I realized today that I had two very ripe bananas that I needed to use ASAP. With the price of bananas in Sydney hovering around $13/kilo at the moment, there’s no way that any banana in this house can go to waste. Being a temporary ex-pat, I have limited kitchen supplies. I don’t own a bread loaf pan, so the obvious choice of banana bread is out of the question. I do, however, own a muffin tin, so when I came across this recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread with Chickpea Flour, I decided not only to veganize it… but also to muffinify it.
The first time that I ever used besan (chickpea flour) was during the 2-day vegan Indian cooking workshop that I attended last year, in which we used it to make spinach pakoras. Afterwards, I bought a big bag of chickpea flour for $2 at the grocery store but other than making pakoras a couple times, I hadn’t used the stuff at all.
Based on these muffins, I’m going to be using chickpea flour a lot more. It’s naturally gluten-free, so unlike wheat-based muffins, you don’t have to worry about over-mixing the batter (which activates the gluten and can lead to dry/dense muffins). On the other hand, these little guys are moist and delicious. And because chickpea flour contains 22g of protein per 100g – almost twice that of whole wheat flour – they’re also chock-full of protein. Good times!
Notes
- When I initially taste-tested the batter, I was pretty disgusted because it had a really strong bean taste. But luckily, that taste disappears in the baked muffins. So while you won’t be licking the bowl clean, rest assured that the actual muffins won’t stick around for long!
- To make the muffins vegan, I used ener-G egg replacer for the eggs, coconut oil for the butter, and because I didn’t have any vegan sour cream on hand, I used 2 tbsp of vanilla soy yogurt + 1 tsp lemon juice for the sour cream.
- I under-filled my medium muffin cups and ended-up with 9 muffins that didn’t rise beyond the edge of my muffin liners. I recommended below that they be filled to the very edge, so that should result in about 6-7 muffins.
- I promise you, kids will never know that these aren’t cupcakes. You could even continue the chickpea theme and frost these with Corina’s Chickpea Buttercream Frosting :)
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Recipe
Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Muffins with Chickpea Flour
Ingredients
- 3 vegan eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar (I used raw sugar)
- 7 tbsp coconut oil, liquified
- 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 full tbsp vegan sour cream (or 2 tbsp soy yogurt + 1 tsp lemon juice)
- 1+1/2 cups besan (chickpea flour)
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F.
- Whisk the egg replacer and sugar until fluffy before adding the coconut oil, sour cream (or soy yogurt + lemon juice) and mashed bananas.
- Stir very well – you can use an electric mixer but I just whisked it vigorously until completely combined.
- Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the batter and stir until completely mixed.
- Fill greased/lined muffin cups completely to the edge. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Makes 6-7 medium muffins
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wow – those look fantastic. I can almost smell them! I wonder if you could use applesauce as a sub for the oil? I know it works sometimes.
Thanks Heather – Yes, I’m sure you could, or at the very least, go half and half. I’ll try that next time and let you know!
those muffins look great – I have had mixed results baking with chickpea flour – occasionally it tastes too strong but it is great replacing wheat flour in brownies – I suspect the chocolate tastes strong enough not to feel overwhelmed.
I also have made chickpea crackers with besan and highly recommend these – really easy and quick.
Hi Johanna – Thanks for that info about the besan. You’re so right, I bet the chocolate masks the “beany” taste when cooked. I’ll need to keep that in mind for the future.
I will seek-out besan crackers – thanks! Have never made my own crackers before, but with the lack of vegan options (or affordable options), I’ve been thinking about doing it for a while now!
these look awesome! thanks for the link back. i’d thought it would be cool to pair the chickpea frosting with a chickpea muffin/cupcake, but i didn’t have the time or flour. these muffins like the perfect pairing.
Thanks Corrina! Same here, I saw your frosting but didn’t have all the items on hand to make it. One of us has to put the two together at some point :)
I love anything made with chickpea flour! I must try these. =)
Well this is my first time really using it (other than pakoras), so I’m going to start using it more often. Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you think of them ;)
I know that a lot of people who are gluten-free turn their noses at chickpea flour but I don’t care. To me, it’s one of the best flour options for the gluten-less. I want a muffin right now! :)
For real? As per Johanna above, is it because of the beany taste/smell? Because that seems to go away entirely with the addition of chocolate.I haven’t really used any GF flours but so far so good with this…
I mean, don’t ever sample the batter right? It’s pretty rancid, but I agree with you in that it completely burns off if you cook it long enough. I honestly haven’t had as good of luck with other gf flours than with Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose (which is primarily chickpea flour). I’m all for it :)
These look awesome. I love new ideas for chickpea flour!
Thanks Sarah! I’m starting to look for more besan recipes because of the success I had with these :)
they look great! heather/wheresthebeach mentioned both of us in her post so I had to come over and say hi…and now I know what to do w/ my chickpea flour :) thanks!
Hi Averie,
Oh thanks for letting me know, I hadn’t read it yet! Thanks for the comments, let me know if you try them. Going to check out your blog now :)
Fantastic! I never even though about using chickpea flour in muffins. I have had a similar experience with a funky tasting batter, but a delicious baked outcome. Funny how that works!
Yeah I was freaking out a little but let the oven take its course and they’re amazing little guys. The whole batch is gone now. Need to make more!
They look amazing. Banana hardly ever last here to get brown so I may have to save some deliberately lol
Hi Claire – Yes, I know what you mean but they’re definitely worth holding-back a few bananas for. Let me know if you try them!
Hey Vegangela
Any idea on the amount of protien in these bad boys? I just made a batch and substituted the cocoa powder for dark chocolate chunks…Deee-ricious!! Thx much!
Dreamin of Divin
Adam
Hi Adam,
Sorry for the delay. Not sure about that, you may want to try one of those websites that calculates nutrition based on ingredients. I’m looking into adding an app on my site for it, but it will have to way until June or so, when I’m back and settled. Your changes sound great. Yum!