With crisp edges and moist, pillow-soft middles, these gluten-free buckwheat pancakes come together quickly for a cozy breakfast or brunch.
A blend of buckwheat flour and sweet rice flour (or your favorite gluten-free all-purpose blend) builds a lofty, springy texture with just the right amount of toasty buckwheat flavor. Greek yogurt and milk keep the batter tender and moist, while a generous pour of melted butter adds richness in every bite.
Serve them warm with your favorite toppings – I love a handful of fresh berries, a dollop of creamy Greek yogurt, and, of course, plenty of maple syrup.
I got to know buckwheat flour as a kid when my mom would cook up buckwheat pancakes. Did I like these better than the white flour box-mix pancakes my dad would make on camping trips? No, I did not.
I did not appreciate the rich, deep flavor of dark buckwheat flour anymore than I did salads or whole wheat bread. But now that I'm older and (hopefully, a little) wiser, I've come to appreciate buckwheat's big, bold flavor. As a seasoned gluten-free baker, I've baked it into soft buckwheat chocolate chip cookies and shaped it into buttery buckwheat flour scones. Be sure to scope my library of buckwheat flour recipes for more buckwheat love.
Here, buckwheat flour cooks up into pillowy pancakes with golden edges and floofy middles. Like my go-to gluten-free pancakes made with sorghum flour, these pancakes get richness from butter, loft from cultured dairy, and big flavor from buckwheat flour.
PS. Even though it has the word "wheat" in it, buckwheat is gluten-free! Just be sure to use flour made in a gluten-free facility if you need to.
Dark Vs. Light Buckwheat Flour - what's the difference?
Growing up in California, I only knew about one type of buckwheat flour. It was charcoal gray and had a rich, bold flavor. Many years later while writing my book on baking with alternative flours, I learned that this is actually dark buckwheat flour. To make it, the grains are left whole, roasted, and ground, which gives the flour a flavor that reminds me of toasted hazelnuts, chocolate, and cinnamon. I absolutely love the bold flavor dark buckwheat flour adds to these pancakes!
While developing this recipes, I ordered some light buckwheat flour from Anthony's to test out. This type of buckwheat flour is lighter in color and looks similar to oat flour. It's more starchy because the outer fibrous bits get polished away before the grains are ground into a flour. The pancakes made with light buckwheat flour tasted more like classic white flour pancakes, and I missed the lush flavor and rich hue of the dark buckwheat flour.
Note that all of these flours are labeled simply "buckwheat flour" just to make things extra confusing!
TL;DR: Use dark buckwheat flour (such as Arrowhead Mills) in these pancakes for that classic buckwheat flavor. But if light buckwheat flour is what you've got, you can use it instead for a more classic pancake. You can nerd out on these and more in my guide to baking with alternative flours.
Flour Power: The Art of the Blend
Now that I've sung the praises of dark buckwheat flour, I have a confession to make – I like to blend it with sweet rice flour to mellow out the flavor and improve the texture. I know, plot twist! The thing is, while testing this recipe I found that pancakes made with 100% buckwheat flour had a slightly mushy texture. Adding sweet rice flour, which is the kind of flour used for making mochi, keeps the texture pleasantly bouncy, and it smooths out the slightly bitter, vegetal notes that buckwheat flour can have when there's too much.
Adding a touch of maple syrup to the batter helps neutralize that bitter buckwheat edge, and the right amount of moisture makes the pancakes cook up light and floofy, never dense, gummy, or heavy like gluten-free pancakes can sometimes be.
But I mean, if you only have buckwheat flour, the pancakes will still be better than no pancakes!
The Method to the Stackness
This recipe makes about ten 3-inch pancakes, or 3 servings. Feel free to double the recipe for moar pancakes!
The batter takes 10 minutes to mix up, and if you have a griddle or multiple skillets you can cook them up in another 10 minutes or so.
