These grain free banana bread bars taste and feel like a tender, buttery banana bread, but they’re made with NO grains, butter, oil, or refined sugars. A perfect snack for those avoiding grains or watching their sugar intake.
We’re doing something today that I never thought we’d do… we’re baking with beans!
Actually, I should probably clarify and say that we’re baking something sweet with beans, since all the roasted chickpeas and Mexican casseroles I’ve made over the years technically count as baking with beans, too. But I digress!
If you know me, then you know I’m not a huge proponent of bean-based desserts. Or at least wasn’t. I had one bad experience with black bean brownies about 7 years ago and it completely turned me off from the idea of allowing beans anywhere near my baked goods. The same thing happened with kale. I had one bad smoothie experience around the same time and I’ve refused to touch it since.
But time heals all most wounds, and when I came across a recipe card in my bag of sweet potatoes (random, right?) for some bars made with chickpeas, I figured it was time to get over at least one of my prejudices and give it another go.
So that’s what I did…
You guys… these grain free banana bread bars are SO good. Like… next level good. And I promise you that they don’t taste beany at all. I had my family and a few friends try them out, and no one could guess the “secret ingredient.” Heck, even I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen the chickpeas going into the blender myself.
But they’re in there! And they do some pretty amazing things to these bars… even if it did take me forever (read: 3 trials) to get them just right.
Trial #1 tasted fantastic, but the bars would not stick together and you kind of had to eat them straight from the pan with a spoon… which is basically what I did for dinner that night. Trial #2 went in the complete opposite direction – way too light and fluffy with nowhere near enough of that tender, melt-in-your-mouth fudginess I was going for.
But trial #3? Perfection.
These guys taste exactly like banana bread, only they’re 100% grain-free thanks to the magical powers of chickpeas. I know. I still feel weird saying it too, and to be 100% honest, I think I was kind of hoping they’d come out terrible so that I could say HA! and reinforce my former prejudices, but instead I got a perfectly sweet and tender bar that’s made with NO butter, oil, or refined sugar.
That’s the craziest part! They look and feel “buttery,” but it’s all thanks to a combination of chickpeas and almond flour. I was originally going to use oats, but I figured I may as well go all the way and make them completely grain-free instead. I tried making them vegan, but uhm… you know the aforementioned Trial #1? Yeaaaaaaah. That’s how that went down. They’re still dairy-free, though (provided you use dairy-free chocolate chips), and they can be refined-sugar-free if you replace the chocolate chips with dried fruit or nuts.
Okay, okay. I know I’ve been talking forever at this point, but I just can’t get over it! Maybe that means I should give kale another shot. Or maybe not…
Happy eating!
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Grain Free Banana Bread Bars
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 1 14 oz. (398 ml) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed*
- 1 medium-size (~100 g) ripe banana
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tbsp (32 g) nut butter**
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 6 Tbsp (42 g) almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup (50 g) chocolate chips/chunks, dried fruit, nuts, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (176C) and prepare an 8×8 (20x20cm) baking pan by lining it with a sheet of parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal. Set aside.
- Add the first 7 ingredients (chickpeas through cinnamon) to a high-speed blender or food processor in the order listed, and process on high until the chickpeas have fully broken down and the batter becomes smooth and creamy, about 30-60 seconds. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the chocolate chips, and process until smooth. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips by hand, reserving ~2 Tbsp to sprinkle on top.
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan, using a spatula to distribute it evenly before sprinkling on the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the bars from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
* You’ll only be using the beans for this recipe, so make sure to drain the liquid and rinse them well. It’ll come out to about 1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas, or 250 g. ** I used a creamy almond butter for it’s mild and slightly sweet taste, but feel free to use whichever nut butter you have on hand.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
Looking for more healthy snack bar recipes? Try one of these!
Almond Butter & Jelly Banana Bread Bars
Double Blueberry Muffin Bars
Soft and Chewy Protein Granola Bars
No Bake Sweet & Salty Trail Mix Granola Bars
Blueberry Banana Oat Bars
Hello from Sweden ! Don’t ask me how I came across this recipe, even I don’t know. 😉
I’m sorry to say that this recipe isn’t for me. It tastes too much of chickpeas. Even if I put more chocolate it didn’t make it more delicious like I thought it would. PERHAPS if I was ti use white beans instead of chickpeas it might taste differently.
Your blueberry banana oat bars look good though ! It inspired me to make an adapted version of that recipe. 🙂
How many grams if we are using homemade beans?
About 250g of cooked beans, Lindsay.
These look sooo good! Can you replace the almond flour with oat flour? Or coconut? Or even whole wheat? Can’t wait to try these! 🙂
I haven’t tried them with wheat flour, but oats should be fine, Shayna!
People are looking at me funny because I’m drooling out the corner of my mouth! These look amazing! Banana’s are always a fruit we have the most of so I’ll be trying this recipe out this week. I think my kids will love it. Thanks Amanda! 🙂
Bananas are a staple for me as well. I hope you and your family like them, Paul!
I know most recipes say this but you really can’t taste the beans in these bars! Thanks for the recipe… I didn’t change anything and love them. Bake time was about 35 minutes.
Could you substitute honey for maple syrup as a healthier option?
That would be fine, Mercedes.
Aren’t you glad you gave baking goodies with beans another shot?! I know I am glad because these bars look ahhmazing!! Wish I had one of these right now!
