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Vegan maple chickpea flour banana breads, made in mini loaf pans! They are grain-free, oil-free, nut-fee, gluten-free, and sweetened by bananas and maple syrup.
Grain-Free Vegan Banana Bread
For anyone trying to cut back on grains, or eliminate them entirely, the idea of a quick-to-make, toothsome bread sounds too good to be true.
However, a quick google search in fact reveals multiple options made with nuts, vegetables and seeds in place of flour, or coconut flour breads made with half a dozen eggs.
Yes, they are grain-free. But I have a quibble with the “bread” description, which is (far too) often loosely applied to a squidgy, squishy, or gooey lump of ingredients baked in the form of a loaf or muffin.
Until now. Introducing my not-so-humbly named perfect vegan grain-free banana bread. It lives up to its bread moniker.
Many bananas were sacrificed in pursuit of perfecting this recipe. Many.
But all of that testing has led to a recipe that I know you will want to try, and, better yet, will love to eat!
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
Here are the primary ingredients for the recipe:
- Bananas
- Chickpea flour
- Flaxseed meal
- Chia seeds
I made several loaves with a small amount of coconut flour mixed in with the chickpea flour, but, regardless of the egg replacer (chia, flaxseed meal, psyllium husk) combinations and proportions I tried, the end results had gooey centers, or gooey everything (they rose, they fell).
The Winning Combination: Chickpea Flour + Chia + Flax
So I stuck with chickpea flour alone. I already knew that chickpea flour can produce a remarkably grain flour-like crumb in breads when made with eggs, but without eggs? I suspected it was possible, but had my doubts.
Psyllium husk was an utter failure. Psyllium is wonderful when it works, but I could not get at to work here, at all.
Chia seeds worked pretty well on it’s own. The finished loaf looked and smelled great (no post-bake sinking), but sadly, had a gummy texture.
Flaxseed meal was promising, too: the finished loaf looked sad (a droopy center after 5 minutes of cooling), but the texture was better (more grain bread-like) than chia alone.
So, I made chickpea flour + chia + flax my working combination. And after 5 or 6 more tries, I produce the perfect loaf. Lovely rise, golden brown, moist and tender crumb texture (hallelujah!), great banana flavor, no deflating, and it is undeniably bread
No Oil Required
The high oil content in the flaxseed meal and chia seeds keeps the bread perfectly moist (and rich in omega-6 fatty acids) without any added oil, and bananas do the majority of the sweetening.
Sweetener Options
I use maple syrup (1/3 cup total), which gives the bread a gently sweetness without going anywhere near “cake” territory. You could add a little bit more sweetener if you like (decrease the milk by the same amount of extra maple syrup) but less than 1/3 cup (I tried it) was definitely not as good.
For the record, I tried the same proportion using bananas alone with stevia (no maple syrup), adding a few tablespoons milk to make up the volume. In a word, EWWW. RIP, sad loaf. I have tweaked and tweaked this recipe, so I would not recommend any substitutions for any of the ingredients unless you are prepared to make a dozen test loaves. This recipe works. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! 🙂
Bake in 3 Smal Loaf Pans
This recipe works best if you use 3 small loaf pans as opposed to one large 9×5 pan. The smaller loaf size helps the loaves reach their height during baking and maintain it during cooling.
If you are new to chickpea flour, this bread will convince you to use it in all kinds of recipes! It is far more than a grain-free flour, it is a nutrient rich food all around. High in protein, it is also a high-fiber carbohydrate, which means that the starch in chickpea flour will not spike blood sugar levels. This kind of resistant starch is beneficial to overall digestive health. Win, win, win!
Do give this bread a try, and let me know what you think! I’ve definitely got the baking bug (hello, fall) so expect more unexpected breads, bars, and more, all designed for healthy living, in the weeks and months to come!
Happy Baking!
