These nutrient-packed vegan buckwheat pancakes are a wholesome and delicious breakfast option that's both gluten-free and easy to make. Made with buckwheat flour, a flax egg and plant-based milk, these pancakes are light, fluffy and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. They're packed with flavour and perfect for pairing with your favourite toppings.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Healthy and nutritious – Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free and packed with fibre, protein and essential nutrients, making these vegan buckwheat pancakes a wholesome choice.
- Easy to make – With simple ingredients and just a few steps, you can whip up a batch of pancakes in no time.
- Fluffy and flavourful – The combination of baking powder, baking soda and lemon juice creates light, airy pancakes despite them being gluten-free.
- Dairy and egg free – These pancakes are not only gluten free, but 100% vegan as well, making them suitable for various dietary needs.
❓What Is Buckwheat Flour?
Despite its name, buckwheat is not related to wheat. It's actually a seed from the rhubarb family, which makes it naturally gluten-free. Buckwheat flour has a rich, earthy flavour and is packed with nutrients like fibre, protein and essential minerals such as magnesium and manganese, making it a great choice for the health conscious. Its dark colour and slightly nutty taste give baked goods a unique flavour and hearty texture.
Tips for Baking with Buckwheat Flour
- Balance the flavour – Buckwheat flour has a strong earthy flavour, so it pairs well with sweeteners like maple syrup or honey and spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. This recipe calls for maple syrup and cinnamon, but you can also use them as a topping as well.
- Don't overmix – Overmixing can make buckwheat-based batters dense. Mix until just combined to keep your pancakes light and fluffy.
- Let the batter rest – Allowing the batter to rest for 5–10 minutes before cooking helps hydrate the flour and improves the texture.
🥣Ingredients You Will Need
- Buckwheat flour – For the fluffiest vegan buckwheat pancakes, choose light buckwheat flour with a soft, fine texture and a pale white-grey colour. Darker buckwheat flours contain more hull pieces which can make your pancakes heavier, denser and too dark.
- Baking powder and baking soda – Act as leavening agents and help to create light, airy pancakes. This is especially important when baking with buckwheat flour, which is naturally denser than other gluten-free flours. Make sure you use gluten-free baking powder if sensitive to gluten.
- Plant-based milk – I used soy milk, but any kind of plant milk will work, such as almond, coconut, hemp or oat milk.
- Lemon juice – Reacts with baking soda for extra fluffiness.
- Maple syrup – You can easily substitute it with a different liquid sweetener as well, such as brown rice syrup, agave syrup or coconut syrup.
- Vanilla extract and cinnamon – For extra flavour that balances out the slight bitterness of buckwheat flour.
- Coconut oil – Optional, but it does provide a softer texture.
📋Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One: Mix plant milk and lemon juice.
In a bowl, whisk together plant milk and lemon juice, and let it sit for a few minutes. This creates vegan buttermilk.
Step Two: Mix dry ingredients.
In another bowl, mix buckwheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
Step Three: Prepare the batter.
Add the maple syrup, vanilla, melted coconut oil and vegan buttermilk from step 1 to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and don’t overmix! If too thick, add a splash of plant milk.
Step Four: Cook the pancakes.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly grease it with coconut oil or spray. Pour ¼ cup batter per pancake. Cook until bubbles appear (about 2-3 minutes), then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
🍓The Best Pancake Toppings
- Liquid sweeteners – You can never go wrong with pure maple syrup, brown rice syrup or even coconut syrup.
- Fresh berries – Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are the best choice.
- Nut butter – Drizzle the stack with almond butter, cashew butter or peanut butter.
- Banana slices – A great combo with fresh blueberries.
- Toasted shredded coconut or nuts – Sliced almonds or roasted hazelnuts add some crunch and extra nutty flavours.
🤷♀️Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes FAQs
You should get about 10 pancakes if using ¼ cup of batter per pancake.
Leftover pancakes will keep in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 5 days
Yes! You can store individually wrapped pancakes in the freezer for up to 2 months in a freezer-safe container or bag. Let them come to room temperature and warm them in the microwave or toaster oven.
Since these are gluten-free buckwheat pancakes, they will have a slightly denser texture than regular pancakes. Buckwheat flour also has a naturally nutty, earthy flavour.
Sure! Fresh or frozen blueberries and dark chocolate chips go particularly well with this recipe.
🥞More Pancake Recipes
Looking for a different pancake recipe? Give these a try:
Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ tablespoon coconut oil, melted (optional, for a softer texture)
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together plant-based milk and lemon juice, and let it sit for a few minutes. This creates vegan buttermilk.
- In another bowl, mix buckwheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
- Add the maple syrup, vanilla, melted coconut oil and vegan buttermilk from step 1 to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and don’t overmix! If too thick, add a splash of plant milk. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly grease it with coconut oil or spray. Pour ¼ cup batter per pancake. Cook until bubbles appear (about 2-3 minutes), then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Serve warm with your favourite toppings.
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