Delicious, versatile, 5-ingredient sandwich bread made in minutes with chickpea flour! It is naturally grain-free and vegan.
I love sharing recipes that require minimal explanation.
Also, minimal ingredients.
Minimal steps, too.
And minimal effort.
Case in point, my latest creation, Chickpea Flour Sandwich Bread!
This wonderful loaf is:
*Vegan
*Grain-free
*Made with 5 humble ingredients (plus optional salt)
*Ridiculously easy to make
*Ready, from start to finish, in under an hour
*Perfect for slicing (think sandwiches, toast, all around nibbling/snacking)
*SCRUMPTIOUS!!!
Here’s what you need from the pantry: chickpea flour, baking soda, granulated cane sugar, a 12-ounce can of seltzer water or club soda, and a small amount of oil. Salt is optional, so follow my lead with the recommended amount, or adjust to suit your particular tastes and needs,
I used olive oil for the recipe, but you can use any oil that you prefer. The same holds true with the sweetener. I stuck with natural cane sugar (I use 1-1/2 tablespoons in the recipe), but you can use any sweetener. If you use a liquid sweetener (e.g., maple syrup), simply add it along with the other wet ingredients. If you are wondering why the bread has sweetener, it is to (1) promote browning; (2) balance the savory flavor of the chickpea flour, and (3) enhance the rise of the bread.
Seltzer (or club soda) and baking soda are primarily responsible for the bread’s great rise, as well as it’s light, tender, sandwich-bread texture. I strongly recommend using a fresh can of seltzer; if measuring from a bottle, make sure that it is a brand new bottle (so that there is maximum carbonation).
Forget any and all difficulties you may have ascribed to bread-making; the assembly here could not be easier. (1) Whisk the dry ingredients; (2) stir in the seltzer water and oil; and (3) pour the batter into a parchment-lined baking pan. It will require about 3 minutes of your time.
Slide the pan into the oven and bake, at 375F, for 40 to 45 minutes until the loaf is risen, browned and a tester inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
You’ve got bread!
I’ve calculated the nutrition for this bread using the guideline of 12 thick slices per loaf. However, this bread slices beautifully, without crumbling, so feel free to slice it as thin as you like!
Pair the bread with sweet or savory fillings and spreads, it is delicious with everything! It also toasts like a dream.
Prepare to commit this recipe to memory, as I am confident you will want to make it often. Happy baking (and eating!).
Chickpea Flour Sandwich Bread {grain-free, vegan, 5 ingredients}
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices) 1x
Description
Delicious, versatile, 5-ingredient sandwich bread made in minutes with chickpea flour! It is naturally grain-free and vegan.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (300 g) chickpea flour
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons cane sugar (or sugar/sweetener of choice)
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 12-ounce (355 mL) can unflavored seltzer or club soda
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or oil of choice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Line a 9×5-inch (22.5 x 12.5 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper; grease or spray the exposed sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Slowly pour the seltzer down the side of the bowl (to prevent a lot of foaming); add the olive oil and stir until combined. Immediately pour into prepared baking pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Storage: Store the cooled bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the refrigerator for 1 week, or tightly wrapped in freezer for up to 6 months.
Sweetener Options: Use any granulated sugar you prefer (e.g., coconut sugar, sucanat). or an equal amount of liquid sweetener such as maple syrup (add with the other wet ingredients)
Tip: An uncooked piece of spaghetti can be used as a tester (instead of a skewer) for determining if the center is set!
- Category: Bread
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/12 of loaf)
- Calories: 100
- Sugar: 3.7 g
- Sodium: 191.8 mg
- Fat: 3.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.6 g
- Fiber: 2.1 g
- Protein: 4.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I was a little unsure if I would like this because, while I love chickpeas, chickpea flour can taste bitter at times. The bread has a unique flavor but it isn’t gritty, bitter, or dry at all. This is the closest I’ve come to tasting GOOD gluten-free vegan bread. Plus, I love that there is NO YEAST! For anyone looking for alternative sweetener options: I’m trying to limit sugar so I opted for about 6 drops of monk fruit sweetener which turned out fine for me. I might do another 2 drops next time.
Thank you for this recipe, Camilla!
★★★★★
I am so happy to know how well the bread worked out for you, Melanie! The monk fruit suggestion is excellent, I am going to give that a try with my next batch 😊
This bread recipe is fantastic! It tastes wonderful. I threw a few sunflower seeds into the batter and I can’t stop eating it! Thank you for sharing this. I will be making it often – bought bread is out the window from now on!
