Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

A quick and easy buckwheat pancake recipe made with a blend of all purpose flour and buckwheat flour that creates a delicious nutty, fluffy pancakes. Perfect to whip up quickly on the weekend and serve with maple syrup or a quick fruit sauce!

So here’s the deal, I’m not a gluten free or specialty recipe creator. I have big respect for my fellow bloggers who are, but it’s just not my focus. I love ALL foods and ingredients, gluten and not. Which is why despite the fact that wheat flours are part of my pantry, I get really excited when I walk down the aisles and see all these new specialty products coming out inspired by the diet restrictions so many people face nowadays. There are SO MANY flours to play with!

I’ve started the habit of just picking one, and using it, tasting it, learning it, and it’s yielded some fun experiments we’ve loved eating. This particular one, a Buckwheat Pancake Recipe, is possibly my husbands new favorite pancake recipe! It’s a blend of AP and buckwheat flours mixed with other easy to find ingredients, and it yields a nutty, mildly sweet pancake with a much more complex flavor than traditional ones. But don’t worry, if you are in the GF club, you can easily sub a GF flour blend for AP with no issues.

Ingredients

It really is a simple batter, just white flour, buckwheat flour, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and sugar. All things I’d venture to guess we have in our pantries, aside from perhaps the buckwheat flour!

What is buckwheat?

Despite the name, buckwheat isn’t actually part of the wheat family. It’s a whole grain that actually comes from the same family as rhubarb. Despite it’s newness to me, it’s a hardy grain that’s been around for a long time thanks to it’s high tolerance for for poor growing conditions and the fast maturing period of only 2 months.

It can be purchased in groat form, or already ground into flour, and is a staple food in many parts of the world. It’s used in tons of ways, from blini’s in Russia, to crepes in Brittany, and perhaps the most well known (at least to me) as the key ingredient to Japanese soba noodles.

Here in the US, a well loved use for the nutty grain is of course, buckwheat flour pancakes!

Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

I’ll admit, pancakes aren’t really my favorite thing, I’m more a french toast or waffle gal. But my husband loves pancakes, and since these buckwheat flour pancakes are so easy to put together, I don’t mind! I can even cook bacon and eggs while I’m doing it!

Step 1 – Measure your Ingredients

Combine all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. That’s both flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder. As ALWAYS I encourage you to get a kitchen scale whenever you’re making a recipe that requires accurate measurement. My secret to pancakes is yet another ratio, 4 parts flour, 4 parts liquid, 2 parts eggs, 1 part butter. This is MUCH easier to alter and customize when using weight measurements.

For example, 1 cup of AP flour is usually around 5 ounces, (if spooned and leveled perfectly and you have accurate measuring cups), but it can vary between 4 to 6 or even more! You can see how this would affect the thickness and success of your batter. Make the ten dollar investment, I think you’ll be shocked how much you use it.

In a separate bowl, melt your butter. Measure out your milk and to it add your eggs and vanilla. Whisk together.

Step 2 – Get your Pan Ready, and Mix!

Get a nice nonstick frying pan or griddle over medium heat. You want the pan to be ready and waiting for you when your batter is together.

Pour your melted butter into the flour then add in the milk mixture. Stir to combine. The key with any pancakes is to not overmix them. I find about 20 to 25 spins around the bowl leaves me with an incorporated batter with no dry spots. You’re looking for the flours to be moist, but a few lumps are okay!

Step 3 – Cook

Now I’ve read and watched many people cook pancakes, and the debate about whether you butter or oil your pan first will be an eternal one I think.

Honestly, it depends on your cook surface! My nonstick pans do not require any more oil or butter to make these pancakes, but your griddle may. If you’re feeling the need, just lightly brush the pan with oil or melted butter. You don’t want the cakes pooling in the fat, just enough to keep it from sticking.

Then simply scoop batter into the pans and allow to spread, and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes per side. I used a 1/4 cup measuring spoon but you can size them however you like. Flip when bubbles appear on the first side, and cook until golden brown.

You can keep pancakes warm in an oven preheated to low, like 225, spread out on a rack over a baking sheet to prevent them steaming each other.

Step 4 (not really a step) – Enjoy!!

All that’s left? To eat! Simple right? Serve them warm with a pat of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup and you’ll be tucking into a satisfying breakfast. Personally, I like these pancakes with a nice Blueberry Compote and a warm cup of coffee made with my own Homemade Coffee Creamer.

Questions

Can I use all buckwheat flour instead of a mixture?

I tried this, and maybe someone out there will disagree but I found it to be far too gritty and dense for my tastes. Buckwheat flour does have a different texture than your standard wheat flours, so using a blend gives you all the flavor without the gritty texture.

In any buckwheat flour baking, I’ve found that a 1 part buckwheat to every 3 parts other flour is ideal.

Can I use a different gluten free flour instead of All Purpose flour?

Yes! Buckwheat flour is naturally gluten free, and you can easily substitute a gluten free baking blend for all purpose. Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour is a good option.

What about making them dairy free?

I eat dairy free a lot now, thanks to my nursing sons milk sensitivity. I found that coconut milk (the kind from the beverage section, not from a can!) worked beautifully. I’ve even used the So Delicious brand of French Vanilla coconut creamer and it was great, I could even leave out the vanilla.

Can these pancakes be reheated?

Absolutely! While all pancakes are best eaten straight away, if you have leftovers, simply store in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat by gently toasting in oven or in a pan. I don’t use the microwave because it really messes with texture.

Now I have all this buckwheat flour, how do I store it?

One of the important things about buckwheat flour is that it can go rancid quickly due to it’s high oil content. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge, or even the freezer for the longest shelf life.

Now that you do have buckwheat flour, I hope you enjoy making this buckwheat pancake recipe again and again. It doesn’t get much easier and it’s really a unique flavor I’m sure you’re going to love and crave just like we do now. In fact, here are a few more recipes just in case you want to try some other ways bloggers have maximized that flavor:

• Buckwheat and Rosemary Crackers from Hana at Nirvana Cakery
• Buckwheat Banana Bread (think naan bread)
• Guinness Buckwheat Bread from Eileen at Baking Sense

Whatever you choose, dozens of this buckwheat pancake recipe, or to test it out in a lot of ways like myself, I hope you find you love buckwheat too, and as always, Happy Eating!

Don’t forget to check out these other breakfast recipes!

• Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
• Sheet pan pancakes
• Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins
• Blackberry Coffee Cake
• Cinnamon Granola