Vegan Fluffy Buttermilk Buckwheat Pancakes
Buckwheat pancakes are not the prettiest of pancakes but they sure are delicious! I have found that many times in restaurants they tend to be on the heavy side- which is not my preference! I don’t like pancakes that hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. These “buttermilk” pancakes are really light, airy and fluffy! They have the perfect hearty flavor & are healthy thanks to the buckwheat flour. I highly recommend giving them a try. :) They are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free & vegan. I even included tips for making them sugar free.
Recipe Tips & Subs
To make the pancakes Sugar Free:
Swap in your favorite granulated sugar free sweetener in the same quantity!
Using other gluten free all purpose flour blends:
One of my pet peeves is seeing that other gluten free blogs will call for “gluten free flour blend” and not give you a specific one or make it seem as though you wont ever run into issues.
There’s this belief that they can all be exchanged for the same results and it couldn’t be further from the truth. Its the LITTLE details that make all the difference.
The bad news is that there isn’t truly a gluten free measure for measure flour or cup for cup. Its a marketing ploy. There are blends that work decent in place but never exactly. Each and every blend is totally different. For example I LOVE better batter - but in this recipe you would end up with a crazy thick pancake batter and extremely gummy pancakes. It has too much xanthan gum for this recipe.
If I perfect a recipe for you- then its very important to me that it turns out exactly the same in your kitchen. This is why Ive moved over to mostly exclusively using gram measurements too.
So of course you are always welcome to experiment. But please keep in mind that there are no guarantees. Any change means the recipe will change. Please do try to get your hands on some King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour. You’ll end up using the entire bag just to make these pancakes on repeat. I have done the work for you here- make the recipe exactly as I have posted and you’ll have the best pancakes of your life!
You may notice these pancakes don’t have any fat/oil in them.
That is intentional. Without the eggs, fat just throws off the texture and makes them gummy. The oil in the pan is just enough to give them a delicious crisp crust as all good pancakes should have!
Recipe Quantity
This recipe as written makes a small(ish) batch. If you use a 1/4 cup as your batter scooper to pour it onto the griddle then you’ll end up with exactly 9 pancakes. If you use a 1/2 cup then you’ll end up with 4-5 pancakes.
Feel free to use the recipe adjustment tool to change the quantity! The great thing about gram measurements is that its really simple to double or triple a recipe and have the recipe turn out exactly as its supposed to :).
Ingredients :
Milk
You can use just about any kind of milk here except for canned coconut milk. I would save any boxed dairy free milk will work! Of course too- if dairy isn’t an issue regular milk can be used too! Whole milk, 2% or low fat.
Double Acting Baking Powder: They don't all taste the same. Some have a stronger flavor that others. I ONLY use bobs red mill at this point as I can be used in a larger quantity without an after taste. This recipe calls for a WHOLE tbsp. (I promise its not a typo!) You can get away with using that amount and having delicious pancakes IF its bobs red mill brand. This is also the secret to how insanely fluffy they are. If you can get your hands on this brand I would probably scale back the amount for the sake of the flavor to 1 1/2-2 Tsp.
King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour
This flour is wonderful for muffins, scones, pancakes and cookies! Mixed with a little expandex it does some wonderful things! Its really affordable and can be found in most grocery stores these days. I normally just order it on amazon.
Expandex
These muffins are special because of the magic of expandex. It is a modified form of tapioca starch that was formulated to improve gluten free baking. The word Modified tends to worry people- so let me explain further. Essentially they studied tapioca and removed portions of it leaving only the parts that would allow for it to cause amazing elasticity (aka its name) in gluten free recipes. This flour allows me to get an incredible rise with everything I use it in. It traps the air bubbles in the dough just like regular flour with gluten does! Its honestly incredible. If you eat any processed or store bought foods you have eaten many forms of modified starch. Its nothing new- its just semi new to the home baker. Its non gmo and I typically get it from the brand Judee’s on amazon. Under no conditions can you sub it out for another regular starch.
Outside of the US there is a product called Ultratex 3 I have not worked with it but from what I understand its comparable! I would use that in the exact same quantity as the expandex amount that I call for.
Fluffy Buttermilk Buckwheat Pancakes (Gluten Free & Vegan)
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Double Acting Baking Powder: They don't all taste the same. Some have a stronger flavor that others. I ONLY use bobs red mill at this point as I can be used in a larger quantity without an after taste. This recipe calls for a WHOLE tbsp. (I promise its not a typo!) You can get away with using that amount and having delicious pancakes IF its bobs red mill brand. This is also the secret to how insanely fluffy they are. If you can get your hands on this brand I would probably scale back the amount for the sake of the flavor to 1 1/2-2 Tsp.
Getting the skillets temperature just right really makes or breaks a pancake. If the skillet isn't hot enough then your pancakes wont puff up as much as they should. If the skillet is too hot- they burn before cooking through. I have found the best way to do it- is to start warming your pan up right before you mix up the batter. I place a dry cast iron skillet and set my knob to about 2 (out of 10) and let it SLOWLY heat to the perfect temperature. Then I add my butter or cooking oil to the skillet just before I start cooking the pancakes.
Your skillet is the perfect temperature if it takes just about 60-70 seconds per side of pancake. If they take longer than that- turn up your heat a tiny bit. If they burn in that time you need to lower your heat. Test out cooking 1-2 smaller ones before making the rest to make sure your heat is just right!