Buckwheat pancakes

March 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm | Tags: , , , | 8 Comments

Sometimes ideas come out of nowhere. For some reason, I had the idea to make buckwheat pancakes. I’m not sure I’ve even had them more than two or three times, but it’s an American southern classic, and I guess the sound of the name just said breakfast to me. So we made buckwheat pancakes.

Buckwheat is not actually related to wheat; in fact, it isn’t even a grain. It plays a role in different cultures around the world, and my favorite use is probably in Japanese soba noodles. It also appears in Breton crepes and polenta variations. Plus, it’s gluten-free.

I happened to have a massive bag of buckwheat flour that I bought at Nitzat Hadovdevan. However, I used some wheat flour in my pancakes as well, since the plant-like buckwheat flavor was a little too intense for me on its own. Admittedly, these pancakes have a somewhat “healthful” taste to them — lots of buckwheat and yogurt, and not so much butter — which may or may not be what you want for breakfast.

Nothing like maple syrup to make things a little less healthful, though.

For 12 pancakes:

1/4 cup butter (plus another ±2 tablespoons for frying the pancakes)
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons light brown sugar (demarara)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup yogurt (my choice: buffalo yogurt)
1/2 cup milk

Melt the butter in a bowl (about 30 seconds on High in the microwave). Add the baking powder, salt and sugar. Add a half-cup of buckwheat; beat in the eggs. Add the second half-cup of buckwheat; mix in the yogurt. Add the white flour; mix in the milk. (The order of the ingredients isn’t that crucial, but it helps to alternate liquids with flour).

Heat a frying pan. Drop a sliver of butter into the pan, so that the bottom of the pan is thinly covered in butter. Pour scoops of batter into the pan — I nicely fit three 1/4-cups of batter into a 26-centimeter pan. Once the pancakes start looking cooked around the edges, and faint bubbles appear on top, flip. Add a bit more butter to the pan. Remove to a plate; I put my plate in the oven at 40-60 degrees Celsius so the pancakes would stay warm.

Repeat with the remainder of the batter. Eat with butter/maple syrup/jam/fruit.


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8 Comments »

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  1. Ah blinis! I know buckwheat pancakes as a Russian scecialty,that has always been enjoyed in Finland as well.My Father used to make them at home in my childhood,but we always had them with salty and savoury toppings, like sour cream and fish roe, for example.

    Comment by Yael — March 1, 2010 #

  2. Hi! I came here following a link on Tapuzina and I’m so glad: I love your kosher recipes! I have a foodblog myself and I also cook kosher food, so I’ll keep in touch and read your recipes in the future!
    Cheers
    Jasmine

    Comment by Jasmine — March 4, 2010 #

  3. The variation with the buffalo yoghurt is interesting. Does it have more fat or is it the taste or is it both that made you choose it?

    Yummy and easy recipe!
    Thx

    Comment by A-Man — March 5, 2010 #

  4. Yael, nice idea, I’ll try that next time.

    Comment by Liz — March 7, 2010 #

  5. Hi Jasmine, thanks, and glad you stopped by!

    Comment by Liz — March 7, 2010 #

  6. Hi A-Man, I generally like buffalo yogurt because I think it has a rich taste but is relatively low-fat. The yogurt I use is 5% fat, for instance, and I consider it an alternative to low-fat sour cream.

    Comment by Liz — March 7, 2010 #

  7. Hi….I am Linda , from Indonesia. I like very much your recipe……but what is the different betwen Wheat and Buckwheat?,,,,in my town there is only wheat call Terigu. color is white.
    Is buckwheat color nearly brown, and rude?… usually we make it for tasteless bread……..May be

    May I put some banana or potato inside?
    Thank you very much for your recipe,I’ll try it

    Shalom……LInda Taway

    Comment by linda — June 15, 2010 #

  8. Hi Linda, wheat and buckwheat are completely different kinds of plants. You might know buckwheat as soba. It’s a little darker than regular wheat. If you can’t get buckwheat/soba, you could substitute with another flour of your choice.

    I encourage you to alter the recipe however you like, with potatoes, banana or anything else :-)

    Cheers,
    Liz

    Comment by Liz — June 15, 2010 #

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