Summer is rolling to a gentle close and I am celebrating my favourite season of all by taking some time off-ish. That’s usually how I do it. A little work each day, but mostly maxing and relaxing as I gear up for another busy fall of fun. And this time of sleep-ins and late breakfasts has spawned the absolute best banana pancakes made primarily with chickepea flour.
Chickpea flour, often referred to as garbanzo bean flour, is made from chickpeas. This makes these pancakes grain-free, but also protein powered without needing to grossify your pancake-aroos by adding protein powder to them.
If you care about protein grams and enjoy turning meals into math equations, you might like to know that one cup of chickpea flour works out to about 21 grams of protein. The recipe I have for you today serves two and has a nice little dose of 10 grams of protein per serving right there.
I have slowly but surely begun to embrace chickpea flour as one of my favourites for gluten-free baking. I am not sure I would make it into a cake just yet – the high fiber and protein would make the cake mighty dense, but it is excellent in muffins, cookies, gluten-free pizza crust and, well, these pancakes.
5 Reasons Why Chickpea Flour Is Awesome
- Rich in protein: This will help reduce blood sugar fluctuations and make us feel full longer.
- It bakes up beautifully with a bit of a dry, crispy outer later (pancake perfection!)
- It’s flavour works with both sweet and savoury.
- It’s gluten-free! That always wins with me!
- It’s not too heavy and not too light. Some white rice flours are just too starchy for my liking, while nut meals or coconut flour are very heavy or dry. Chickpea flour is just in the middle!
Chickpea Flour Banana Pancakes
- Total Time: 18 mins
- Yield: Serves 2
Description
The best gluten-free banana pancakes made with chickpea flour
Ingredients
- 1 cup water or coconut milk
- 1 egg
- 1 banana
- 1 cup chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ghee or coconut oil for frying
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into your high speed blender or food processor and mix until smooth.
- Melt 1 Tbsp of coconut oil or ghee into your pan. Using your 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup measure (whatever size you like best), scoop the batter and pour onto your medium heat skillet.
- Let cook until you see bubble throughout the pancake, and then flip. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the other side.
- Serve with your favourite pancake toppings.
Notes
Optional Toppings
Sliced banana
Walnuts
Pecans
Shredded coconut
Ground goji berries
Ground flax seeds
Fresh fruit
Maple syrup
Honey
Ghee or coconut oil
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 8 mins
- Category: Breakfast
One more extra little nugget for you with this recipe. I love maple syrup as much as the next Canadian, but it is also mighty sweet. I love melting together maple syrup or honey with either coconut oil or ghee. Bringing that fat in will further reduce effect on blood sugar, cut the sweetness and enhance the flavour. You know how I love extra fat in my breakfast!
100 responses to “The Best Banana Pancakes with Chickpea Flour”
Hi. These chickpea flour pancakes look delicious! Just wondering how you feel about chickpea flour if you have an autoimmune disease? I’m sick of coconut flour! Thanks.
If you’re having an active flare-up, you may be best to avoid the starchy carbs. For regular maintenance, you should be fine!
Does Chia Egg work in this to replace the egg?
Thanks
Krupa
It might. Many have asked but I have yet to try it out. If it works for you, please let me know.
How would you recommend making these if one is avoiding eggs? Thanks!
I have not tested any egg-free options, but you could try the “chia-egg”. 1 Tbsp ground chia mixed into 1/4 cup of water. Let sit until gelled and them mix in.
Though they tasted delicious I found these really stuck to the pan, even when I loaded it up with coconut oil between each batch. I did make them with a “flax egg replacer” – not sure if that’s what made them stick so much.
They were still a tasty gf/dairy/egg free pancake if a little imperfect looking.
Hmmm – it could have been the flax. I’ve only ever tried with egg and didn’t have any sticking issues at all so not sure. The temperature of the pan at cooking may also be a factor.
This is a really great yet simple recipe. I used almond milk because thats all I had and I tried with the “chia egg” you suggested, it worked just fine. I will for sure be making these again.
