These healthy vegan buckwheat pancakes are gluten free and made with paleo friendly ingredients. They are moist, fluffy and studded with dark chocolate chips. This healthy buckwheat pancake recipe is just what you need for a satisfying breakfast!
I've started experimenting with buckwheat flour again. I used it frequently a few years ago, but took a break from it to explore other gluten free flours such as cassava flour.
If you haven't ever baked with buckwheat flour, it can be frustrating to work with. That is, if you are testing it out on your own.
I've found buckwheat flour to be very dry and it has a distinct flavor (good or bad depending on your preference). This means it often works best in combination with other baking flours. It also does well paired with ingredients like mashed banana, pumpkin or yogurt, which give baked goods more moisture.
As for these gluten free buckwheat pancakes, they're made with buckwheat flour and yogurt, sweetened with maple syrup and loaded with dark chocolate. They're moist and fluffy and best slightly undercooked for a gooey inner texture.
Ingredients
This vegan buckwheat pancake recipe is made with just a few simple ingredients. These ingredients combine to create fluffy, moist almost bread-like pancakes. They're mildly sweet but absolutely delicious!
Here's what you need:
- buckwheat flour: obviously, since these are buckwheat pancakes
- coconut flour: needed for texture purposes
- baking soda: makes these pancakes extra fluffy
- salt: enhances the flavor
- yogurt: any kind will do, but keep it dairy free for Vegan & Paleo
- water: needed to thin the batter. May use a nut milk instead.
- maple syrup: to sweeten the pancakes
- vanilla extract: for flavor
- chocolate chips: optional but recommended!
How to Make Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes
The batter is made in one bowl, the pancakes are cooked on the stove top and ready to eat in minutes! Here are the steps:
First, combine all of the dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the wet ingredients. The batter is thick, so I recommend using a spatula. Lastly, fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add a little oil. I used coconut oil. Once hot, scoop ¼ cup of batter per pancake onto the frying pan. Cover the pancakes with a lid and cook until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook until done. Be sure not to over-cook these pancakes. They are best slightly under-cooked in the center.
When done, these gluten free buckwheat pancakes are fluffy, soft and golden brown.
As far as texture goes, they are definitely different than your typical pancake - more bread-like. But my family and I love this pancake recipe and I make them frequently for breakfast!
Frequently Asked Questions
Buckwheat flour comes from buckwheat, which is a fruit seed closely related to rhubarb. The seed is dried and ground into a fine flour. So, don't be fooled by its misleading name...buckwheat does not contain wheat!
Buckwheat flour has an earthy, nutty taste and ranges from reddish-pink in color to dark brown. Depending on the brand and where their flour originates, you'll find various colors of buckwheat flour.
As far as baking flours go, buckwheat is quite nutrient dense. It contains fairly high amounts of manganese, copper, magnesium, dietary fiber and phosphorus. In addition, the protein in buckwheat is a high quality protein, containing all eight essential amino acids, including lysine.
Some people don't consider buckwheat to be Paleo, but I do since it's gluten free and not technically a grain.
My advice is to test it out and see how your body reacts. Some people with severe digestive issues cannot tolerate buckwheat, whereas some have no problems with it. So, listen to your body and do what's best for you 🙂
More Buckwheat Flour Recipes
Looking for more healthy buckwheat recipes? Check out these reader favorites:
Enjoy!
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Healthy Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes (Gluten Free, Paleo)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 pancakes 1x
Description
These healthy vegan buckwheat pancakes are made with buckwheat flour, dairy free yogurt, sweetened with maple syrup and loaded with dark chocolate. They're soft, fluffy and great for a healthy breakfast.
Ingredients
- 1 cup buckwheat flour (150g) spooned & leveled
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour (14g)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup + 2 Tbsp water*
- ½ cup dairy free yogurt**
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼-⅓ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine buckwheat flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt.
- Using a spatula, mix in water, yogurt, maple syrup and vanilla.
- Fold chocolate chips into the batter.
- Grease a frying pan (I used coconut oil) and set it on the stove top. Preheat on medium heat.
- Once hot, add ¼ cup batter per pancake to the frying pan (I cooked 3 at a time). Cover the pan with a lid and cook until the pancakes are golden brown on the bottom.
- Flip each pancake and cook until done. Note: do not over-cook the pancakes. They are best left a little under-cooked in the center.
- Serve immediately along with your favorite toppings.
Notes
For best results, measure ingredients by weight when given.
*You may need more or less water depending on the type of yogurt you use. The batter should be thick and goopy, but easy to stir. See process photos (in blog post) for an example. Also, the water may be substituted with any dairy free milk.
**I used Kite Hill unsweetened almond milk yogurt. You may substitute with any type/brand of yogurt.
Katie
My family and I love these buckwheat pancakes and we hope you will too!
Mischa Shafie
Hi! I made these with a few modifications and really liked them 🙂 I first started experimenting with the recipe by using cream of tartar in addition to soda to see how that would affect fluffiness. I added a couple spoonfuls of tapioca flour, too since I was at the end of the bag. They came out fluffy and cooked quickly, did not need to be flipped - the covered pan did the trick 🙂
In batch #2 I tried adding cacao powder and also a tbsp of grass fed gelatin powder. I did not bloom the gelatin I just threw it in and mixed it and then added more water, maybe 1/4 cup? The batter was a bit runny and the pancakes were a lot flatter & had lots of tiny air bubble holes - The texture was a little bit more “bendy”. I could see them as a mini crepe substitute 🙂
For future versions I’m thinking about using a psyllium or gelatin egg and seeing how that comes out. I used Coco June coconut yogurt and thrive market coconut nectar for the maple syrup sub.
This is my first time using buckwheat flour and I’m thrilled to have an alternative to the usual options!
Katie
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for including your substitutions - they sound wonderful!
Mischa Shafie
Sorry I forgot to add five stars!
Meli Mama
Well these are absolutely perfect! Thank you!! I usually adjust recipes to be less sweet or less salt, but these are the best AS IS. You’ve nailed it. The whole family loves them.
We make them with vanilla chamomile cocojune and it’s so fluffy and delicious. I love keeping them a little undercooked in the center like you said - the best! <3
Katie
I'm so glad you and your family loved these! Yes, slightly undercooked is the way to go - SO good! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review 🙂