Platano con Lechera
A popular Mexican dessert is cinnamon-dusted bananas or plantains pan-fried in butter then drizzled with sweetened condensed milk called Platanos con Lechera.
A Dessert Full of Memories
This dish holds many memories for our photographer Andrés from when he was growing up in Cuernavaca.
I remember when I was a kid. Every day around 5:00pm we heard a whistle in the distance and we knew the banana and sweet potato cart was coming. The smell was unmistakeable, steam, wood burning fire, and banana.
Like it was for the tamale cart in the morning, the afternoon was for the banana man with his three wheeled silver cart which to us looked like a locomotive passing down the street announcing it’s arrival.
We only needed a piece of brown paper and a few pesos to take this dessert home to enjoy.
Our mother’s also used to make them for us regularly because it was so easy to prepare.
At Mauricio’s, one of our favorite restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, this dessert is always served at the end of your meal. Could be one of the reasons we like the place so much :)
Ingredients
- 4 large bananas or 4 plantains (about 2 ½ lbs.)
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6 ounces sweetened condensed milk (Lechera)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
How to Make
Peel the bananas. Cut the banana in half then cut each piece in half lengthwise.
Sprinkle the bananas with ground cinnamon.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Place the cinnamon-dusted bananas in the pan cinnamon side up.
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until the bananas are golden brown.
To Serve
Place 4 slices of banana on a dessert plate then drizzle with the sweetened condensed milk. Serve warm.
Pan Fried Bananas with Lechera Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large bananas or 4 plantains about 2 ½ lbs.
- 2 tbsp. cinnamon
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 6 ozs. sweetened condensed milk Lechera
- 2 tbsp. sugar optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Peel the bananas. Cut the banana in half then cut each piece in half lengthwise.
- Sprinkle the bananas with ground cinnamon.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Placed the cinnamon-dusted bananas in the pan cinnamon side up.
- Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until the bananas are golden brown.
Serving
- Place 4 slices of banana on a dessert plate then drizzle with the sweetened condensed milk. Serve warm.
- The most important step is to enjoy :)
Notes
- In addition to the cinnamon, you can dust the bananas with 2 tablespoons of sugar for a sweeter dessert.
- Eat immediately. This dish doesn’t keep well.
Adrianna Hill says
Hi, we are going to try this, this evening. My husband lived in Tampico for a while and loved this dessert. You say Bananas or Plantains but those are very different to me. Are you saying “or” because of taste preference? How ripe (what color) should the bananas be? What color should the plantains be? I may try both since he can’t remember which one they used in Tampico. Thanks!
Douglas Cullen says
Let’s us know how it turns out. Cheers!
Jazmin says
I love it, but I use plantains because the taste it’s different and I don’t use cinnamon. My family have another recipe, instead of fried the plantain they put it at the steam about 10 minutes and its serve with condensed milk.