Baked Tostones (Green Plantains)

Tostones are a staple in Cuban culture. My mom would make them at least once a week. Only thing is, she fried them, which makes them insanely delicious, but as I get older, I try to avoid fried foods so I don't make them. On Sunday, I was craving tostones, so I decided to try a baked version and they came out great! These baked tostones will now be a staple in my family's dinners!

Tostones are made from green plantains. Plantains are bananas but not as sweet, especially when they are still green. Like I mentioned before, the traditional way to make tostones is to fry them but not only fry them once, they are fried twice. I wanted a traditional but lighter version, so baked it is.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the ends off the plantains. In the twice-fried method, you peel and cut the plantains into 1/2 pieces, fry them, mash them and then fry them again. In order to bake them, I would need a 2 step method as well so I decided to microwave my plantains. After trimming the plantains, slice them length-wise with the tip of a sharp knife. Make sure to only slice the peel. 

Each plantain needs to be microwaved on high for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes or until the center is soft. The skins will turn black.

After microwaving, peel the skins and cut the plantain into 1/2 inch pieces. 

I don't have a tostonera (press) that is typically used to mash the plantains, so I just used the bottom of a mason jar. 

Spray the bottom of your baking sheet and place the smashed plantains on top. Then spray your plantains with more oil and season with salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes on this side and then turn the plaintains over, spray with oil again and bake for another 10-12 minutes. 

My baked tostones came out super yummy. They were crispy and just as good as the fried version!