6-Ingredient Banana Chickpea Bars are vegan, grain-free, so easy to make, and make for a healthy snack! With no added sugar, these amazing chickpea bars are sweetened with ripe bananas!
If you’ve been around The Roasted Root for a while, you know treats made with beans are a major to do around here.
My Double Chocolate Black Bean Brownies and my Dark Chocolate Chickpea Brownies have been a favorite for years!
In fact, we also went through a Chickpea Banana Muffins phase and had a sultry moment with Black Bean Banana Bread.
Well, now we’re re-visiting the bean based dessert with these 6-Ingredient Banana Chickpea Bars.
If you enjoy bananas, peanut butter, or chocolate, these healthy bean treats are for you!
These bars are modeled off of my 6-Ingredient Peanut Butter Chickpea Cookies, but rather than sweetening the bars with pure maple syrup as I did for the cookies, I used bananas.
Speaking of bananas…
Just like my 4-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Bars, 3-Ingredient Nutty Banana Cookies and my 3-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies, these banana chickpea bars contain no added sugar (except for the sugar present in the chocolate chips) are sweetened with ripe bananas!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients!
Ingredients for Banana Chickpea Bars:
Garbanzo Beans (also known as chickpeas): The star of the show here! Because beans are naturally starchy and soft when blended, they act as a great replacement for flour in cookies, bars, cakes, muffins, or any soft treat.
We just need one can of garbanzo beans, which already comes pre-cooked. If you like soaking and cooking your own beans, you’ll simply need 1 ⅔ cups of cooked beans.
Ripe Bananas: As already mentioned, bananas are the sweetener in these healthy chickpea bars, and they also make up quite a bit of the moisture and the volume. They serve a crucial role! Keep this recipe on file for any time you have overripe bananas with plenty of brown spots.
Peanut Butter or nut butter of choice: Peanut butter or any type of nut or seed butter serves as the glue that holds these beauties together. Not only does it add fat, flavor, and richness, but it also ensures we get a cohesive bar without the need for eggs.
I’ve been using sunflower seed butter in all of my recipes calling for nut or seed butters lately, but rest assured, peanut butter or almond butter works great too. Anything that is thick, sticky and well-stirred will work! Stick with an unsweetened option to keep the bars low in sugar.
Baking Powder: In order to keep the bars held together nicely, we use baking powder as a leavening agent. It also helps the bars rise during the baking process.
Sea Salt: A little kosher salt brings out all the flavors in any recipe. Enhancing the flavors of the peanut butter, banana, and chocolate, sea salt truly brings life to these bars!
Chocolate Chips: The chocolate chips are optional, but I love them for little pockets of goo. They also add richness and sweetness, which makes these bars so addicting!
You can scale the amount you use up or down according to your personal taste, or skip them altogether. To keep the recipe vegan, be sure you’re using vegan chocolate chips.
Vanilla Extract and Ground Cinnamon: While vanilla extract and ground cinnamon are both optional, both add depth of flavor to the bars. You can add either, both, or none! I love the warmth both of them bring.
What Is the Texture of Chickpea Bars Like?:
These chickpea bars have a soft texture, similar to a cross between fudge and cake. In essence, they have a fudgy cake-like texture 😉
The way I see it, these healthy dessert bars are ideal for those who are looking to keep sugar intake low while still honoring the sweet tooth.
They are an amazing project for kids and are also a nice healthy snack for school lunches, or road trips.
Let’s make them!
How to Make Banana Chickpea Bars:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.
Open the can of garbanzo beans and strain it into a colander. Use a paper towel to pat the garbanzo beans dry. They don’t have to be perfectly dry, but try to remove some moisture.
Add all of the ingredients for the chickpea bars to a food processor and process until a smooth batter forms.
Stir in the chocolate chips until well-incorporated into the batter.
Transfer the chickpea mixture to the parchment-lined cake pan and smooth it into an even layer.
Bake the chickpea bars on the center rack of the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until they are golden-brown.
Remove the bars from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Store any leftover chickpea bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
These bars freeze very well! Simply slice them into individual portions and store them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. You can simply microwave one for 20 to 30 seconds any time you’re craving a treat.
More Banana-Sweetened Recipes:
- Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal
- 4-Ingredient Flourless Healthy Brownies
- Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal Cups
- 4-Ingredient Healthy Samoa Cookies
- Paleo Carrot Cake Banana Bread
Enjoy these healthy chickpea bars!
6-Ingredient Banana Chickpea Bars
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana 3 bananas
- ⅔ cup creamy peanut butter*
- ½ tsp vanilla extract optional
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon optional
- Pinch sea salt
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.
- Open the can of garbanzo beans and strain it into a colander. Use a paper towel to pat the garbanzo beans dry. They don’t have to be perfectly dry, but try to remove some moisture.
- Add all of the ingredients for the chickpea bars to a food processor and process until a smooth batter forms.
- Stir in the chocolate chips until well-incorporated into the batter.
- Transfer the chickpea mixture to the parchment-lined cake pan and smooth it into an even layer.
- Bake the chickpea bars on the center rack of the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until they are golden-brown. Remove the bars from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Why do the Banana chick pea bars have 9 grams of TRANS FAT? Is that a typo? That would put them in an incredibly unhealthy category despite being GF & low sugar.
Hi Katie!
My apologies – it was a typo – The bars contain 9 grams of total fat. 3 saturated, 3 unsaturated, and 1 polyunsaturated. Hope that helps! 😀 xo
Can I use a hand held mixer? I don’t have a food processor.
Hi Christine!
The chickpeas need to be blended, so the next best option is to use a blender if you have one 😉
What are your thoughts on subbing chickpea flour?
Hi Lauren!
I’ve never tried it, so I’m not sure how much you would use. I assume the cookies can be made using chickpea flour, I’m just not sure how much. If you try it, let me know how much you use! xo