★★★★★
Oh great! Happy to know the egg-free option works well!
Can’t wait to have these tomorrow! Could I use tapioca instead of arrowroot?
Hi Samantha – I haven’t tried that. If you do, let me know how it goes!
I subbed tapioca flour for the arrowroot and there was a very slight bitter taste, could it have been that? Otherwise they turned out really well!
★★★★★
Hi Wendy, it could have been the tapioca flour as this recipe is usually not bitter in taste. I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Meghan – I made these last weekend as I promised my husband pancakes for Thanksgiving brunch! I don’t know what went wrong but the batter was thin, they didn’t puff up and they didn’t cook inside. I also used tapioca as I did not have arrowroot Any thoughts?
I don’t know! I’ve made these several times following the recipe exactly and have had great results. They do cook a little differently than your regular fluffy white pancakes. Perhaps let your batter sit for 10 minutes and see if that thickens it up.
These are amazing. My pancake loving children devour them!!
Hi, would this recipe work for waffles? Or any other GF or paleo recipe? Just got an amazing waffle maker n would like to explore some healthy options apart from premixed GF flours. Thank you:)
Thanks Meghan. I found your receipe through a google search. I’ll try this today.
Tried these for the first time this morning (recipe as is, first time using chickpea flour for anything) and they were amazing! My kids even loved them! I love that they are high in protein too! Will be looking for more chickpea flour recipes. Win-win-win!!
Thank you!
The perfect delicious and fluffy pancakes!! And grain free! Thank you for sharing! This recipe brought lots of joy to my house this Sunday morning :)
★★★★★
love this website! can’t wait to try more recipes, making the pancakes right now.
1 TBSP of baking soda seems like a lot for 1 cup flour no? I’ve done other recipes that were less than half the amount soda and double the flour?
but i also don’t know much about baking or baking soda.
just wanted to confirm its 1 TBSP not 1 tsp
It’s 1 tbsp. Gluten-free baking often requires more baking powder than traditional glutenous recipes, as gluten-free flours tend to be more dense.
The recipe calls for baking powder not baking soda!
Wow! Just started experimenting with all gluteen free flours…usually avoiding pancakes…but this chickpea banana pancakes blew me away! :D I added home made fresh raspberry and honey sauce! Magnificent! Even mesurements were exact. Thank you for sharing the recipe. :-)
★★★★★
These sound great. Can we omit the arrowroot starch?
Hi Noelle! You could – the arrowroot helps to lighten the batter up a bit, but you can definitely omit if you’d like.
I’ve made this over 5 times, it is so unbelievably delicious and filling. Adding blueberries and chocolate chips (one or the other, then stacking) makes this recipe PERFECT. thank you for sharing!!!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them! Those are great additions!
Can I make waffles from this recipe instead of pancakes? Do I need to add or change anything? I’m about to try it out.
Hi Michael, I haven’t personally tried making waffles with the recipe, but I’m sure it could work! Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
Mine came out incredibly runny. Did I miss something do you think?
Hi Rose, thanks for your question! Did you add the starch in? This is what will help the mixture bind.
These look fantastic! But … what can I use instead of egg. I didn’t see a vegan option with this recipe but may have overlooked it. Thanks!
Hi Wendell! Try a flax egg or a chia egg.
I am working on a farm in France at the moment and wanted to make some nice Sunday breakfast but could only use the ingredients I could find here. There was chickpea flour so I ended up with this recipe and my pancakes were delicious, the flavor was so great! However instead of starch I used tapioca, but I think that didn’t work too good because they were very liquid. So I ended up adding about 1/2 cup more chickpea flour. Any ideas why or what I could use next time if I don’t have the starch (I couldn’t find any other starch either). I roasted some pears in cinnamon and added a tablespoon of coconut oil cause I used water instead of coconut milk. But superb breakfast :P. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe and your roasted pears sound delicious! Tapioca starch is fine for substituting if you can’t find arrowroot. Pancake batter is supposed to be pretty liquidy so I wouldn’t worry about that too much, though it sounds like you found a workaround by also adding more flour. My recipes are very forgiving so as long as you liked them, enjoy in good health!
