Flourless Raspberry Chickpea Cake Recipe

Looking for cooked or canned chickpea recipes that isn't hummus? This gluten-free Raspberry Cake is made with chickpeas, oats and CREAM CHEESE—the secret ingredient that makes the cake extra soft and tender 🙂

I love baking with beans. Beans are packed with fiber and essential nutrients such as folate, iron and phosphorous. They're creamy and hearty, nutritious and filling.

They're also incredibly versatile ingredients.

Even in cake.

I can't explain why exactly beans and desserts go so well together, only that that I grew up eating and loving sweetened beans all my life.

It's also probably because I'm Korean. Many East Asian desserts like mochi, rice cakes and red bean jelly use beans as the main ingredient, and some of my favorite desserts in the world consist of sweetbreads filled with sweetened adzuki (red bean) paste, yokan/bean jelly, cookies made with pureed white beans, and even shaved ice served with sweetened beans.

My favorite Japanese / Korean desserts that use sweetened beans (below):

So trust me when I say, that bean and desserts DO go together.

And you never know. If you end up falling in love with bean desserts, just think of how many more new desserts you can try!

About the ingredients you'll need to make this bean cake:

Chickpeas (aka Garbanzo Beans) - Rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals such as folate, iron, phosphorous, chickpeas have a satisfying nutty flavor and great additions to a healthy diet. Research shows that chickpeas have been linked to preventing the development of diabetes and heart diseases. It also has a beneficial effect on your gut flora due to its soluble fiber raffinose. In my recipes, you can use either canned chickpeas or chickpeas you’ve cooked yourself.

Oats - Associated with heart health, lowered cholesterol, blood sugar, obesity and digestive health, oats can be cooked like porridge, soaked in yogurt and nutmilk overnight, blended into oat-milk, added to cookies for a great chew, as well as made into pancakes. You’ll definitely see more of this ingredient while browsing through my blog. It acts as a binder for a lot of the veggie-centric dessert recipes I have, while providing the satisfying chew that only oatmeal can provide.

Apple Cider Vinegar - Bright, acidic and apple flavored, I use apple cider vinegar in baking activate baking soda, which is a leavening agent that relies on acidic conditions to produce the rising effect we want to see in our baked goods. If you didn’t have apple cider vinegar you could easily substitute it with a neutral flavored vinegar such as white or rice vinegar. You could also use lemon juice instead. Your pick!

Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins:

• Chocolate Black Bean Cakes: Instead of Chickpeas, use the same amount of black beans. Add 2 Tbsps of cocoa powder.
• Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cakes: Fold in some chocolate chips to the batter
• Matcha Raspberry Cakes: add 2 tsp of matcha

What are some ways you can eat these?

• Plain and warm
• Frosted with my 2-ingredient almond butter frosting
• Frosted with my Healthy Powdered Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

How to Store

Store these cakes covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours. If you need to store them longer, you can place them in the fridge for up to a week or freeze up to 4 months. Defrost at room temperature.

Final Tips

• Use batter right away after prep. They will deflate over time, so I've found that you don’t want the batter sitting out on the counter for too long.
• Baking time (as well as serving size) will vary based on the size of your donut pan, the material (silicone vs metal) of the pan, and how thick you pipe your donuts! Bake the donuts until the color is golden-brown on the top, or until a toothpick comes out clean/dry when poked into the middle.

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