Homey and healthy chickpea flour banana cake that is grain-free, gluten-free and vegan! Ready, start to finish in 30 minutes.
Banana Cake Made with Chickpea Flour
Yes, you need another banana cake recipe, and lucky for you, I’ve got one well worth trying.
It’s neither fussy nor precious, but it does have a special ingredient that makes it unique: chickpea flour!
What is Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour (aka garbanzo bean flour, ceci flour, chana, besan and gram flour) is anything but faddish. It’s been around for centuries and is used in myriad cuisines from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Europe.
Made from finely ground dried chickpeas, chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free, grain-free, easy-to-use, inexpensive, and incredibly versatile for making both sweet and savory eats. It has a subtle nutty flavor and packs a bonus punch of protein, too.
This banana cake is a great choice for giving it a try. It’s perfect for the lunch-packing season ahead since it can be made a the drop of a hat, is not-too-sweet and travels well.
Can I Leave out the Walnuts in the Recipe?
Yes, you can leave out the walnuts in the cake.
I can go either way with the addition of walnuts. I love their toasty flavor, but I think the cake is smashing without them, too. My husband holds fast that banana breads and cakes MUST have nuts to qualify for eating, but my sister and others believe the exact opposite.
Go with your own tastes, or by what’s on hand for the add-ins. You can also swap in chocolate chips, chopped dried fruits, or other types of nuts, or seeds, in place of the walnuts.
Can I Use A Different Flour, Less Sugar or Less Oil?
Leaving the walnuts out of this cake is one thing, but changing the primary ingredient (chickpea flour) and the ratios of sugar, oil and liquid is something else altogether.
I do not recommend any other flour for this particular recipe; stick with chickpea flour. Further, use caution with substitutions and proportions here. Chickpea flour is not all-purpose flour, so changes in the amount of sugar, oil, banana, etc. will likely require some experimentation before achieving the right balance.
Happy baking!
More Grain-Free & Vegan Chickpea Flour Cakes & Baked Goods to Try:
Chickpea Flour Carrot Cake Bites
Chocolate Chickpea Flour Muffins
Chickpea Flour Gingerbread Bundt Cake
1-Bowl Chickpea Flour Brownies
Chickpea Flour Banana Cake (Vegan, Grain-Free)
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 12 pieces 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Homey and healthy chickpea flour banana cake that is grain-free, gluten-free and vegan! Ready, start to finish in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (175 mL) nondairy milk
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 and 2/3 cups (200 g) chickpea flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup natural cane sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice)
- 1 and 1/4 cups mashed very ripe banana (about 3 large)
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or vegetable oil of choice)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Optional: 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 9-inch square metal baking pan. lightly grease or coat with nonstick cooking spray
- In a small bowl, combine the nondairy milk and lemon juice. Let stand 5 minutes to curdle.
- In a large bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Make a well in center of flour mixture.
- In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, curdled nondairy milk, banana, oil, and vanilla until well blended. Add banana mixture to the flour mixture in large bowl, stirring just until moist. Stir in walnuts, if using. Spread evenly into prepared pan, smoothing top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan 10 minutes on wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
Notes
Storage: Store the cooled cake in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 1 day, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Category: Cake, Bread, Snack
- Method: Baking
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 122
- Sugar: 14.6 g
- Sodium: 138 mg
- Fat: 4.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.9 g
- Fiber: 3.1 g
- Protein: 3.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: vegan cake, chickpea flour, egg-free, dairy-free, chickpea flour banana cake, grain-free vegan banana cake, gluten-free, grain-free
I love that this recipe is vegan, and high protein, with pantry ingredients. I always try to have bananas on hand. This cake works exceptionally well as an “upside down cake” or an inverted cake with sliced or split bananas in the base of the cake pan.
★★★★★
Hi there
Absolutely loved your banana cake. It came out perfectly!!! I replaced the sugar with coconut sugar, one of the eggs with a flax seed egg and the yogurt with coconut yogurt. It turned out absolutely splendid!!!
Thank you for sharing your recipes using the humble chickpea flour!!!
Am definitely going to try out your other recipes!!
Tashi
★★★★★
I love the sound of your substitutions, Tashi, and love (even more) that your cake came out so well!
I just made it for my two year old. She likes it a lot, even though I used 1/4 cup honey. I’m surprised of the nutritional facts table. I would’ve expected more protein contents, considering the eggs and chickpea flour. Next time I’ll try the chickpea carrot cupcakes 🙂 thank you so much!
★★★★★
Hi Nadia,
So glad you like them!
Hi Camilla,
Recipe looks great!
Do you think I could use a banana bread tin rather than a cake tin or will it not rise sufficiently?
