Our family loves this easy buckwheat pancake recipe! Thanks to buckwheat flour, these delicious pancakes are fluffy, light, and tender, with a delicate, nutty taste. You’ll love them.
Our family loves these homemade buckwheat pancakes! They’ve recently turned into a weekend tradition. I love serving them with berries, sliced banana, and maple syrup. My son loves these with apple butter and whipped cream.
Making buckwheat pancakes is just as simple as making traditional pancakes. The flour blend recommended in our recipe makes fluffy and moist pancakes with a delicate, nutty flavor. My family truly loves these pancakes! I also love that this buckwheat pancake recipe is easily made gluten-free or vegan (tips for this are below!).
Key Ingredients
- Buckwheat Flour: Buckwheat is a plant that produces grain-like seeds. These seeds are ground into a gluten-free flour with a rich, nutty flavor and dark color. I use Bob’s Red Mill buckwheat flour in the video.
- Flour (optional): Buckwheat is delicious but can be a bit heavy, so I love blending it with all-purpose flour or, for gluten-free pancakes, a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. I do the same when making whole wheat pancakes (in that recipe, I combine whole wheat flour and regular flour to keep the pancakes super fluffy).
- Milk and Lemon Juice: For tasty, fluffy pancakes, I make my DIY buttermilk mixture with milk and lemon juice (you can use non-dairy milk). You can also substitute with real buttermilk, which is delightful.
- Butter, Sugar, and Vanilla: These add delicious flavor to our pancakes. You can use plant-based butter if you are making vegan pancakes. I also love cooking my pancakes in melted butter and love the extra flavor and crispy edges you get. You can use a quality nonstick skillet without butter, and your pancakes will still flip nicely (although, you may want to consider a quick brush of olive oil).
- Egg: One egg adds flavor and structure, so I love adding it. Replace it with a flax egg for vegan pancakes.
- Baking Soda: Reacts with the milk and lemon juice to help our pancakes rise. It makes them so fluffy!
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
More Ways to Use Buckwheat Flour
Buckwheat flour is versatile. You can often substitute it for all-purpose or whole-wheat flour in your favorite recipes. I’ve found the best success when replacing a portion of the flour called for in recipes with buckwheat flour (like I do in this buckwheat pancake recipe).
Use in muffins. Buckwheat flour adds a delicate nutty flavor to muffins. Substitute 25% of the all-purpose flour called for in this blueberry muffin recipe or strawberry muffin recipe.
Use in banana bread. I love it with bananas and have successfully replaced up to 50% of the flour in our banana bread recipe with buckwheat flour. The bread will be moist, and the nuttiness from the buckwheat complements the banana nicely. I think it would be amazing in these banana muffins with chocolate chips.
Or, make more pancakes! Try substituting buckwheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour in our blueberry pancakes or these pumpkin pancakes.
Fluffy Buckwheat Pancakes
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These buckwheat pancakes are light and fluffy and made entirely from scratch. They’re not too sweet and are scented with vanilla, making them extra delicious. I highly recommend our blend of buckwheat flour and all-purpose flour (or GF all-purpose flour). The blend will make fluffier, more tender pancakes.
As the pancake batter sits, the buckwheat flour absorbs the moisture in the batter, so you might notice that it gets a bit thicker than you’d like to pour into your skillet. If this happens to you, add a tablespoon (or more) of milk to thin it out again.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 cup (120g) buckwheat flour
1/2 cup (65g) all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
1 ¼ cups (295ml) milk, dairy or non-dairy
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or white vinegar
4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1Combine the milk and lemon juice, then set aside for five minutes. This mixture mimics buttermilk, which makes the pancakes fluffy when mixed with the baking soda later in the recipe.
2Meanwhile, whisk the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3Whisk the egg and vanilla into the milk mixture (it will be thicker now).
4Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the milk mixture and melted butter into the well and use a fork to stir until you no longer see clumps of flour. It is okay if the batter has a few small lumps.
5Heat a large skillet (or griddle) over medium heat. The pan is ready if a little water splatters onto the surface, dancing around the pan and eventually evaporating.
6Lightly brush the skillet with melted butter. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon batter onto the skillet. Gently spread the batter into a 4-inch circle.
7When the edges look dry, and bubbles start to appear and pop on the top surface of the pancake, turn over, about 2 minutes.
8Once flipped, cook another 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked in the middle.
9Serve immediately with warm syrup, butter, and your favorite pancake toppings.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Buckwheat pancakes last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze them. Line them up on a baking sheet for about 30 minutes. Then, put them in a freezer bag with parchment paper between each pancake to prevent sticking. They’ll keep for up to 2 months.
