This healthy, higher-protein, chocolate studded Chickpea Flour Banana Bread makes for a delicious breakfast or tasty afternoon treat!
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It's no joke that I make a loaf of vegan banana bread almost every week.
I always buy tons of bananas just so that they can ripen and be turned into a golden loaf of deliciously, sweet banana bread.
I've shared a number of vegan banana bread recipes on the blog over the years.
Some of my personal favorites are my Black Sesame Tahini Vegan Banana Bread and this classic Vegan Banana Bread Recipe.
HOWEVER, today's recipe for Chickpea Flour Banana Bread may take the cake.
It's sweetened almost entirely with bananas, is gluten-free AND higher in protein thanks to chickpea flour.
What's not to love?!
Ingredients You'll Need for Chickpea Flour Banana Bread
I'll list out all of the ingredients you'll need to make this Chickpea Flour Banana Bread below:
- Maple syrup
- Aquafaba*
- Coconut oil, melted
- Apple cider vinegar
- Vanilla extract
- Chickpea flour*
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Chocolate chunks
This recipe calls for two ingredients you may have never baked with before: aquafaba and chickpea flour.
What is Aquafaba?
Aquafaba is simply the liquid from a can of chickpeas and it's going to act as the eggs in this recipe.
What is Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour is what you'd guess it to be: ground up chickpeas!
Chickpea flour has many names including garbanzo bean flour, besan flour and gram flour.
Chickpea flour can be made with either raw or roasted chickpeas. If it's made from roasted chickpeas it's called Chana.
One thing to keep in mind when baking with chickpea flour is that it doesn't taste good raw. If you lick the batter of this banana bread before baking it, you'll be grossed out.
Don't worry though, it tastes amazing once baked!
Can You Substitute Chickpea Flour for All-Purpose Flour?
Chickpea flour absorbs more liquid than all-purpose flour, so keep that in mind if you want to use it to replace all-purpose flour.
I'd recommend using only ¾ cup of chickpea flour to substitute 1 cup of all-purpose flour.
Chickpea Flour Nutrition Facts
While chickpea flour is high in carbohydrates, it also contains a hearty dose of fiber and protein.
Per cup, chickpea flour has triple the amount of fiber than white flour and has 20 grams of protein compared to white flour's 13 grams.
Additionally, it's high in many vitamins and minerals including folate, iron and manganese.
How to Make Chickpea Flour at Home
If you can't find chickpea flour, but have dried chickpeas at home, you can make your own chickpea flour by using a grain mill or high powered blender.
If using a high powered blender:
- place 1 cup of dried chickpeas into the blender and slowly increase the blender's speed until it's at maximum speed.
- Continue blending the chickpeas until a fine flour forms.
- Next, sift the flour through a fine mesh sieve to remove any of the unblended, dried chickpeas.
- Place those unblended, hard pieces back in the blender and blend again until they turn into flour.
- Continue this process until all the dried chickpeas have been blended into flour.
Okay, now that you know all about my current favorite ingredient--chickpea flour--get baking!
How to Store Leftover Banana Bread
If you happen to have any leftover vegan banana bread (which I doubt you will), you can either refrigerate it or freeze it.
Fridge: If you'll be finishing off the banana bread in less than a week, simply store it in an airtight container or zip-lock bag in the fridge. When you want to enjoy some, just slice off a piece and dig in!
Freezer: You can also freeze any leftover banana bread if you want it to last longer or if you happen to make two loaves at once. To freeze an entire loaf of banana bread, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap before placing it in a large zip-lock bag to freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw frozen banana bread, remove it from the freezer the night before you need it and allow it to thaw overnight in the fridge.
📖 Recipe
Chickpea Flour Banana Bread (Vegan + Gluten Free!)
Ingredients
- 3 medium ripe bananas mashed
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons aquafaba*
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups chickpea flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chunks
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat your oven to 350 °F and line or grease a standard loaf pan. Set aside.
- BREAD: In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas until fairly smooth. Add in the remaining wet ingredients, from the maple syrup to the vanilla and stir well.
- Add in the dry ingredients, from the chickpea flour to the salt. Stir until just combined
- Fold in the chocolate chips. (Uncooked chickpea flour tastes horrible, so while it may be tempting, I don't recommend tasting the batter!)