More Vegan & Grain Free Chickpea Flour Recipes to Try:
- Chickpea Flour Sandwich Bread
- 3-Ingredient Chickpea Flour Frittata
- 3-Ingredient Chickpea Flour Beer Bread
- Banana Chickpea Flour Cake
- Chickpea Flour Chocolate Cake
- Chickpea Flour Carrot Cake Bites
- Chocolate Chickpea Flour Muffins
- Chickpea Flour Gingerbread Bundt Cake
Vegan Maple Chickpea Flour Banana Breads {grain-free, oil-free}
Ingredients
- 1 cup 250 mL nondairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 and 1/2 cups, 180 g chickpea flour (garbanzo bean flour)
- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 large, very ripe bananas, peeled (about 1-1/2 cups once mashed)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, stir together the milk and chia seeds. Let stand for 20 minutes until thickened.
- Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Line 3 small (5×3 inch/ 12.5 x 7.5 cm) baking pans with parchment paper; lightly grease or spray remaining sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, mash the bananas until no lumps remain. Stir in the maple syrup, vanilla and chia-milk mixture until blended.
- Add chickpea flour mixture to banana mixture, stirring until completely blended and no lumps remain. Spoon and spread batter into prepared pans, smoothing the tops.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 42 to 47 minutes until a toothpickinserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Use parchment overhang to remove loaves from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
Can I use thawed-from-frozen bananas instead?
Hi Jan,
Yes, definitely! Just be sure you do not drain the bananas. Once thawed, mix any liquid into the mashed bananas.
One more inquiry….can I make this in a standard loaf pan instead of 3 small pans?
Hi Natalia,
Ask as many questions as you like 😊. For this bread, I remember I had to switch to 3 smaller loaf pans because my tests with one bigger loaf pan collapsed at the center. So I would stick with the three small, or you could also make 12 muffins. The bread could likely also be done in 9-inch square baking pan (more surface area and shallower depth). Cheers.
Could I substitute the non dairy liquid with plain water and substitute the flax for psyllium husks? It’s always something with me and requesting substitutions:)
Hi Natalia,
Yes for the plain water substitution. You likely could use psyllium husks instead of flax. It’s the amount that is uncertain (there isn’t a direct substitution ratio since the two ingredients have varying effects on different baked goods). You would have to experiment with amounts.
Camilla, first i love your site, its so refreshing to find such minimal ingredients, and recipes that come together so quickly: but more importantly, vegan! My son has multiple food allergies.
So my question here is, could there be a substitute for the flax? and banana? I was thinking sweet Potatoe.
But what about the flax? ( He has an allergy.)
Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for the kind words–I am glad you are enjoying the site :). Can your son eat chia seeds? You could sub an equal amount of finely ground chia seeds for the flaxseed meal. Yes, finely mashed sweet potato could work (a mushy sweet potato, not too starchy), or pumpkin puree, or unsweetened applesauce could all be used in place of the banana. Cheers.
Pretty good! First time baking with chickpea flour and was looking for a vegan recipe. Added half a cup of chocolate chips and I had a 6 mini loaf pan so was kind of guessing on the cooking time. I took out after 30 because that was when the toothpick was clean, but think another 5 minutes would have helped it brown and the inside was just the tiniest bit mushy. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, can I replace maple syrup with equal amount of milk/water/more banana? Reason is that I’d like to offer this bread to my 8 months old baby…😁
Hi Gabriele,
Yes! Any of the above, but I would lean towards more milk or more banana.I hope your little one likes it 🙂
I would think these would taste too much like banana?
Hi Cass,
I suppose it is a matter of taste, but I like banana bread that tastes like bananas :). A lot of modern classic recipes for banana bread (e.g., King Arthur baking, Bon Appetit’s Best Banana Bread, Cooks Illustrated) have a high proportion of banana to flour, like this one. If you want the bread to taste less like banana, you could use some unsweetened applesauce in place of some of the banana.
Could this work with almond flour instead of chickpea flr?
Hi Maria,
This recipe will not work with almond flour, but I do have a similarly simple almond flour banana bread recipe on my site 🙂
I only have light coconut milk at home can I use this instead of the almond milk?
Yes!
I want to try to make it but I dont have almond milk/or any nut milk right now at home. I have light coconut milk in a can. do you think this would work?
Yes, that will work great, Serina 🙂
Can this recipe be done with cooked or canned chickpeas instead of chickpea flour?