★★★★★
So happy to hear , Rose!
Hi Camilla,
I just made this loaf and it smells amazing. I also made another batch of batter, added some grated vegan cheese and poured the batter into a 12 cup muffin tin. Me and my grandchildren have just finished 2 each, they are so tasty xxx
Oh, that is so wonderful to hear, Louise!!! The cheese and muffin adaptations sound great!
Hi Camilla, This looks amazing! Do you think that it could be made in a bread maker? I recently bought one and have been trying to find a good vegan, gf bread to make regularly.
Hi Ali,
Thank you! No, this would not be a good one for the bread maker, unless you are doing bake only. The seltzer water is critical for the bread’s rise, which means it needs to be stirred very little (just enough to combine the wet and dry ingredients). Too much stirring will deflate the bubbles and lead to a low rise dense loaf.
I made this bread in a bread maker. It turned out amazing!! It came off the pan easily too
★★★★★
is there a different between store bought chickpea flour and home ground chickpea flour?
Hi Donna,
You can use either. If grinding at home, just be sure to sieve the flour to remove any unground pieces.
Brilliant recipe..it’s now become my go to bread recipe..Besan flour is really inexpensive at Indian supermarkets..Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
Honestly, last night I made your brownie recipe and messed up and it turned out as the most delicious chocolate bread ever– Glad you figured out that chickpea flour makes a good sandwich loaf too 🙂
Hi Allie,
Excellent recovery with the brownie recipe! My own errors often lead to new recipes, too 🙂 Hope you enjoy the sandwich bread!
This bread is amazing! Quick question, would I be able to add things to it to bake in like maybe chopped bell pepper or dehydrated tomatoes, or is it strictly a bake as is kind of bread? Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★★
Hi Rose! I am so happy that you like the bread!
You can definitely add things to the bread, but with caution. Since this is more of a batter than a dough, heavier add-ins will likely sink to the bottom. Chopped herbs, garlic, and small seeds (e.g. sesame or poppy seed) would be good additions, as they will stay suspended in the batter without sinking. I think the sundried tomatoes could work so long as they are very finely chopped. Dried porcini mushrooms that have been soaked and very finely chopped could be pretty amazing too, and should stay suspended during the bake.
I would love to know how any experiments turn out!
Hi Camilla
Looking at your photos it seems after you add the seltzer the batter is a liquid. And you also say ‘pour’ it into the pan.
Well mine definitely wasn’t lıquid, just very thick and needed more liquid. I’m confused as to why that might be, as I followed all the measurements for flour carefully.
Many thanks
Fife
Oh no, I am so sorry it did not wok out, Fife! I am not sure what happened, but if you are using a 12-ounce can of seltzer, a measurement issue with the liquid is not the problem.
The ratio of liquid to flour in the recipe is 2:3 (12 ounces water + 2 tablespoons oil is just shy of 1 and 2/3 cups liquid to 2 and 1/2 cups flour, which is a ratio of .668, or 2:3). You can test this by mixing 3 teaspoons flour with 2 teaspoons water to see what the consistency should be like: it is a thin to medium batter, a little thicker than crepe batter.
It could be helpful to weigh the flour to make sure you are not overpacking the cups. 1 cup of chickpea flour is 120 grams. I hope this helps, Fife!
I am always on the web checking out recipes… I try them, enjoy the creation then once in every 3 years I leave a comment. And today is the day! I just wanted to let you know how much we loved this! I did not have sparkling water so just used tap water and added 1 tsp of baking powder but still… it turned out amazing! So, thank you!
★★★★★
Wwo! That is some seriously high praise! I am so glad it worked so well for you.
Thanks so much for letting me know, and thank you, too, for sharing the great tip about using tap water- baking powder 🙂
Hi, Camilla–
This looks fabulous! I was wondering– does this recipe have to have the sugar added? My body is very sensitive to sweeteners of any kind. Do you think it would come out well without sweetener? Thanks!
Hi Katie,
Yes, you can definitely make this without any added sweeteners 🙂
To Katie’s question: I replaced the sugar with date sugar, and it was fine! This bread is seriously delicious! Thank you.
