This Indonesian-style warm bananas in cinnamon-coconut milk recipe hails from the The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen by Donna Klein. It’s a naturally dairy-free dessert that is simple and free from fuss. And it’s even quite versatile. You can customize it if you prefer a different sweetener, or if you only keep regular coconut milk on hand.
Indonesian-Style Warm Bananas in Cinnamon-Coconut Milk
We originally posted this recipe back in 2007, but have since updated it! And we have a few quick ingredient tips, should feel like mixing things up.
- Sweetener – Brown sugar or coconut sugar would also be delicious sweetener options. Or if preferred, you can use a liquid sweetener, like honey.
- Coconut Milk – You can simply substitute regular, full-fat canned coconut milk if you want a richer dessert. Or thin the coconut milk. Use about 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk or coconut cream plus 1 cup water. As a heads up, 1 (14-ounce) can of lite coconut milk contains about 1 3/4 cups.
- Spice – If you’re in the mood for more flavor, you can add additional spices. We like ground ginger or allspice in this dish.
Special Diet Notes: Indonesian-Style Warm Bananas
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
For paleo Indonesian-Style Warm Bananas, substitute coconut sugar for the sugar.
- 4 large ripe yet firm bananas
- 1 ½ cups lite canned coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus additional for garnish
- Peel the bananas and slice into bite-sized pieces.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the coconut milk, sugar and cinnamon to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the ingredients are incorporated.
- Add the bananas and let mixture return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the bananas are tender but not mushy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Serve hot, with an additional sprinkling of cinnamon, if desired.