Buckwheat Pancakes
Delicious buckwheat pancakes made from 100% buckwheat flour. These pancakes are light, fluffy and easy to make! They're gluten free, too.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
Ever tried buckwheat pancakes? Sure, they aren’t the prettiest pancakes around, but they make up for their humble appearance with wonderful flavor and texture. Buckwheat, a gluten-free relative of rhubarb, has a uniquely nutty flavor all its own.
Thanks to the buckwheat flour, these pancakes are naturally gluten free! These pancakes possess a light and airy consistency that quietly surrenders to the pressure of a fork and soaks up maple syrup like a sponge. I just love them.
This recipe was originally adapted from a fun cookbook called Pancakes, by fellow food blogger Adrianna Adarme of A Cozy Kitchen. I visit Adrianna’s blog any time I need some creative recipe inspiration or a laugh, which is often.
It’s been eight years, so I’m revisiting this recipe to update the photos. I also tweaked the recipe a bit to work even better with 100 percent buckwheat flour. I added another egg and a smidge more flour. Hope you’ll give them a try soon!
What is buckwheat flour?
Buckwheat flour is often categorized as a whole grain, but technically, it’s not a grain at all. It’s a pseudocereal like quinoa and amaranth. Buckwheat flour is made from the seeds of buckwheat, a flowering cover crop.
Buckwheat is nutritious, offering a good source of minerals like manganese, copper, magnesium, iron and phosphorus. Food52 says that buckwheat flour offers more protein, dietary fiber and B vitamins than an equal weight of whole wheat flour or oat flour.
Buckwheat flavor has a distinctive earthy flavor that you might recognize from soba noodles, blinis or crêpes. If you enjoy buckwheat, don’t miss my recipes for buckwheat waffles and buckwheat crêpes.
Buckwheat Pancake Tips
For thicker and fluffier pancakes, Adrianna suggests substituting half whole wheat or all-purpose flour for the buckwheat flour. Granted, your pancakes will no longer be gluten free, but the fluffier texture and lighter buckwheat flavor might be perfect for you.
Be sure to properly preheat your cooking surface. It’s ready when a few drops of water sizzle immediately upon impact. Don’t start too soon, or your pancakes won’t brown and will be difficult to turn.
Gently stir the batter before using, every time. Buckwheat flour tends to separate from liquid, so gently stir the batter before each batch to evenly distribute the ingredients.
If you’re cooking on the stovetop, you may need to dial back the heat a bit over time. Your temperature is too high if the pancakes are browning too quickly on the outside before they are done on the inside.
The pancakes are ready to flip when about 1-inch of the perimeter has turned from glossy to matte. Better to be patient than to end up with a doughy mess.
Serving suggestions: Buckwheat pancakes pair well with fresh berries and sliced ripe banana. I love them with a drizzle of maple syrup, of course, and a healthy swipe of peanut butter or almond butter for some additional protein.
Watch How to Make Buckwheat Pancakes
More Gluten-Free Pancakes to Enjoy
- Banana Oat Pancakes
- Blender Oatmeal Pancakes
- Caramelized Peach and Oat Pancakes
- Pumpkin Oat Pancakes
Please let me know how your pancakes turn out in the comments! And check out even more pancake recipes here.
Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes
Buckwheat gives these pancakes incredible flavor. This buckwheat pancake recipe yields deliciously light and thin pancakes. For pancakes that are even lighter in texture and flavor, use half all purpose flour (Adrianna’s suggestion) or whole wheat flour (my default). Recipe yields 12 medium pancakes, or enough for 2 to 4 servings.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour (or ½ cup buckwheat and ½ cup flour of choice)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk, shaken*
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Butter, for the skillet
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour(s), sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a liquid measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- All at once, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter should have some small to medium lumps. Set aside while you warm the skillet or griddle.
- Preheat your skillet or griddle over medium-low heat (if using an electric griddle, preheat it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit). Brush the cooking surface with 1 ½ teaspoons of butter.
- Give the batter a light swirl with a spoon in case the buckwheat is starting to separate from the liquid. Using a ¼-cup measure, scoop the batter onto the warm skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until small bubbles form on the surface of the pancakes (you’ll know it’s ready to flip when about 1 inch of the perimeter is matte instead of glossy), and flip. Cook on the opposite sides for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Transfer the cooked pancakes to a cooling rack, or to a baking sheet in a preheated 200 degree Fahrenheit oven to keep warm.