Thanks,
Maria
HI Maria,
I am not familiar with banana bread tins. Do you mean a loaf pan? THe wider shallow pan is better because the chickpea flour does not rise as much as other flours. I am afraid the middle will be undercooked
Just started my gluten free journey and was not expecting this to be tasty at all but gave it go. It was absolutely FANTASTIC! Moist and the right amount of sweetness for my husband and children not to notice the difference!! I added an extra banana as it was on its last legs and didn’t want to waste it. Wonderful recipe… will definetly be keeping this one. Thank you!
Congratulations on your fresh GF start, Mel! So glad the banana cake was a winner for you and your family. I have a lot of other chickpea flour recipes here on the blog to use up any remaining chickpea flour (it is probably my favorite GF flour–love that it is so inexpensive, too! 🙂
Hi-can I add frozen blueberries or sweet potato? What about apples? How do you think this would change the “baking behavior” of the cake? Thanks!
Hi Amy,
Frozen, thawed and patted dry blueberries should be fine. I am not sure how you are planning to add the sweet potatoes and apples…
I used three bananas and they weren’t quite ripe. I also omitted the sugar because of my dietary requirements. I loved it!!! Thank you for this. I will make it again with ripe bananas and it’ll be that much better 🙂
It’s fluffy and hits the desert craving
Wonderful! 🙂
Can you make this cake without Eggs ? What would you substitute it with ? Thank you.
On thing I forgot to mention in my previous post: I make this vegan by using Chia eggs.
Thanks so much for sharing, Rosaria–thrilled to hear it worked with chia eggs!
Just make this. WONDERFUL. I was really excited to try it but then had my doubts after I tasted the batter. It seemed bitter. So I added more sugar (in total just 2 tablespoons of maple syrup).
In hindsight the sugar was not needed IMHO. This cake is super moist and delicious.
I used olive oil because I read that that makes baked goods more moist. It’s true.
Sounds wonderful, Rosario!!!
Sorry posted wrong address before with same question. Can flax and water be substituted for the eggs in this recipe? Should the recipe be doubled to make two 9″ rounds?
Thank you.
Doubling should be fine, Brett!
Can flax seed and water be substituted for eggs in this recipe? If making. A two layer cake should recipe be doubled when using two 9″ rounds?
Hi Brett,
It works with psyllium eggs, I think it should work with flax eggs–just keep in mid that I have not tested it with that.
Hi Camilla, just wanted to say thanks for this amazing recipe! I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GD) and I’ve been missing my cakes! This cake costs in perfectly – I think the chickpea flour really makes a huge difference with GD and I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup with no problem. I believe a little sugar with the other great ingredients makes the blood sugar very easy to keep under control. Ps for all other UK readers, just use your own cup measurements and you’ll find proportions work great. Oh and I also baked this in a Pyrex dish due to not being able to find my tins and it still turned out great!
your comment made my day, Sukhi!!!! 🙂
I made this cake, and it tasted so good but very sweet to my taste. I could not taste the chickpeas as I added orange zest, pinch of ground clove and nutmeg. The texture was similar to normal wheat cake.
Definitely making this cake again but next time will reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup only. Thanks a lot. You saved me a lot of money and time.
Sounds good, Reem! It can really depend on the ripeness and hence, sweetness, of the bananas, so yes, feel free to cut back on the sugar. I love your combination of orange with nutmeg and cloves–I am going to have to try that!
This cake looks great but I am sugar sensitive and wonder why it needs so much sugar when there are bananas in it – if I cut the sugar down would it change the texture ?
Hi Suzanne! I am glad you are interested in the cake. I suppose it is all relative regarding what a lot of sugar is. For a cake, this is pretty low for added sugar–about 2.2 teaspoons added sugar per serving. Also, my aim in developing the recipe was to make a cake, not a bread. The sugar plays a greater role than adding sweetness to a cake; it also has a direct affect on the moisture and leavening of the cake. Yes, you could lower the sugar, but it probably won’t be a cake anymore.
I used 1/4 cup of sugar. This was an absolutely fabulous recipe. Thanks so much
Great, Emily!!!
Dear Camelia, l can’t eat any sugar. I like this recipe. Can I use instead of sugar, honey or maple syrup? If yes how many teaspoon? Thanks
Hi Indi,
Absolutely! JUst be sure to reduce the amount of yogurt slightly (by about 1 tablespoon) to make up for the added liquid.
I made the cake and didn’t add any sugar at all and it tastes great, very sweet still
Great!!!
I cannot wait to make this!!! I have been grain free for 3 months but miss some baked goods. I love socca so I already have the chickpea flour.
I think you will really enjoy this, Juanita; it tastes so much like traditional all-purpose flour banana cake!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I grew up eating many (Indian) dishes made with chickpea flour but never thought to use it in recipes such as chickpea flour. This was a hit with the entire family.
I am so pleased to hear it, Karina!