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

Honey comes to a boil… then add in your butter and your coconut milk. It’s all going to simmer and thicken up. Did I mention your kitchen is going to smell amazing? Also… that spoon is not going to lick itself.

Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

Pour caramel sauce over completed brownie. It’s going to be shiny and all melt-y into the hot cake. Sure, it doesn’t look like much. It’s arguably unattractive… but the taste!

Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce {Gluten Free & Paleo} | So...Let's Hang Out

 Let’s just say, It didn’t last long. And that sauce… Oh Em Gee.

Dare I say I’m happy those plantains sacrificed their tostone-dreams in order to fulfill this awesome brownie destiny? Yes. That.

Spell check keeps on wanting to change tostones to moonshine. That, my friends… sounds like a REAL challenge. Don’t worry, I wont get any ideas (worry). 😉

Plantain Skillet Brownies With Salted Caramel Sauce { Gluten-Free & Paleo }

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Ingredients

    Brownies

    • 2 ripe plantains, peeled and quartered
    • 2 eggs
    • 1/4 cup of coconut oil, melted
    • 1/4 cup raw honey
    • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1 tsp baking soda
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt
    • 1 cup chocolate chips
    • Quality flaky sea salt, to top

    Caramel Sauce

    • 1/2 cup raw honey
    • 1/2 cup coconut milk (I used lite, but full fat will give you a thicker caramel)
    • 1 1/2 tbs grass fed butter
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt

    Instructions

    1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Grease an oven safe skillet with coconut oil and set aside. You could also use a brownie pan or other type of baking dish, I just like the crispier edges I get with my cast iron dish.
    3. Combine all of the brownie ingredients except for the chocolate chips into your food processor.
    4. Process until your batter is smooth.
    5. Add in your chocolate chips and pulse a few times until they are combined into the batter. You don't want to process them too much. You want them to still be in tact as chocolate chips.
    6. Pour your batter into your greased skillet and allow to bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
    7. While your brownie is baking, you can start on your caramel sauce. Put your honey into a pot and bring to a gentle boil. Allow it to simmer over the stove for 5-7 minutes, or until the color of the honey turns into a dark amber. Stir occasionally, assuring that it cooks evenly.The color change in the honeyshows you that the sugar in the honey is caramelizing.
    8. After your honey has changed color, remove it from heat and whisk in your butter, coconut milk and salt until everything is combined.
    9. Return your sauce to the stove and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes. Your sauce will begin to thicken. It will thicken up even further as it begins to cool. If this doesn't happen, return it to the heat and allow it to cook a bit more. The longer you cook it, the thicker and stickier it will become. Allow the sauce to cool slightly before coming in contact with your brownies.
    10. Once your brownies are done, allow them to cool slightly.
    11. Pour your warm caramel sauce over the top of your brownies. Sprinkle the top with a pinch of good quality flaky sea salt.
    12. Slice and serve!

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