Weekends are the best time I get to catch up on podcasts I subscribe to . During the week for whatever reason I seem to have missed out on so many interesting podcasts. So this Sunday morning, I was listening to the latest episode “Buckwheat” on Spilled Milk . I must say besides enjoying the usual banter of Mathew and Molly on Spilled Milk, I also learnt a few interesting facts on Buckwheat that I was totally unaware of – For instance, I knew Buckwheat is not part of the wheat family and is a gluten free option to include in your diet. What I did not know is that it belongs to the Rhubarb family. There was some interesting talk on its origins and a few recipes that kept be hooked on to their talk till the end. I must say I use Soba Noodles a lot – just love their taste and the fact that they are so thin and comparatively light on the stomach. I have never tried Kasha though. In my previous posts you must have read that I have attempted to make Cookies and Apple Spice Muffins using Buckwheat flour that both turned out delicious.
And now regarding Pancakes – I have tried my hand at Buckwheat Pancakes a while ago when I failed miserably. I know why now – I had made a roast pumpkin puree and mixed it in 100% buckwheat flour that resulted in a thick sticky mess. Also not adding the correct quantity of butter milk, baking powder and egg also added to the woeful pancake batter. Hence when I heard about a successful attempt at buckwheat pancakes on Spilled Milk, I decided to try it, with a few modifications – I used equal parts of wholemeal flour and buckwheat flour, one spoon of raw honey in the pancake batter instead of sugar (I just like a hint of sweetness in my pancake batter so 1 spoon is more than enough here), 1 teaspoon of baking powder and sprinkled some cinnamon powder. So my ingredient list looked something like this:
Makes about 6 big ones seen below:
Equal parts of wholemeal flour and buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 free range egg whisked
225 ml buttermilk*
Butter to grease the pan
Cut fruits to serve – mixture of strawberries , blueberries, bananas, kiwis and dried apricots
*I used 225 ml low fat milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice squeezed in it. Within 5 minutes you see the milk curdle and good home made buttermilk. You know the drill of making homemade butter milk 🙂
Mix in the dry ingredients to form a homogeneous mixture and then add in the wet ingredients mix. Whisk the batter to form a consistent texture. Heat a non stick pan and grease it with a little butter. Add in a scoop of the batter on the heated pan and try to form a circle. I suck at the shape of my pancakes – I Never get the size right and I don’t think they form a good circular shape 🙂 When you see bubbles starting to form and the bottom layer is pretty cooked, it is time to flip them over. Do be careful while flipping – the batter is super thick and can form a mess if not done quickly . Having a good non stick pan resulted in adding super little butter so I have to give credit to my amazing non stick pan that was actually gifted by Dad 🙂
Once cooked serve with lots of fruit and drizzle some honey if you want it sweeter. I know most people love lots of butter on their pancakes, but I just like mine with fruit and some honey to create the moist effect. But do add butter or whatever toppings you enjoy with your pancakes 🙂
These tasted super awesome. I love the nuttiness of buckwheat ingrained in the fluffy pancakes with the hint of sweetness from the drizzle of honey. This along with the soft bananas, chewy dried apricot pieces and tart and sweet berries tasted more than delicious. I know many of you may find the dark brown colour of the pancakes far from appealing – But that is the nature of buckwheat flour , giving such an intense dark colour to the food and over shadowing all the other ingredients. However these pancakes were just so fresh and tasty (and must I add healthy) that this more than compensated for their appearance. So heres Happy Pancake Making to all of you trying this out 🙂