Bojon appétit, my sweets! If you make this, I’d love to know. Please leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
20-Minute Buckwheat Pancakes, But Make Them Floofy
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Dry Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (90 g) buckwheat flour (preferably dark buckwheat flour, such as Arrowhead Mills)
- ½ cup (75 g) sweet white rice flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 g) milk or plant milk (I use gluten-free oat milk)
- ¼ cup (57 g) plain Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) maple syrup, plus more for serving
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ghee or neutral high-heat vegetable oil, for cooking
Instructions
Make the Batter
- In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the buckwheat and sweet rice flours with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a measuring pitcher or bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt, egg, and maple syrup.
- Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and quickly stir with a flexible spatula until halfway combined; 8 to 10 strokes.
- Pour in the melted butter and quickly but gently mix until the batter is just combined and no butter or flour streaks remain. Some lumps are ok. Take care not to over-mix the batter or it will become thin and the pancakes will cook up flatter and more tough.
- Set the batter aside for a minute or two to thicken.
Cook
- Meanwhile, preheat a wide skillet or griddle over medium heat. I prefer well-seasoned cast iron or ceramic nonstick. When the pan is hot, lower to medium-low or low.
- Coat the hot pan with a thin layer of ghee or oil. Drop the batter by ¼ - 1/3 cups onto the pan. Cook on the first side until the bottoms are golden, about 2 minutes. Gently flip, taking care not to deflate the pancakes. Cook on the second side until the bottoms are golden, 1-2 more minutes.
- Remove the pancakes to a wire rack. When you’re ready to serve, reheat any cooled pancakes in the hot pan. Alternatively put them in a low oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.
Serve
- Serve the pancakes with your favorite toppings. I like mine piled high with fresh seasonal fruit, a big dollop of Greek yogurt, a sprinkle of hemp seed, and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Storage
- Pancakes can be made ahead and warmed in a hot skillet or toaster oven when ready to serve. They will keep for up to 4 days airtight in the refrigerator. Or freeze them for longer storage.
Notes
- Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes: Gently stir 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter.
- Try my recipe for banana buckwheat pancakes with buttermilk, which use a blend of sweet rice, oat, and buckwheat flours and a hint of freshly grated nutmeg.
- Buckwheat Buttermilk Pancakes: Use 1 cup well-shaken cultured buttermilk in place of the milk and yogurt.
- Dairy-Free: Use plant yogurt, milk, and butter, and cook the pancakes in oil.
- Egg-Free: In place of the egg, use ¼ cup aquafaba (the liquid from canned or jarred chickpeas or white beans) or Just Egg substitute.
- To Freeze Pancakes: I now have a lifetime's supply of these variations in my freezer! Place cooled pancakes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze until firm, 20 minutes or so. Remove from the pan and place in an airtight bag or container. Freeze for up to 1 month.
- To reheat pancakes: I like popping them in a toaster oven set to 350ºF for 5-10 minutes to heat them through. Trust me: I've had *a lot* of practice by now!
Whitney says
This is the best pancake recipe, period. I see no reason to make regular wheat flour ones anymore. I made these as instructed and I was delighted by how insanely fluffy they were. I wasn't in the mood for the yogurt, and I was out of raw almonds (I usually crush a handful with my mortar and pestle) so I used just fruit: strawberries, blueberries, and some canned pineapple I had leftover from something else. There was a real nice pairing between the earthiness of the buckwheat and the unique sweetness of the pineapple. Thanks, Alanna!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, I'm so glad you love these pancakes! It's high praise that you prefer these to wheat flour pancakes, I love to hear it! I've never had buckwheat with pineapple but now I must try that combo, it sounds delicious :)
Kristin Jamieson says
I love this recipe so much! I actually double it and then have them for days to warm up in the toaster!
I make the dairy free version- with coconut yogurt and almond milk. So good!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, so glad you love these pancakes and that the dairy-free subs work well! Thanks so much for the great feedback, friend! <3