I love it!! But mine is super-crumbly, sliceable it’s true but then falls to pieces in the toaster and can’t be spread with anything thicker than mayo ….any tips?! My husband swears I took it out of the oven too soon, admittedly it came out after 35 mins as, from experience, our oven generally needs 5-10 mins taken off recipes. Bread was fully risen (I think, no soggy bits anyway) but still moist – was I too impatient? I would have thought drier = even more crumbly? No vegans in this house so would an egg help with the binding?
★★★★★
Hi, Camilla,
Thanks for a wonderful recipe. This one is incredible, and I plan to make it often. I have one question: Every time I use baking soda in baked goods, they come out with a terrible salty taste of baking soda. I plan to try this recipe again with aluminum-free baking powder. Do you think that will work? Was also wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences with baking soda.
Hi Gary,
So glad that you liked the recipe! It is funny you should mention that about the baking soda; I have been thinking of trying this with baking powder for flavor reasons (my husband is not crazy about soda bread and baking soda flavor in general). I will post within the next week or so!
Hi Camilla- Which brand of chickpea flour do you tend to bake with?
Hi Darah!
I typically use Bob’s Red Mill or I order the 2-pound bags of Spicy World Besan Chickpea Flour on amazon (I use them interchangeably).
I have just made this, using sparkling water, really easy to make.
Tastes lovely just out of the oven with some Soya Margarine. Can’t wait to try for my lunch tomorrow.
So happy to hear it, Sheila!
Hi Camilla, I am having trouble finding unflavored sparkling or seltzer water. Will it work with sparkling mineral water (Perrier)?
Thank you! Shawna
Hi Shawna,
Yes, sparkling mineral water should work fine! I have even used flavored varieties that I have had on hand (e.g., lime, lemon…even grapefruit!) –still tasted wonderful 🙂
Hi Camilla,
Thank you for your response. I have made the bread several times (with Perrier and once with Arrowhead Sparkling Water) and it is absolutely delicious and a big hit with my gluten-intolerant son. I am in the same situation as another commenter in that I do not get any lift at all in the bread. I tried buying all new ingredients – new baking soda, new chickpea flour (Bob’s Redmill) and the Perrier water to no avail. I also bought an oven thermometer to be sure the temperature is correct. Do you have any ideas? Regardless we will continue to make this bread because it is so delicious.
Hi Shawna,
So glad you and your son are enjoying the bread. BUt how frustrating that it does not rise. It should get a ice high rise, it should not be dense. The one possibility: over-stirring. You want to stir a very minimal amount to combine the water and dry ingredients (the bubbles are a major part of the rise). Do you think that is a possibility?
I REALLY want this recipe to work as I so much want a sandwich bread. I followed the recipe exactly but my bread did not come out as expected. It tasted fine on about the top inch and it did rise a bit, however, the bottom 2 inches were more soggy and while cooked through were more like the texture of flan. Any thoughts on correcting this issue?
Oh no, I am sorry the recipe did not work! That sounds very unusual. The bread should be light a fluffy.
My first thought is that your oven may not be hot enough ( hence a partial rise, but not enough heat for the loaf to rise) your oven temp might be off, or perhaps it was not fully preheated.
A few other thought: making sure that you used baking soda, not baking powder.
Also, making sure that the water was slowly poured down the side of the bowl and the batter was not mixed for a long while. The carbonation is needed for the bread to rise, if it is over mixed, you will lose all of the bubbles.
I hope that the tips help! I make this bread regularly. All the best.
Just made a loaf with maple syrup.Looks and tasts good.Thanks a lot for the recipe.
Hurrah! So glad to hear, Ellie, thank you!
Hi Camilla. Just cut a slice off my first effort and it is wonderful. I used 1 1/2 tbsp. of Stevia instead of sugar and it works beautifully. Glad to say mine looks just like your pics. Now all I need is a suitably-sized little wooden board to put it on when it is sitting in the fridge. Thanks for yet another corker!
I made this today and it really is delicious. It’s hard to believe that such simple ingredients can make such a tasty loaf of bread. I used maple syrup as my sweetener and followed the recipe as written. Thank you, Camilla, for all of the great
recipes you share. I already have two of your cookbooks and I’m sure I’ll be adding more to my collection soon!
I love the taste and texture of this bread! I’m just wondering if it’s rising properly or am I baking it correctly. Mine only ends up about 2″ thick, making it a challenge to make a full sandwich. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong? Definitely the best grain free bread I have had
Hi Andrew,
Glad you are enjoying the bread! It should definitely be higher than 2 inches, it should rise significantly. It could be as simple as getting some new baking soda? It loses its oomph over time.
