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Homey and healthy vegan chickpea flour banana cake that is grain-free and gluten-free! It is ready, start to finish, in 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
- Banana Cake Made with Chickpea Flour
- What is Chickpea Flour?
- Recipe Benefits
- Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake Ingredients
- How to Make Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake
- FAQ
- How Should I Store the Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake?
- Can I Leave out the Walnuts in the Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake?
- Can I Use A Different Flour, Less Sugar or Less Oil?
- Related Recipes
- Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake (Grain-Free) Recipe
Banana Cake Made with Chickpea Flour
Yes, you need another banana cake recipe, and lucky for you, I have got one that is 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 made from finely ground dried chickpeas. It is naturally gluten-free, grain-free, easy-to-use, inexpensive, and incredibly versatile for making both sweet and savory eats.
Chickpea flour has a subtle nutty flavor and packs a bonus punch of protein, too. It is gaining in popularity in North America, but it is anything but faddish. Finely ground chickpeas have been around for centuries and are used in myriad cuisines from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Europe.
This banana cake is a great choice for giving chickpea flour a try. It is perfect for the lunch-packing season ahead since it can be made at the drop of a hat, is not-too-sweet and travels well.
Recipe Benefits
- Vegan (egg-free, dairy-free)
- Gluten-free
- Grain-free
- Quick and easy to prepare
- Frugal (chickpea flour is inexpensive)
Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake 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.
- nondairy milk (e.g., almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk)
- lemon juice
- chickpea flour
- baking powder (certified GF, as needed)
- baking soda
- ground cinnamon
- salt
- natural cane sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice)
- mashed very ripe banana
- melted coconut oil (or vegetable oil of choice)
- vanilla extract
- Optional: 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
How to Make Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190C). Line a 9-inch (22.5 cm) square metal baking pan. lightly grease or coat with nonstick cooking spray
- Combine the nondairy milk and lemon juice in a small bowl. 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.
- Add the sugar, banana, oil, and vanilla to the curdled milk mixture, whisking 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.
FAQ
How Should I Store the Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake?
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.
Can I Leave out the Walnuts in the Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake?
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?
No, 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!
Related Recipes
- Chickpea Flour Chocolate Cake
- Chickpea Flour Carrot Cake Bites
- Chocolate Chickpea Flour Muffins
- Chickpea Flour Gingerbread Bundt Cake
- Chickpea Flour Banana Bread
- 1-Bowl Chickpea Flour Brownies
Vegan Chickpea Flour Banana Cake (Grain-Free)
Equipment
- 1 9-inch (22.5 cm) square baking pan
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup nondairy milk, (e.g., almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 2/3 cups chickpea flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder, (Certified GF, as needed)
- 1/4 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 1/4 cups mashed very ripe banana, (about 3 large)
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil , (or avocado oil, or oil of choice)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Optional: 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190C). Line a 9-inch (22.5 cm) 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.
Interesting cake! For us, the flavour of the baking soda was pronounced even with all the banana, vanilla and spices. I might try again with a 1/4 tsp less and see how it goes.
I’m glad you liked it, Cor 🙂
Good morning
Is there anyway I can make this into a lemon flavour cake please?
Hi Cali,
Here is what I propose: replace the banana with applesauce, up the lemon juice from 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon, and add a tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest. ????
Hello
Do you think I could use mash papaya instead of the banana?
Ooh, I think that’s a great idea, Cali–I have not tried it but I think that could work very well here. Would love to know how it goes!
Hi Camilla, can I substitute all the oil with the banana, if so, would you please let me know the total measurement of banana including 3 large banana in metric? Any idea if not using oil? Thank you!
Hi Janice–you would need 1.5 cups (450 grams) of mashed, very ripe banana total (that includes all of the banana plus the banana needed to replace the oil). 🙂
i can confirm that you can use 8 oz of Swerve brown sugar in place of the sugar and bananas, and use 2 whole large eggs in place of the bananas and use 2 tbs of an avocado, coconut and safflower oil blend oil in place of the coconut oil and the cake will come out fine. I did have to bake mine longer as I turned the temp down to 350 and put it in two 7 inch cheesecake spring form pans so I’d have two even cake layers without needing to cut my cake. I know from past experience when I add a lot of sugar replacement and lemon the cake will caramelize nicely and I didn’t want it to burn on top so the reduced temp fixed that. I proceeded to remove the cinnamon and added in orange essence, coconut shavings, and Choczero’s strawberry chips with extra lemon so it’s a orange, lemon, coconut strawberry cake. The extra lemon added additional leavening alongside the eggs.