- BAKE: Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for a while before removing it to continue cooling on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!
- STORE: Store the leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for 1-2 days or in the fridge for longer.
Video
Notes
**Chickpea flour can also be called garbanzo bean flour, gram flour and besan flour. Chana is also chickpea flour, but the chickpeas have been roasted. Use unroasted chickpea flour!
This recipe was adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.
Nutrition
This recipe is part of my Vegan Banana Bread series:
Camille says
I had never used either aquafaba or chickpea flour. I am stunned at how good this recipe came out!! I omitted the chocolate chips and substituted walnuts. DELICIOUS! Now I will have to find more recipes for both if these ingredients to play with in the kitchen!!
Faith VanderMolen says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this bread! You can search by ingredients on my recipe page. I have a few more chickpea flour recipes and lots of recipes using aquafaba so you should have lots of recipe inspiration!
Anna Brewer says
Super good for how healthy it is! Next time i might up the maple syrup a bit
Faith VanderMolen says
I always am thinking the same thing when I make this bread...how is it so good with such wholesome ingredients?! Glad you liked it Anna!
Suzanne says
I made it and used the aquafava from chickpeas I cooked (1 part chickpeas/1 part water). I put the aquafava in the frig in a jar and use it in recipes. I made this bread but subbed one egg (because my chickens are great layers) with half of aquafava. It was fine. I found chickpea flour online and in a local grocery in Terengganu (Ajees). I've also purchased Freekeh there which is a rice substitute. Try it, it's great!
Faith VanderMolen says
Thanks for sharing all of your substitutions and tips Suzanne! So glad they worked out and that you liked the recipe!
Eva says
Just made it and couldn't wait for it to cool down 😀 Absolutely delicious!!! The best banana bread recipe so far. Thanks you so much for sharing <3
Faith VanderMolen says
Oh that makes me so happy Eva! Thanks for letting me know!
Karen says
Delicious!!! I've made this 3 or 4 times now. No one can tell it's gluten free and vegan. Every time I make it I'm amazed at how the texture can come out looking so much like regular banana bread. I omit the cinnamon and use chopped walnuts instead of chocolate chips. Thank you so so much for this recipe. A real keeper!
Faith VanderMolen says
Yay! I'm so so glad to hear that. Thanks so much for sharing Karen!
Asha says
Can we replace aquafaba with chia/flax seeds? I dont want to use canned chicpeas
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Asha! I haven't tried flax eggs yet, so I can't say for sure. I think it would work, but maybe the final result would be more gummy instead of fluffy. Please let us know if you try it out and how it goes!
Rebecca Carvalho says
Can I substitute eggs/egg whites for the aquafaba?
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Rebecca! I haven’t personally tried it, but using two eggs instead of the aquafaba should work! Keep us posted!
Debbie says
Thank you for sharing this! I am enjoying your posts. If I cook my own garbanzo beans is the liquid after the cooking considered aquafaba? And can it be frozen? Thank you!!
Faith says
Hi Debbie! Thanks for sharing. And I’ve been wondering that same thing and am not sure of the answer. I usually cook my own chickpeas as well, but I’ve found the liquid to not be as viscous as a can of chickpeas so I haven’t tried it yet. I just found this post ( https://www.lazycatkitchen.com/homemade-aquafaba-vegan-egg-replacer/ ) and it seems helpful! She says you need to cook the homemade aquafaba down until thick...about 30-40 minutes in an uncovered saucepan. It should turn thick and yellow. I hope the post helps and that you can try out this recipe!
Benjie says
Besan is a staple in our house. Would love to try this recipe out! We aren't vegan though and aquafaba would be hard to obtain. Is it possible to replace it with eggs? If so then what would be the ratio?
Faith says
It’s such a wonderful ingredient. I’m still learning all the ways to enjoy it. And yes, you can definitely use eggs instead of aquafaba. Swap the aquafaba for two eggs! Let me know what you think once you make it!
Virgo Neuf says
I used 2 Table spoons milled flax seed added to smashed bananas and 2-3 TSP brown sugar instead of maple syrup then I add a handful of raisins, and chopped walnut, and no added liquid.
And my plant based bread came up great.
Faith VanderMolen says
Glad all those substitutes worked out!