Hi Tee,
Alas, no, it will only work with chickpea flour.
Hi:) is it possible to bake them in muffin pans instead ? I don’t have any loaf pans ;/
Hi Nisha,
Yes, definitely! Start checking them for doneness after around 15 to 20 minutes
Love it, I used monk fruit maple syrup as I don’t eat normal maple syrup and it turned out perfect. My picky son even ate it. Will definitely make again and again 🙂
Just lovely! Light and tasty. It came out golden from the oven and made the house smell so good too. I will certainly do it again. Thank you for the recipe!
You are so welcome, Nico, glad it was a success 🙂
I have been making the almond flour banana bread I add honey or maple to then walnuts cut up to the mix at the end and it is so good . But Im looking for a recipe that I got off your web it was a bread and it had Psyllium husk in it I think it had chick pea flour in it to can you help I have made a lot of your recipes with great success I love the web sit look forward to you mew recipes some I cant have but most I can Thanks karen
I so appreciate your comment, Karen, thanks so much!
Hi! Can i make this in one pan?
Hi Raquel,
It does not rise well in one large pan (e.g., a standard 9×5-inch pan). Grain-free vegan breads can be temperamental about rising into middle. However, you could definitely bake it in a 9-inch square baking pan!
I just found this recipe today and made it tonight, using 3 mini loaf pans. Loved the taste, but mine hardly rised at all. I would say each loaf was about 1inch high – if I look at your pictures yours look at least double the height! My loaves also turned out a darker colour.
Only difference that I can think of is that I used a special baking powder blend of baking soda, cream of tartar and arrowroot powder because we are on an allergy elimination diet and had to exclude the normal baking powder as it contains cornstarch.
What could be going wrong?
Any tips on baking gluten, dairy, egg, and nut free? Difficult to find recipes excluding all these. Can’t even use gluten free oats.
Thanks
Hi Mary,
Oh no, sorry to hear that your loaves did not rise much. It does sounds like the leavening (baking powder blend) did not work at all, but I am not sure why (I used a ready-made grain-free baking powder when I tested, but that should not make a difference). The color of the bread can be different based on the color of the flaxseed meal (some are much darker than others; golden flax produces slightly lighter color).
I do indeed have a good number of recipes that fit your needs! My blog is gluten-free (except for a few VERY early recipes from about 2010) I went entirely vegan on my site about 4 years ago, so no eggs nor dairy), did not have many non-vegan before that, though). Look at my coconut flour & chickpea flour recipes in particular (I also have a few for cassava flour and tigernut flour). 🙂
This came out awesome, thanks!
So glad to hear it, Cheree!
Can you make this with water, like your regular chickpea flour bread?
Yes, you can definitely use water in place of the nondairy milk in this recipe 🙂
I’ve been making several of your recipes! Thanks so much:) Before I go ahead with this one (which looks amazing) I’m wondering which I will prefer, your almond flour banana bread over this chickpea one. I’ve made things like chickpea omelettes and chickpea tortillas but haven’t loved the chickpea flavor in them. Will this recipe be different considering its mixed with bananas and baked??
Hi Jessica,
If you do not like the flavor of chickpea flour in savory dishes, I would suggest you skip this sweet one and go for the almond flour banana bread 🙂 I like the flavor of chickpea flour, but I understand that some people do not 🙂
Hello,
What size of loaf pans do you recommend? I see quite a variety in the “small loaf pan” category!
Thank you!
HI Sofia,
Mine are 5-inches by 3-inches
Do you think this would work without the chia seeds and using honey instead of maple syrup?
Hi Jamie–yes and yes!
Made it, and love it!!!! I cannot thank you enough!
So glad to hear, A.H.! Thank you!
I made this today and it came out perfectly! I have been off grains for a year to help solve some health problems following my pregnancy and I miss bread so much sometimes! This is incredible, really does taste like wheat flour in texture. I made it in three mini loaf pans and baked for 50 minutes. THANK YOU!
You are so welcome, Celia–glad it worked so well for you!!!
I cannot wait to make this, Camilla!
Yay! I’d love to know how it works for you,Trina 🙂