- Gently stir the batter before using again. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, brushing the skillet with additional butter as needed. Serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Pancakes by Adrianna Adarme of A Cozy Kitchen.
*Make your own buttermilk with dairy-free option: Combine 1 ¼ cups milk of choice (almond, soy, rice, low fat coconut) with 1 tablespoon + ¾ teaspoon vinegar and let it rest for 5 minutes before using.
Make it dairy free: See buttermilk alternative above, and lightly brush the skillet with melted coconut oil instead of butter.
Roasted strawberry topping option: (From original recipe.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, gently toss 1 pint strawberries (hulled and sliced into bite-sized quarters or halves) with 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey. Arrange the strawberries in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring halfway, or long enough for the berry juices to thicken but not burn (watch the edges in particular).
Recipe edits 5/27/21: To make this recipe work even better with 100 percent buckwheat flour, I added an additional tablespoon of buckwheat flour and one additional egg.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I seriously, seriously, seriously want that right now.
Oh, I love pancakes so much! I made a big batch of oat and pecan pancakes just this morning. I like to make a huge amount of pancakes, feed some to my family, then freeze the rest for my weekday breakfasts. I love to eat them with yogurt, honey, and banana slices. Those buckwheat ones are next on my list! :)
Your oat and pecan pancakes sound wonderful! I love freezing pancakes, too. I froze the leftovers of all three batches of buckwheat pancakes. I’ve been enjoying them for breakfast since I got back into town!
Ever since I took my first bite of a buckwheat pancake I could never see pancakes the same way again. They are so delicious and I have them almost every morning. Roasted strawberries and almond butter are a fantastic idea for a topping. Coconut butter tastes amazing as well. I didn’t know buckwheat was a relative to rhubarb. Interesting!
These look so good! It’s been too long since I’ve made roasted strawberries and yours are gorgeous. Beautiful photos!
I’ve never made anything with buckwheat before, and it’s SO silly because I know I would love it! I HAVE to try these!!
I’ve actually never used buckwheat flour, but pancakes look like the perfect to use it. I love the deep color the flour imparts. These sound just delicious, especially with those beautiful strawberries!
Gorgeous photos and beautifully done post. Pancakes are without question an entity unto themselves. I’m sure these are as wonderful tasting as they appear in your pics!
Hi Kate. It’s my first time on your food blog and I love it! What a creative bio you have.:)
Beautiful clean photos! I have a question: have you tried to make your own buckwheat flour by grinding it in a food processor? I’m cheap and wondering if that’s an option.
I’m from Ukraine and was raised on buckwheat. It’s kind of like quinoa nowadays in North America. Was so popular. Many people have no idea how tasty and good for them buckwheat is. It’s nutritional values are even better than quinoa’s. And the taste…Love it!!! It’s so versatile too.
Hi! I’ve never ground my own buckwheat, but the buckwheat flour I have is not toasted or cooked, just ground buckwheat, so I’m sure you could make your own if you don’t have a cheap source to buy from! Happy baking.
These are some seriously gorgeous pancakes!
they look delicious, kate! i’ve never made pancakes with only buckwhear flour, will definitely have to try!
I haven’t had pancakes in forever but I think I just found my Saturday breakfast. Love the roasted strawberries!
I normally make buckwheat crepes rather than pancakes but I feel like I’ve been missing out. These look so delicious!
Yummm these look amazing!
yum yum! Of all the flour experimenting I do, I’ve yet to try buckwheat but that’s about to change.
That shot of cookie is so adorable!!
We are going to have this for dinner! Yum! And love seeing Cookie in the pics. :)
Hope you enjoyed the pancakes, Sheena! Cookie says hi. :)
i agree, buckwheat is a delightful flour, perfect for pancakes! i usually use a combination of almond, oat, and buckwheat for my pancakes, but i will definitely give these 100% buckwheat pancakes a try :)
Looks so good!!
You’ve just reminded me that it’s been WAY too long since I’ve had pancakes! And you’re right, they don’t always look as fluffy and gorgeous as traditional ones, but I don’t care – to me, they’re just as delicious!