Hi, I’ve tried your easy recipe and it looks nice, sadly I’m not a big fan of the taste of chickpea if i did 50/50 and used another flour with the chickpea,what flour with it would you recommend?
Hi Sat,
You might want to look into trying lupin flour (made with lupini beans). I have only been experimenting for a few weeks, but it is really amazing. It does not have a bean flavor at all, but you can use it in many chickpea flour recipes. I am not sre that any other flour would work in the recipe without a lot of trial and error.
At last a gluten free bread that is easy to make and not soggy. Thank you!
I admire your creativity in creating healthy new recipes. I have your published books and your chickpea flour graham cracker recipe is my favorite.
I started following your blog when you were creating pucks. I often make the granola recipie with added maple flavoring, yum!
I was amazed when you tried parsnips for pizza crusts. I bake them small on parchment paper, then transfer it to my dehydrator until the pizza/crackers are crisp.
Thank you helping me to enjoy delicious healthy meals. Marcia
Hello! Excited to try this recipe! I’m wondering – could sparkling water be substituted for the seltzer/club soda? It’s all I have in my pantry. It is bubbly so would that still give a good rise? TY in advance!
Hi Erin,
Yes, sparkling water should work just fine!
Hi! Tried your bread and it is fantastic! Have not had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in years! So happy to enjoy one finally thanks to you Camilla! Thank you!!!☺
I am SO happy to hear the news, Holly! As a PB & J addict, that is far too long a wait! 🙂
At last a gluten free bread that is easy to make and not soggy. Thank you!
I admire your creativity in creating healthy new recipes. I have your published books and your chickpea flour graham cracker recipe is my favorite.
I started following your blog when you were creating pucks. I often make the granola recipie with added maple flavoring, yum!
I was amazed when you tried parsnips for pizza crusts. I bake them small on parchment paper, then transfer it to my dehydrator until the pizza/crackers are crisp.
Thank you helping me to enjoy delicious healthy meals. Marcia
I am so flattered, Marcia, thanks so much! I love the idea o mini parsnip crusts! I have been contemplating a dehydrator for ages, you may have made up my mind 🙂
I really liked this recipe. when I followed it. But I tried it with almond flour and did not turn out so great. I’m wondering if the key is a bean flour or could it be my seltzer was a little flat.
★★★★★
Hi Joan,
I am so glad you liked it! Yes, it definitely needs to be chickpea flour for this one to work (it wasn’t the seltzer water).
Hi Camilla! You outdid yourself with this recipe! I’m a total klutz when it comes to baking and even I managed to make three perfect loaves! As you say it’s great with savoury, sweet and toasts really well. I’m delighted! Alas if only it was calorie free ???
Whoohoo! So exciting to hear that you love it, too, Charmaine! xo 🙂
Bread is fantastic!! Made a half dozen of your recipes and they’ve all tuned out perfectly. We don’t eat grains, so bread has been out of our diet for years. Excited to have a healthy, delicious new bread recipe! This one’s a keeper…off to make a grilled cheese 🙂
Jo-Ann,I am thrilled to hear that you love the bread! Happy cheese-grilling! 🙂
What can I substitute for the oil?
Hi Janice,
You could try something like applesauce, or simply add 2 tablespoons water. Do you eat flax seed or chia seeds? It would suggest adding some ground up flax or chia seeds (perhaps 1-2 tablespoons, plus 2 tablespoons water)–the added fat should help the texture of the bread. I am also making my best guesses, so I cannot guarantee the results. But I think it should work, based on my experience with chickpea flour. I would love to know what you try, and whether it works out, Janice (I am sure that others would too!) 🙂
Camilla, I can’t wait to try this recipe! I am always amazed what you do with a few simple ingredients!
Thank you!
June
You flatter me, June! Thanks so much, I appreciate the encouragement!
Camilla, I made the bread yesterday and it turned out great! It is an easy recipe that makes a nice large loaf that is easy to slice. I think I will experiment and add some herbs next time.
Thank you!
Wonderful, June! I agree, fresh herbs would be delicious!
NEVER MIND! Sorry! Just read the full blog – will try with the maple syrup! Thanks!
No problem, Mindy! I added the variations to the recipe notes itself after reading your comments 🙂
This looks amazing! This is next on my list to try! Do you think I could use Maple Syrup in place of the sugar in the recipe? Wasn’t sure if that would change consistency too much?