- Reheating: To reheat buckwheat pancakes, place them on a microwave-safe plate and cook for 20 seconds per pancake (add more time for multiple pancakes). Alternatively, wrap them in foil and bake them in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes.
- Gluten-free buckwheat pancakes: Swap the all-purpose flour for your favorite gluten-free flour blend, or use 100% buckwheat flour (1 ½ cups (180g). 100% buckwheat flour pancakes are more dry and a bit more dense.
- Vegan pancakes: Use non-dairy milk, plant-based butter, and one homemade flax egg.
- Batter too thick: Buckwheat pancake batter becomes thicker as it sits. If it’s too thick, stir in an extra splash of milk to thin it out.
- Measuring your flour: Fluff the flour in its container, then gently scoop it into your measuring cup until slightly mounded. Level off the top with a knife for accurate measuring. Use a scale and measure the flour by weight (in grams) for even more accuracy.
- Buttermilk: Substitute 1 ¼ cups (295ml) buttermilk for the milk and lemon juice mixture. If the batter seems too thick, add an extra tablespoon.
- Substitute for baking soda: To use baking powder instead of baking soda, leave out the vinegar or lemon juice called for in the recipe and use one tablespoon of baking powder.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
I tried it with 1/2 sourdough and 1/2 buckwheat, added blueberries to mix, delicious! Real maple syrup
I was going to throw away my buckwheat flour after making a pancake recipe with straight buckwheat flour, but I hate wasting food. I followed your step by step recipe and the pancakes were super delicious. Thanks to you both, I have a whole new appreciation for buckwheat pancakes.
You are so welcome! Thank you for coming back to leave such a kind review 🙂
This recipe turned out great! I added some bacon fat to the cast iron pan along with the butter, and let it get that crispy lacing around the edges. Great crunch! Made a little blueberry compote to top them off. Chef’s Kiss!!
Excellent recipe! this one is a keeper.
Excellent recipe! I’ve tried many buckwheat pancake recipes and each time it’s a fail. This recipe here turned out excellent, and it was easy to put together. This one is a keeper.
The adjoining county to mine is the buckwheat center of our state. This recipe is the best that I have tried and the pancakes turned out exactly as promised. I followed it to the t and used all purpose flour with homegrown and milled buckwheat, topped with local maple syrup. I can’t wait to make these pancakes again. Thanks!
That’s wonderful, Loreta! Thank you for coming back and letting us know.
My first time trying buckwheat pancakes and these were perfect! Crisp on the outside and super fluffy on the inside. I didn’t even end up putting any toppings on them, they were delicious plain. Easy to make too. (I used coconut oil in the pan and coconut milk, the buckwheat flavor was just right.) This is my new go-to breakfast recipe.
So happy you gave it a try, Claire!
These pancakes are amazing! Fluffy, light, delicious. I didn’t have enough buckwheat flour and AP flour, so subbed with 1/2 cup of oat flour and cake flour instead of AP + a dash of cinnamon. The dry/wet ratios are perfect for light and crispy pancakes. Thank you! -Pregnant person craving pancakes 🙂
These were great tasting! Gluten-free pancakes are usually gritty and don’t taste very good but these weren’t gritty and I enjoyed eating them. My husband liked them too. Thank you!
These were fantastic yum 😋
Incredible pancake recipe. Some of the best I’ve ever had and I’m not really a pancake fan. So fluffy and light (used almond milk with the lemon juice). The only deviation from recipe was I used 1/2 cup buckwheat mix (to use up) instead of white flour. I hope my next bake turns out just as well when I make it exactly as directed. These are so good, I’m eating them as I review!! Didn’t want to miss giving y’all your kudos.
I made these today and the were absolutely delicious without syrup. I just ate them off the plate. I used non-dairy ingredients and a flaxseed egg for a vegan pancake. They turned out perfectly fluffy and buttery. I am freezing the leftovers for a quick breakfast. Delicious!!!
I made these this morning, I loved that they were gluten free. And it doesn’t take as many pancakes to satisfy you. Thanks for the recipe.
So happy you made them, Marianna! Thank you for coming back!
This was amazing. Melt in your mouth. I used yogurt mixed with milk. Thank you!
Wonderful! So happy you found our recipe!
Just made these this morning and they are life changing! Not an exaggeration because I am never wanting to go and buy buttermilk for just a small amount that I won’t use later…so have always had to live with lackluster homemade pancakes. This almond milk and lemon juice mixture really worked in place of the buttermilk to make them fluffy and light. Thank you for sharing this, I really appreciate it! Have never left a comment on any online recipe before, but feel compelled to let you know how excited I am to have made and eaten these restaurant-quality pancakes in my pajamas. 🙂 I’ll definitely check out your other recipes next.
Wow, life changing!! That’s amazing! So happy you found us!