I LOVE buckwheat pancakes, and this recipe looks delicious! With roasted strawberries?! Yes please.
These look amazing! I’ve been dying to make buckwheat pancakes (how have I not done this yet?). I will be making these ASAP!
Whoa baby! I seriously want these for dinner right now!
These look so fluffy! Do you make your own buckwheat flour (i.e. grind buckwheat grouts) or do you just buy the flour? I have some ripe fuzzy peaches and I can’t wait to try this with roasted peaches!!
Hey Emily! I bought Bob’s Red Mill buckwheat flour, which is super fine. I heard from another commenter that she grinders her own using buckwheat groats in a coffee grinder. Roasted peaches would be lovely!
Strawberries. Pancakes. Buckwheat. I am SO in for all of this!! Love that first photo!
I don’t think I’ve ever made ALL buckwheat pancakes before but I love that hearty nutty flavor. and yay for Adrianna’s cookbook! I follow her blog as well and can’t wait to get my hands on it!
I love the all buckwheat pancakes! They have so much more flavor than regular ol’ pancakes. I think you’ll love Adrianna’s cookbook, especially since you cook so many veggie burger/latke sorts of things!
Oh my yum! I wish strawberries where in season (and cheaper!) at my side of the world right now! Just a question, do you know of your buckwheat flour is raw or roasted? I usually grind my own buckwheat flour in my coffee drinker using raw buckwheat groats but I accidental bought roasted so was wondering if that’s what I should use!
Hi Mariam! Thanks for commenting. If it’s any consolation on the strawberries, these pancakes are also great with peanut butter or almond butter. I just checked my flour and it doesn’t say it’s made with roasted groats, so I’m guessing it’s raw? Really not sure. I’m glad to know that you can grind your own buckwheat flour in a coffee grinder, though.
The pancakes might not be sexy but they sure look amazing and you can guess, taste amazing too!
For how “unsexy” these look, holy cow are they great! We tried them out this morning and are ABSOLUTELY adding them to the rotation!
Thanks, Larry! I’m really glad to hear that you loved the pancakes!
Buckwheat pancakes are the jam! I’ll have to give this a try.
yay for Adrianna – love pancakes for breakfast and buckwheat is my fave too.
Daaaang. I want these!!!! Pleeeeeeease.
I’ll have to make pancakes for girls night soon!
I just made these with blue cornmeal instead of buckwheat on accident while cooking with my two children. I only realized what had happened after I ate a few. Using 1 cup blue cornmeal actually made fantastic pancakes! Next time, I’ll taste my bulk goods before using and give the buckwheat a shot.
Well, good to know! Cornmeal would be a great sub, now that I think about it. I’ll have to try that next.
Hi Kate :-)
I just made your pancakes and the strawberry “sauce” and it turned out fantastically!
I used cashew milk with lemon instead of the buttermilk, a cornmeal-and-carob-bean-gum egg and one half wheat flour / one half buckwheat flour.
I never before had a recipe that produced so easily flippable and bakeable pancakes! They were so easy to handle, really beautiful, very fluffy and they didn’t even stick together after being stacked :-)
I’m not sure whether I am that much into the buckwheat taste in combination with the sweet sauce, but in any case I was totally happy with the way your recipe turned out.
Thank you for sharing this :-)
Thank you, Inés! I’m so glad the pancakes turned out well for you. If you don’t love the strawberries with the buckwheat, the strawberries would be fantastic with ice cream or yogurt.
Hello Kate,
Yes, your srawberries are definitely heavenly! I made them again today with another pancake variation, as I reveived quite a lot of strawberries (for just one person at least) as a gift this week. They were as good as the last time :-) I only knew stovetop-made sauce before, but this is also a lot easier!
I love buckweat, but never before thought to use it for a dessert
just made these, lovely, put mixed frozen berries with lemon juice in a pan and warmed them up instead and added a spoonful of yoghurt for serving, would add a few leaves of mint next time, great pancakes thank you
Thanks, Sasha! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pancakes. Yours sound terrific.
Kate, this recipe is great. The pancakes are very light and fluffy. Made for a very enjoyable breakfast with yoghurt, banana and maple syrup!
