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Make a loaf of vegan cranberry orange chickpea flour bread! Moist, delicious and super-easy to make, it is also oil-free, grain-free, and gluten-free.
Table of Contents
- Cranberry Orange Chickpea Flour Bread
- Recipe Benefits
- Ingredients
- Step by Step Instructions
- Step One: Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Pan
- Step Two: Whisk the Wet Ingredients
- Step Three: Stir in the Dry Ingredients
- Step Four: Add Cranberries
- Step Five: Bake the Bread
- Tip: Tent the Bread with Foil while Baking
- Step Six: Cool the Bread
- FAQ
- What is the Taste & Texture of the Bread?
- How Should the Bread Be Stored?
- Can I Use Something Other Than Chickpea Flour?
- What Other Sweeteners Do You Recommend?
- Can I Use Something Other than Mashed Banana?
- Related Recipes:
- Vegan Cranberry Orange Chickpea Flour Bread (oil-free, GF) Recipe
Cranberry Orange Chickpea Flour Bread
It’s no wonder cranberry orange bread is a seasonal favorite. Gorgeous, piquant cranberries, nestled in fragrant, orange-scented batter, add up to joyful gnoshing (any time of day).
I’ve given the combination a newfangled twist–specifically, one that is grain-free, egg-free, dairy-free, & oil-free–by making the classic bread with one of my favorite ingredients: chickpea flour.
Chickpea flour is something of a wonder flour, able to take the place of both all-purpose flour and eggs, in one fell swoop. Further, I use flaxseed meal in the batter to eliminate the need for oil to make the loaf moist and tender.
The result is both beautiful and delicious!
Recipe Benefits
Among its many benefits, my vegan cranberry orange chickpea flour bread is:
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
- Gluten-free
- Grain-free
- Oil-free
- Super easy to make
- Made in one bowl
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.
The ingredients for the bread are minimal and easily acquired. You will need:
- Fresh cranberries (or thawed frozen cranberries)
- Orange juice
- Finely grated orange zest
- Mashed VERY RIPE banana (super-squishy, lots of brown spots)
- Coconut sugar (I have options in the recipe card)
- Vanilla extract
- Chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour, besan, or gram flour)
- Flaxseed meal
- Baking soda
- Salt
Make sure to use very ripe (sweet, squishy) bananas for the recipe. Fresh, all-yellow bananas are not liquid-y enough, nor sweet enough (those starches are converted to sugar as the bananas become super-ripe).
Further, mash the bananas super-fine; the banana works to add moisture and natural sweetness (you do not want chunks of banana). I used my immersion blender to blend the bananas entirely smooth.
Options
I have options for swapping out the mashed banana and the coconut sugar in the recipe notes. (I’ve got you covered!)
Step by Step Instructions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Step One: Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Pan
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick baking spray.
Step Two: Whisk the Wet Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk the orange zest, orange juice, bananas, flaxseed meal, coconut sugar and vanilla extract until blended.
Step Three: Stir in the Dry Ingredients
Add the chickpea flour, baking soda and salt to the bowl.
Stir until completely blended.
Step Four: Add Cranberries
Stir the whole cranberries into the batter.
Step Five: Bake the Bread
Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 44 to 48 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center of the loaf comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.
Tip: Tent the Bread with Foil while Baking
To prevent over-browning, I suggest tenting the banana bread with a sheet of aluminum foil during the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking.
Step Six: Cool the Bread
Cool the bread in the loaf pan for 10 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a cooling rack.
Such a pretty loaf!
Cool the bread completely before slicing it. The bread is sturdy, so slice it thick or (relatively) thin. I cut the bread into 14 hearty slices.
FAQ
What is the Taste & Texture of the Bread?
This is a moist, yet firm, loaf with loads of orange flavor (thanks to the double power of orange juice + orange zest). It is lightly sweet (definitely a sweet bread, not cake), perfect for breakfast, snacks, or dessert.
Does the bread taste like chickpeas?
No, but it is not the same as white all-purpose flour, either. The chickpea flour adds.a nuttiness that I love. In short, if you really dislike chickpea flour, then this probably isn’t the bread for you. But if you think chickpea flour is wondrous, you will love it.
The bread has ample sweetness, despite having no more than 1/3 cup of added sweetener.
How Should the Bread Be Stored?
Store the cooled cranberry orange bread in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 2 days, the refrigerator for 1 week or the freezer for up to 6 months.
Can I Use Something Other Than Chickpea Flour?
No, this recipe will only work with chickpea flour.
What Other Sweeteners Do You Recommend?
An equal amount of brown sugar or natural cane sugar can be used in place of the coconut sugar.
Can I Use Something Other than Mashed Banana?
The banana in the recipe adds moisture and sweetness without adding banana flavor. However, it can be replaced with one of the following options:
- Applesauce: An equal amount of unsweetened applesauce. You may want to add an extra tablespoon of coconut sugar to make up for the lack of sweetness that banana offers.
- Unsweetened Canned Pumpkin Puree: Use 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, plus 1/4 cup nondairy milk or water, to replace the 1 cup of banana. As with the applesauce option, you may want to add an extra tablespoon of coconut sugar to make up for the lack of sweetness. Also consider adding a bit of spice (e.g., 1-2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon).
Happy Baking! I would love to know what you think if you give this bread a try.
Related Recipes:
Vegan Cranberry Orange Chickpea Flour Bread (oil-free, GF)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup finely mashed VERY RIPE bananas
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup flaxseed meal
- 1 3/4 cups chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less, according to taste
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Spray a 9×5-inch (22.5×12.5 cm) loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In.a large bowl, whisk the orange zest, orange juice, mashed banana, coconut sugar and vanila until blended.