I bake gluten free a lot, can you tell? I mostly do keto gluten free baking but my friend gave me some chickpea flour so I wanted to try making a spring themed cake. I topped it with a lemon coconut cream cheese frosting 🙂 and decorations of choice.
This is so awesome, Vanessa!!! Thank you for sharing your brilliance and experience (yes, it does show! 🙂 BTW, I will be dreaming of lemon coconut cream cheese frosting tonight 🙂
Made it and is delicious. My husband though is not a banana fan and was wondering if it would work if I used applesauce. Thanks
Hi Joanne, Yes! That should work.
Can i make this cake using unsweetened almond milk? Will that curdle with the lemon juice the same way non dairy milk does?
Hi Dea! Yes, definitely. When I say “non-dairy milk,” it means you can use any non-dairy milk you prefer, such as almond milk, soy milk, hemp milk, etc 🙂
Loved it but I am eating too much! 🙂
I want to make this cake without adding sugar due to being a diabetic and without adding vanilla extract because vanilla extract is made through alcohol.
Hi Aqeel,
You could use a measure-for-mesaure sugar substitute for the sugar in the recipe. You can leave out the vanilla without a problem. You could add a small amount of other spices, such as cardamom or nutmeg, or a bit pf finely grated lemon or lime zest for added flavor in lieu of the vanilla 🙂
also what could i add instead of baking powder and soda?
Hi Kylie,
This one is much trickier. If this was a traditional cake, you could use eggs for the leavening/rising (e.g., by beating them to incorporate air). But in just about all vegan cakes, you need some sort of chemical leavened (baking powder and /or baking soda combined with an acidic ingredient) to make the cake rise. Other vegan egg substitutes (e.g., flax eggs, chia eggs and psyllium) work more as binders, but do not make baked goods rise.
The only alternative is to try whipped aquafaba (chickpea liquid; it can work as a substitute for egg whites). I do not have a recipe for it here, but you can google it and find some excellent resources. Cheers!
Hi does this need to have the lemon juice added? My friend is doing an elimination diet and can’t have lemons!
Hi Kylie,
Can she have vinegar or cream of tartar? Both are acidic and will work in the same way as the lemon juice.
Just made this a 2nd time but with puréed sweet potatoes in lieu of bananas. Also added blueberries and apples. I could live off this bread.
Ooh, that sounds so delicious Laurie!!! So glad you are enjoying the recipe so much 😊
OMG Yummo! I used applesauce in place of oil. Turned out heavenly!😀
Came out nice. Had with afternoon tea when first baked, breakfast the next morning. Yum!
This exceeded all expectations for my 5 year olds birthday cake! It was loved by all, especially her. ***THANK YOU***
Wow!! Looks interesting and yummy!! A must try!! One question though…. If I want to add carrots instead of bananas will it be possible??
Hi Madhavi!
At first, I thought, no, that won’t work, but… I am thinking it could, depending on how the carrots are prepared. If they are cooked until very, very soft (roasting would bring out their sweetness more, or steamed or otherwise cooked) and then puréed, I think it could be a winner. I would add a bit of liquid to the purée so that is close to the texture of mashed ripe banana, but then use the carrot purée measure for measure in place of the banana purée.
I would love to know if you try it!
Have made this twice now and it is great!
I am so glad, Teri! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know 😊
LORDDDDD! This is cake is absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I would personally add more sugar 🤣🤣🤣 but that’s because my blood is made of honey. Argh so good! I’m not vegan, but I had chickpeas flour and ripped bananas and decided to search on google for any genius who combined these ingredients. So glad I tried it!!!
So awesome, Mila!!!! Glad you gave it a go! 🥰
Can I replace the non dairy milk with normal cow’s milk if I’m not vegan??
Yes, definitely!
One of my very favorite recipes! It is so easy and good, thank you!
Used a quarter cup of brown sugar and it worked out great. I will try one day without sugar to see how it goes.
So glad it turned out well, Rani!
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!
Hello I dont see eggs in the recipe!
Hi Christelle,
There are no eggs in the recipe.
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.
@Camilla, Hi Camilla, I’m writing, letting you know, that this is one of the first homemade baked goods our whole family has loved since my son was diagnosed as gluten intolerant a year ago. Thank you!
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!