Chocolate Chickpea Flour Banana Bread {vegan, grain-free}

Easy-to-make, nutrient-packed, double chocolate chickpea flour banana bread tastes so decadent! No one will believe that it is vegan, grain-free and gluten-free.

Make Chocolate Chickpea Flour Banana Bread ASAP

We keep buying bananas. And eating them. But regardless of our family’s affection for the fruit, we always end up with plenty of brown ones, too.

Sound familiar?

If so, I’ve got yet another use for them: Double Chocolate Chickpea Flour Banana Bread!

This is a riff on two recipes: (1) my chickpea flour banana bread, and (2) a chocolate banana bread recipe, clipped from a magazine ad, that I used to make often when I was a poor graduate student.

I make the former often, but it’s been many years since I have made, or even looked at, the chocolate banana bread recipe.

Chocolate Banana Bread with a Fraction of the Sugar

I made it so often because I almost always had the ingredients on hand, and it was invariably gobbled up at get-togethers and potlucks (granted, the other offerings were invariably hummus, pizza or chips). I remembered it as being rich and chocolate-y, with a pleasant banana flavor, so I was surprised when I unearthed the recipe and realized that much of the flavor was just sugar.

Specifically 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar for a single loaf. Moreover, the recipe calls for a measly 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 2/3 cup vegetable oil. Also, I had not noticed until now, but the recipe indicates that the entire loaf serves 6 to 8! Perhaps I tore the recipe out of Hungry Lumberjacks Digest.

Hence, while the memory of that chocolate banana bread sparked the idea for this recipe, it is definitely my fresh, new take on what a very chocolate take on banana bread can be.

Recipe Benefits of Vegan Chocolate Chickpea Flour Banana Bread

• Vegan (no eggs, no dairy)
• Gluten-free
• Grain-free
• Oil-free option
• Quick and easy to make
• Made without refined sugar

Ingredients

The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post.

• chickpea flour
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• baking soda
• salt
• mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 to 4 large bananas)
• maple syrup or coconut sugar
• avocado oil (or oil of choice; see notes for oil-free option)
• water
• vanilla extract
• miniature semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Use Plenty of Cocoa Powder for a Rich Chocolate Taste

The bread derives its depth of flavor from a generous 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. It’s rich, but also balanced thanks to 1-1/2 cups of banana, which do triple duty, delivering moisture, sweetness and plenty of banana flavor (banana bread should taste like banana bread, right?).

Step by Step Directions

Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180C). Line a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two opposing sides. Grease or spray the paper and exposed sides of the pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, maple syrup, oil, water and vanilla until blended.
• Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips.
• Bake for 43 to 48 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let the bread cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then hold onto the paper overhang to transfer it directly to the rack to cool completely. Peel off the paper, slice and serve.

Two tablespoons of miniature semisweet chocolate chips sprinkled over the top delivers decadence in every bite while still keeping this bread in the universe of healthy breakfasts and snacks.

Last, if you have had any problem convincing anyone of the wonders of chickpea flour (yourself included), this is an excellent recipe for changing hearts, minds, and palates. Why? Because there is zero indication of beans. Zero. No one who has tasted this bread has ever had a clue that this is a healthy recipe, let alone a bean-based one.

Happy baking, everyone!

Related Posts:

1. Vegan Almond Flour Banana Bread {5 ingredients, oil-free}
2. Healthy Chocolate Banana Oat Cookies {vegan, oil-free, GF}
3. Coconut Almond Flour Banana Bread {4 ingredients, vegan, oil-free}
4. Chocolate Coconut Flour Cookies {Vegan, Keto Option}
5. Chocolate Chickpea Flour Muffins {vegan, grain-free}