- Add the chickpea flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda and salt to the bowl; stir until completely blended and smooth. Stir in the whole cranberries.
- Spread batter evenly in prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. (TIP: tent the bread with foil during the last 10-15 minutes to avoid over-browning).
- Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.
Is there any substitute for the flaxseed meal? I cannot eat psyllium husk either. Thank you.
Hi Jennifer,
Can you eat chia seeds? You can use an equal amount of ground chia seeds to replace the flaxseed meal.
I love this bread and have made it twice – using weight measurements. Both times it sinks in the middle a lot while cooling and really is more moist than firm as in your pictures. Should I use measuring cups instead of the scale? Could there be that much variation in chick pea flour?
Hi Bronsa,
I am so glad you have given the bread recipe a try, two times! It sounds like the loaf is not fully baked in the middle (that would cause the extra moisture you describe and then sinking in the middle). Are you doing a toothpick test before it comes out of the oven? There’s a lot of variation between ovens, so do not worry about the overall time for your oven, but instead focus on the middle being fully baked 🙂
This turned out amazing, with a moist texture and just enough sweetness to give it a rich taste. I used monkfruit instead of sugar, baked it in a 8″ square pan for about 35 minutes, and sprinkled some walnuts on top. Because I used brown flaxseed meal it did not look as pretty as the photos. I will definitely make this again. Thanks for this healthy and delicious recipe.
I am so glad you like bread so much, Liz! Thank you, too, for sharing that you had success using monkfruit in place of the sugar.
I switched the OJ fir lemon juice, and the cranberries for blueberries, and then added poppyseeds for Lemon-Blueberry-Poppyseed Muffin Bread in the Bundt Pan. Very nice recipe to switch around. Thanks!
That sounds DELICIOUS, Cindy!
Wow Camilla, thank you for this AWESOME recipe :). I have just made it so we have a loaf cooling ready to munch but I snuck out enough mix to make 3 little cupcakes from the mixture so that we could have some straight away!!! So delish! I only discovered your website a few days ago and have been pouring over your recipes and the comments busting to get in to making lots of different recipes. I love using chickpea flour for things but didn’t know it could be used for both sweet and savory things until finding your site. I have a friend who has many food allergies so have been keen to find things that I can cook and share with her…..I feel so excited that I came across you site and inspired by how yummy and easy this recipe turned out, will be trying so many of your recipes from now. Being vegan myself it is awesome that thanks to your site I have many, many options for high-protein, GF healthy recipes to make now. Thank you heaps again 🙂 xxx
Ro, you have made my day ???????? I could not be happier to hear that you love this recipe. I am a huge chickpea flour fan, so it is definitely my pleasure to come up with new ways to use it. So glad that you found my site, let me know if you have any questions, any time 🙂
Hello Camilla,
Would love to try this recipe. The photos look great! Is there anything I can use instead of flax? It is estrogenic for me and causes health issues.
Thanks.
Hi Alex, can you eat psyllium husk?
Hello, I am from Turkey my name is Eda. Precooked Chickpea Flour do you use? My english is not good? But you are Wonderfull🙆♀️
Hi Eda! Thank you so much for writing! I am impressed that you are writing in English, it is very good! I am using raw (not cooked) chickpea flour. It is dried chickpeas ground into a fine flour (that is what is sold in the United States). I know that toasted (light cooked) chickpea flour is available in other countries. You could use that instead of raw chickpea flour.
I hope that is clear! Do not hesitate to write back if you have more questions or need further clarification. 🙂
@Camilla, Thank you🤗
@Camilla,
Is the “ besan “ – chickpea flour, which is sold in south Asian stores are made from raw or cooked chickpeas? It’s used for making pakoras. In general it has very pronounced beany flavor.
@Natasha Besan is typically made from raw chickpeas, same as chickpea flour. Even though both are “chickpea” flour, the chickpeas in the United States and Canada are from different varieties of chickpeas. Desi chickpeas (smaller, darker skins) are the primary chickpea crop in Asia, Kabuli (larger, whiter) are typical of North America. There may be subtle differences in flavor between the two, but they can be used interchangeably. The strong flavors in this bread (orange and orange zest, plus sweetener) makes for a non-beany bread 🙂
Hi,
The flavor of this bread was delicious, but it was so crumbly. We could not even cut it into slices; it just crumbled. We ended up eating the crumbs, albeit delicious crumbs, with a spoon. I followed the recipe exactly. I wonder what happened.
Hi Cathy,
I am so sorry that the bread did not turn out! It sounds like something went way off somewhere. These proportions of chickpea flour, flax, and liquid ingredients (orange juice and banana) create a super-firm, solid bread (I have used the same proportions in other breads, such as my chickpea flour banana bread), so I am not sure what may have gone wrong. It could be that in the moment you made have added the wrong amount (it happens to me, and just about everyone). I hope that you will consider giving it another try.
I love your recipes! thank you! If one were to substitute almond flour and a gluten free blend for the chickpea flour, would the flaxmeal decrease?
Hi Dee! I am so glad you like my recipes 🙂 Hmm, this could work (almond flour and gf flour), but it would be experimental. I wouldn’t;t change too many variables at once, so perhaps keep the flaxmeal the same while subbing out the flours. You can eyeball the mixture in terms of dryness/wetness to see if resembles the chickpea flour version in my photos as a guideline. I would love to know how it goes!