These were really tasty but a bit mushy. Any suggestions? The pancakes were very brown so didn’t want to cook too long. The only difference I made was to use a flax egg. Thanks
★★★★
Hi Carla. Perhaps try cooking them at a lower heat for a longer time. If the heat is too high, the outsides will brown very quickly but the middle will be undercooked.
I loved these. I also experimented with a savoury version, substituting the banana with 1/3 cup sweet potato and the cinnamon with herbs. I served with sauerkraut and sour cream and it was a big hit.
★★★★
Just tried my first batch of chickpea pancakes. AWESOME! My new fav. So nice and fluffy and satiating. Yum. Yum. Thank you Meghan Rose!
★★★★★
The BEST gf pancake recipe I’ve made! And trust me I’ve made them all! Wow!
High praise – thank you! I’m glad you found these pancakes lived up to their name. :)
Made these for supper. Surprisingly delish! Didn’t have arrowroot so subbed corn starch, low on c-pea flour so used 1/2 br. rice flour and went with flax eggs. Turned out well.. happy happy … Thanks so much !
Breakfast for dinner is so much fun! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
is the arrowroot important? could i leave it out and still get a good result?
The arrowroot adds some lightness and helps to bind. You could use tapioca instead, or try more chickpea flour.
Tried these for the first time. Truly are the BEST GF pancakes. Loved that you used chickpea flour. Been looking for a recipe with this flour. These pancakes were so light, fluffy and delicious. 😋😋😋👌🏻Yum.
I’m thrilled that you enjoyed them!
Great recipe and the pancakes are super light and delicious!
★★★★★
Hey Meghan my one year old daughter and I Loved these- I did however find they kept sticking to the pan and weren’t the prettiest looking but tasted delicious- I tried three different pans ugh! any tips here?
Thanks
★★★★★
What kind of pan were you using? We have a green pan that we use for pancakes only. I know these also work on cast iron. Heat plays a role as well – if the heat is too high, they will burn on the outside and be gummy/sticky. Better to cook on a slightly lower heat, especially if your burners run hot.
These are the only pancakes I make. We love them. Thanks for this recipe!!!
★★★★★
Amazing!!
These were so delicious. I made with coconut milk not water and substituted cornstarch for the arrowroot. My girls and I are vegetarian. We also try to avoid white flour and are always on the look out for recipes that supply extra protein. We all agree that this is the best pancake recipe we’ve found so far.
Do you think I can substitute the egg for a “Flax egg”?
Definitely! It works with flax eggs and chia eggs too.
Made these and they turned out super flat – not sure if that is how they should be? The pictures look more fluffy.
Did you check your baking powder? Baking powder can get less effective the older it is.
You posted this recipe link in an article denouncing aquafaba, which comes from beans, because it’s full of anti nutrients, hard on digestion, etc. But aren’t totally unprocessed beans bad too – not soaked at all or rinsed of their soaking liquid – which is essentially what chick pea flour is. Isn’t it hard on digestion??
For some people, consuming beans of any kind (homemade, canned, flours, etc.) don’t agree with them. Taking steps to make them more digestible can help; still, some choose to avoid beans entirely.
These look lovely and I’d really like to try them. I am recently 100% grain free – a bit challenging. Does anyone know of a baking powder brand that is not made with cornstarch? This has been a big challenge in my grain free baking lately and I’d love to find something that would still give a nice rise to the pancakes without that baking soda taste.
You could try making your own baking powder and use arrowroot instead of cornstarch. There may be corn-free brands out there too that I’m not aware of, though!
I made these this morning and they were delish!!! I had all the ingredients except the arrowroot or any substitutes( I’m moving and a lot of things are packed) I looked around my kitchen and found some organic vanilla pudding mix and sure enough there was corn starch in it so I used 2 TBLS of that. Worked like a charm.