Thanks for sharing.
Erica
Hi Kate! I just wanted to let you know that my family made these pancakes about a week ago and they are so scrumptious! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and you inspired me to create my own food blog. I just want to say thanks. So, thank you so much for your inspiration. Have a lovely day. (:
I made these pancakes with coconut milk and lemon for the liquid, and half rice flour and half buckwheat flour (to keep them truly gluten free) and they were delicious! I served them with real maple syrup and a few blueberries (since that’s what I had on hand…no strawberries). It was so so yummy! I was so glad I found your blog and the recipe makes nice fluffy buckwheat pancakes. I will be enjoying this one again! :P
Thank you for commenting, Patti! I’m delighted that you enjoyed the pancakes. This weekend, I made Simply Recipes’ buckwheat waffles, which are delicious! You might like that recipe, too.
It occurred to me tonight that a buckwheat pancake without sugar would make an awesome thin burger bun — yes!!!! I was right. Great recipe! Omitted the sugar and used a little olive oil in the batter. They came out amazing and now I can have a hamburger!!! I miss the bum part ao much!!!! Thanks!
Heidi, I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner. Your buckwheat buns are such a great idea! I love that you turned a sweet recipe into something savory and totally different.
Heidi, I love this idea! We are always searching for a good bun! How did you cook them, griddle, baking sheet in the oven maybe? Thanks! Jen (you can also email me incase I never see the response here Mamajenbarletta@yahoo.com)
thanks for posting this recipe, i had the midnught munchies and had a 3 little ones and saved the rest for brekkie tommorow. :)
You’re welcome, Ruby. I’m glad you enjoyed the pancakes!
Thank you for posting this delicious recipe! I love buckwheat, but usually end up with drier baked goods when I sub it in. The buttermilk here sounds like the perfect remedy. I know what I am trying for breakfast this weekend!
Hope you love the pancakes, Caroline!
Very nice. Will make these again! thank you!
My kids just told me these were the best pancakes I’ve ever made. I often suck at it, so it’s high praise! I added a banana to the mix- so yummy! Thank you!
That’s great news! Thank you for commenting, Susan!
Yumm! Just tried these this morning after coming across your blog and they are delicious! We had them with almond butter, agave nectar and raspberries and blueberries. Just delicious!
Thank you, Loraine! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pancakes. Hope you enjoy my other recipes, too!
Made these this morning with half buckwheat and half oat flour to keep them GF – they were ah-mazing! Thanks for the delicious recipe!! :D
Great idea, Alicia! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pancakes. Thank you for commenting.
I use this recipe weekly. Thanks!
Glad to hear it, June! Thanks for commenting!
Kate and Cookie– Just beginning to drop wheat out of my diet for health reasons and was missing pancakes something awful. Your recipe for buckwheat pancakes is so delicious. I went traditional with butter and real maple syrup on top and feel that the taste was off the charts better than the pancakes I used to eat. Will definitely come back to your site for more inspiration!
Linda, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the buckwheat pancakes. You might also enjoy the banana oat and pumpkin oat pancakes!
I tried this recipe, but added a bit of rice and tapioca flour to the buckwheat, and they came out so fluffy! Thank you for this recipe!
You’re welcome, Olivia! Glad you enjoyed the pancakes!
Made these this morning. They were soooo good. I’ve tried several buckwheat recipes, and let me tell you, this is the best!! They were surprisingly fluffier than expected. I did add cinnamon and ginger and subbed in Stevia instead of sugar. So excited to have a yummy pancake recipe for our gluten free family. Thanks!
Linda, I’m so happy you enjoyed the pancakes! Thank you!
Hi Kate,
Thanks so much for this recipe. My oldest daughter has been having a lot of difficulty with allergies, and I’ve been struggling to find grains and seeds that agree with her. This was a winner both taste-wise and allergy-wise, so thank you! I’ve never been disappointed by a recipe of yours. :-)
Lauren, thank you! I’m so glad your daughter can enjoy these pancakes. They just might be my favorite pancakes!
These look amazing! Would they work with a milk substitute such as almond milk?
Yes, I believe so! You will need to turn it into “buttermilk” by adding an acid. See my note with the asterisk for details.