Oh I make brownies from chickpea and it works a treat but hadn’t thoguht of banana bread bars – good shout…. your site alway makes me hungry!
These taste good. I’ll make them again. Mine seemed to need more cooking time.
I’m totally making you drink kale the next time you’re in Cleveland.
That’s -totally- making me want to visit 😛
when I read grain free this was NOT what I was expecting….oh geebuz. Do you think I could sub the beans with another kind? Maybe jelly beans?
I’ve tried beans in baked goods before but wasn’t a fan. I kept seeing hummus.
If you successfully make bars with jelly beans, I’ll fly to Australia to try them myself 😛
I must admit that I’ve always been skeptical of beans in my dessert (besides the straight up bean soups in Asian desserts), but I’ll believe a former skeptic that they can be just as delicious 🙂 I have tried some pretty good black bean brownies before though!
And I’m a fan of edamame…that counts as soybeans, right?
In the same way that coffee counts as a bean 😉
I’m a huge fan of chickpea blondies! Mine have three ingredients and are SO GOOD my picky coworkers rave about them 🙂 I realized yesterday that kidney beans are named as such because they look like a kidney #BackToSchool
I probably eat black beans the most, but I love butter beans. It must be the size. Bigger is better 😉
That actually reminds me that I haven’t had butter beans in forever. Need to change that because they’re amazing.
These bars look amazing and as luck would have it, I have ripe banana ! Cannot wait to try the chickpeas.
You got my attention with “banana bread,” had my gluten free heart jumping at “grain free” and definitely earned a slow clap with the surprise bean ingredient! Yet another insanely delicious looking recipe!
Nothing like the slow clap 😉 Thanks, Casey!
I know bean desserts get a bad rep but they’re honestly SOOO good!! I’ve made tons of bean desserts before! These bars are totally something I’ve been dreaming of lately; thank you for making my dreams become a reality. 😉
Have you made awesome black bean brownies? I feel like I’m okay with the chickpeas right now, but still a little iffy on others.
My first experience with beans in baked goods didn’t go so well either. Yeah, THOROUGHLY blending them is really important, haha 😉 . But, this didn’t stop me from trying to bake with beans again. These bars look so moist and cakey! I love having healthy treat options like this in my freezer for those days that I’m craving them with a nice, cold glass of almond milk. Pinning it 🙂 !
xxMeah
Haha! YES. Blending is seriously the most important thing. Thanks, Meah!
I sure have baked with beans before – a bean cheesecake that was on the blog and some beans cookies that are not on the blog yet – so I am in awe of these bars – they look phenomenal! Love your use of banana and almond flour – what a texture! Thanks so much for this recipe Amanda!
Ummmm I have all of this stuff right now…meaning…I need to go make these!! YUM.
any suggestions for subsitutions for the bananas I read your blog all the time and you bake a lot with bananas, but I am allergic to them. Would pumpkin or apple sauce or something else do the trick just as well? I would love to be able to make more of your recipes!!!
Gah! I do use those guys a lot, eh? I think 1/2 cup of pumpkin would work okay here, but I probably wouldn’t go with applesauce since it might be a little too wet for these bars. And with pumpkin, you might want to add additional sweetener since it won’t be as sweet otherwise. I’ll definitely try using more non-banana ingredients though, Tracy. Especially now that fall is coming up 🙂
I love baking with beans. I’m pinning this to make later for sure.
Woohoo! I hope you like them, Jen!
Girllllll these sound amazing!! I’m one of the bean naysayers as well – I never seem to like the end product like everyone else does, but I believe you when you say these are fantastic because well, they don’t look like most traditional bean bars!! I totally have all of these ingredients too, so be prepared for a review this week 😉
I hope you like them! xox
Isn’t it crazy how chickpeas can make amazing bars? These look SO beautiful Amanda, and I’m so thankful that you plunged into putting chickpeas in your baked goodies, cause then I have more ways to use chickpeas. :o)
Thanks, Emily! I’m really glad I gave them another shot too 🙂 I hope you like them if you try them!
You know I tried baking with beans years ago (black bean brownies) out of a cookbook. It was so bad. I haven’t tried since. But, I keep seeing such interesting bean recipes like this one and I’m tempted to start thinking about trying it out again
Never hurts to try! I was super surprised that they turned out, but I’m really glad I gave them a shot again!
I also had a traumatizing experience with black bean brownies several years ago. I don’t know if I’ve fully recovered, to be honest. Sad too, because black beans are my absolute favorite.
Good for you having the patience to try 3 different times to get it right. I can just picture how that would’ve gone in my kitchen haha: trial #1 fails, Kelly goes straight to the box mix and calls it a day.
Haha! Honestly, if it wasn’t for the blog, that would be me as well.
These look crazy delicious! Chickpeas– what *can’t* they do?
I’ve always been bean skeptical with baked goods, it’s a lot to wrap your head around! I can see chickpeas providing awesome texture though. And I feel like I go through those 3 trials with a lot of baked goods I make until it’s just right 🙂
3 is usually a sweet spot for me as well. Unless I start changing -too- many things between trials and end up not remembering which one I liked the best 😆
These are interesting and thank you for sharing. I have a few bananas I need to use up so I think I’ll make these.
I hope you like them, Hollie!