Buckwheat trips people up: the name says wheat, but the plant is a relative of rhubarb and the grain is a seed. It is naturally gluten-free, and it brings a nutty, almost malty depth that most gluten-free breakfasts lack. We use organic buckwheat flour from La Minoterie des Anciens, softened with brown rice flour so the pancakes stay light rather than dense.
Prep time: 10 min (plus 15 min rest) | Cook time: 15 min | Makes: about 12 pancakes
Ingredients
- 120 g (1 cup) organic gluten-free buckwheat flour
- 90 g (¾ cup) gluten-free brown rice flour
- 30 g (¼ cup) tapioca starch
- 10 g (2½ tsp) baking powder
- 3 g (½ tsp) fine sea salt
- 25 g (2 tbsp) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 400 ml (1⅔ cups) buttermilk
- 50 g (3½ tbsp) butter, melted, plus more for the pan
- To serve: maple syrup, blueberries
Method
- Whisk the buckwheat flour, rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
- Beat the eggs into the buttermilk, then whisk in the melted butter.
- Pour the wet into the dry and whisk just until combined — a few lumps are fine, over-mixing makes them tough.
- Rest the batter 15 minutes at room temperature. The rice flour needs this time to hydrate; skip it and the pancakes taste faintly gritty.
- Heat a heavy pan or griddle over medium and butter it lightly. Ladle in 60 ml (¼ cup) per pancake.
- Cook 2-3 minutes, until bubbles break across the surface and the edges look set, then flip and cook 1-2 minutes more.
Serve them straight from the pan with plenty of maple syrup. The batter also keeps overnight in the fridge — it thickens, so loosen it with a splash of buttermilk before cooking.