★★★★★
Absolutely yummy delicious could eat them every day!!!!
Fantastic! Happy you enjoyed them. :)
Great recipe. I added one half cup arrowroot, another egg, a tbsp of vanilla extract, and pureed 2 bananas with the water. I would have guven it 5 stars, but it needs some salt, in my opinion. Nice and fluffy, and no need to add sugar when you use over-ripe bananas. Thanks!
★★★★
What type of pan did you use? These stuck all over my cast iron pan.
We have a titanium pan that works great. I’ve also made these using non-stick, non-toxic green pans. Was your cast iron pan well-seasoned? You may need to add extra oil when cooking these.
Wow!! Wow!! Wow!! Loved the Success in these GF, DF, Grain-F pancake recipe!! Will be making these A LOT in the future!! Fantastic Indeedy!!! 👍✅👍✅👍
Can I make waffles with this recipe?
I haven’t tried using this mixture with waffles, but it would probably work! Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
What is a good sub for arrowroot powder?
You could try tapioca flour/starch.
I don’t like the taste of chickpea flour. Could I sub with oat flour? What about in your all-purpose blend/mix ?
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You could experiment with different flours in this recipe – other commenters have done so with good results.
For the toppings I found coconut butter to be amazing option for pancakes. Thanks for the recipe. Your timing is perfect.( as usual I might add) I have been looking for a pancake recipe
New favorite pancakes according to my daughter!!! She loves them!!! Thank you
Love this recipe. The odd chickpea flavour wasn’t strong. I didn’t have arrowroot flour so I made them without and the pancakes still turned out great 👍🏼
★★★★★
My kids and I made a double batch of these this morning. They were delicious! We used coconut milk for the liquid (from a can) and topped with coconut butter. I loved reading the suggestion of diluting maple syrup with coconut oil, the kids didn’t notice or care and I cringed a lot less than when they use pure maple syrup. Mom win!
★★★★★
do you need to use banana or banana substitute for this recipe to work??
Hi Sarah! I haven’t tested this recipe with another fruit, but if you do let me know how it turns out!
We just tried this recipe this morning and they were yummy. The slight banana flavour is nice and I didn’t notice a chickpea flavour at all. Not as fluffy as traditional pancakes, but the family enjoyed them and asked to make them again. Froze the extra pancakes, which I’ll put in the toaster to warm them up. thanks for this.
★★★★
Can I leave out the egg or substitute with something else please?
You could use a flax or chia egg.
I just wanted to say how good this recipe is! The colour was really beautiful with the yellow of the chickpea, banana and yolk! And the crunchy texture outside but soft on inside. Was sweet enough with the banana on its own. Thanks so much
Wondering if these can be baked instead of fried
I’m not sure – I’ve never tried it. Pancake batter is usually too wet for baking, but you could try pouring the batter into a larger cake pan or glass dish and then slice it afterward. Let me know if you try baking them if they turn out!
Can you substitute the egg in this recipe? I’ve made this recipe before but doing an elimination diet, so no eggs allowed. Thanks!
You can try these with chia eggs or flax eggs.
Can I leave out the arrowroot starch or sub something more common for it?
★★★★
You could try tapioca starch or sub with more chickpea flour.
Can I use almond or cashew milk instead of coconut
Absolutely!
Can you make this without eggs?
Hi Michelle! Yes, you can sub in flax eggs or chia eggs.
You lambasted aquafaba so thoroughly, citing the detriments of beans and their “several anti-nutrients and other compounds that can negatively affect us”, I’m surprised to discover this post.
Thankyou, they were delicious!! My daughter is on a no gluten, dairy or sugar diet at the moment, and she loved them!
I’ve just made these with flax egg, and added in chopped dates and some coconut sugar for added flavour as in its own the chickpea flour batter was pretty overpowering. The final pancakes were really tasty, I served with strawberries
These are fantastic! I didn’t even use the starch because I didn’t have any. Thank-you Meghan! :)