These Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes are healthy vegan, gluten-free fluffy pancakes, perfect to start the day with a wholesome breakfast. It’s an easy pancake recipe with no milk, no eggs, 100% vegan, and rich in nutrients using gluten-free buckwheat flour.
If there’s one type of recipe I am an expert at, it’s crepes and pancakes. Born and raised in France, where buckwheat flour is mainly used for French buckwheat crepes.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Buckwheat flour is not only a gluten-free flour but also a healthier flour option than gluten-free all-purpose flour. If you are after a gluten-free pancake recipe that is also naturally nutritious, you must start baking with buckwheat flour.
These buckwheat pancakes are truly fluffy filling, and they will keep you satisfied and energized up to lunchtime. Taste-wise, buckwheat pancakes are absolutely delicious, adding earthy, nutty notes to baked goods.
Expert Tips For Buckwheat Pancakes
While most people think buckwheat flour is bitter and turns food ultra dry and dark, this is untrue. One of the things I learned about buckwheat flour after baking with it for more than 20 years is that all blends are not equal. Some brands add bits and pieces of the back hull from the buckwheat groat. These bits can be more present in some flour brands adding a grittier and darker color to the food you bake with.
That’s why the first step to start baking with buckwheat flour is to test and choose the perfect blend. Buckwheat flour should be pale, greyish, and not too gritty to the touch. This is the first step to succeed and deliver fluffy buckwheat pancakes that truly look and taste good.
Ingredients and Substitutions
This Vegan buckwheat pancake recipe is super easy to make with only a few wholesome ingredients.
- Buckwheat Flour – Make sure you pick a light buckwheat flour with a white-grey color, and fine texture, not gritty or ultra dark. The dark blend contains larger pieces of hull and makes the pancakes denser, not fluffy, and very dark in color. The color of buckwheat flour varies from brand to brand. It tends to be darker in Europe (e.g. France has a darker buckwheat flour called ‘farine de ble noir‘ or ‘farine de sarrasin‘), and it is lighter in the US or New Zealand/Australia.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda – Make sure you use gluten-free baking powder and a fresh batch of each raising agent. The combination of both makes the pancakes ultra fluffy. In fact, buckwheat flour is a dense, heavy, gluten-free flour, and the combination of raising agents is how you make fluffy, vegan, gluten-free pancakes.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – The acidity of the vinegar activates the leaving agents and also creates a vegan buttermilk when combined with plant-based milk.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk – This is the best milk substitute for buckwheat flour pancakes. It’s light and tasteless and therefore, it keeps the pancakes fluffier. You can also use other plant-based milk, like soy milk, oat milk, or coconut milk. But it makes the pancakes slightly heavier pancakes.
- Liquid Sweetener – I love to use unrefined sugar, so the best liquid sweeteners are brown rice syrup, agave syrup, coconut syrup, and maple syrup.
- Vanilla Extract – For flavor and to cover the light bitterness of the flour.
- Coconut Oil – melted and cooled, or choose a light-flavored oil like almond oil or avocado oil for healthy options. You can substitute oil with applesauce for an oil-free vegan, gluten-free pancake recipe. Note that this will make the pancakes dryer.
Watch Me Make It
How To Make Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes
- First, whisk all the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl: almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar (photo 1). The vinegar will slightly curdle the dairy-free milk and help the pancakes rise more. Set aside while you combine the dry ingredients together in another bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk buckwheat flour, baking powder, and baking soda until well combined (photo 2).
- Next, pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. The batter should look thick and smooth, with no lumps (photo 3).
- These simple vegan buckwheat pancakes must be cooked in a warm, non-stick pan or pancake griddle. First, warm your non-stick pan over medium heat. Use cooking oil spray to oil the entire pan surface between each addition of pancake batter. This prevents the pancakes from sticking to the pan, making them easier to flip.
- Scoop out about 1/4 cup of batter and pour it on the hot griddle (photo 4).
- Cook the pancakes over low-medium heat until golden brown – about 2 to 3 minutes. Then, slide a flat spatula under the pancake and flip it to the other side.
- Cook the buckwheat pancakes for an extra 1 or 2 minutes until the center is cooked through. Repeat the cooking steps, greasing the pan between each batter addition to prevent the pancakes from sticking to the pan.
The Best Gluten-Free Pancake Toppings
The best vegan gluten-free pancake toppings for these buckwheat pancakes are:
- Liquid Sweetener – Healthy options are unrefined sweeteners like pure maple syrup, brown rice syrup, apple syrup, or coconut syrup.
- Nut Butter – Pour a drizzle of almond butter, cashew butter, or peanut butter on top of the pancake stack.
- Fruits – Add some fresh or frozen berries, like raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries. Otherwise, use banana slices or diced apples.
- Unsweetened Shredded Coconut – If you can toast the coconut before, it adds an extra nutty flavor that goes amazingly well with the buckwheat flavor.
- Sliced Almonds to add crunch and extra nutty flavors.
- Vegan Butter – Add a piece of vegan butter on top of warm pancakes it will melt and make the buckwheat pancakes ultra moist and buttery.
Frequently Asked Questions
These buckwheat pancakes are vegan gluten-free, and therefore they are slightly more dense than vegan wheat pancakes.
However, they are still fluffy for gluten-free pancakes, with a delicious nutty, earthy flavor from the buckwheat flour.
No, this is a simple vegan buckwheat pancake recipe designed to use only buckwheat flour. This recipe won’t work with almond flour or wheat flour.
Buckwheat flour is a very special flour with lots of fiber and protein. It can’t be swapped for white wheat flour or any other flour with the same ratio.
This will mess up your recipe, resulting in either heavy or fragile pancakes depending on what you swap buckwheat flour for.
Sure, you can add fruits or chocolate chips to this pancake vegan recipe.
To make vegan blueberry buckwheat pancakes add 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries to the batter.
Or add 1/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips if you are a chocolate lover!
Buckwheat flour is a gluten-free flour made from ground buckwheat seed, also known as buckwheat groats. Buckwheat flour has a hearty flavor.
It is high in fiber and, therefore, lower in carbs than other regular flour.
The color of buckwheat flour varies depending on the country and brand you use, from light white to grey pale.
Buckwheat flour is high in fiber, which means that it slows down the absorption of carbs.
Consequently, it’s a fulfilling flour that keeps your blood sugar level stable throughout the day.
It makes buckwheat flour a healthy alternative flour for diabetics, better than white wheat flour. On a vegan diet, buckwheat is a great vegan protein.
More Vegan Gluten-Free Breakfast Recipes
If you need more inspiration on vegan, gluten-free breakfast recipes, check out those other breakfast recipes below!
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Buckwheat Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Liquid ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Almond Milk - unsweetened, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar - or any vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Brown Rice Syrup - or maple syrup or any liquid sweetener
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil - melted or canola oil
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together unsweetened almond milk, vinegar, syrup, vanilla, and oil. Set it aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients: buckwheat flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Make a well in the center and pour the liquid ingredients in the middle.
- Whisk until it forms a smooth, slightly thick batter with no lumps.
- Warm a pancake griddle under medium heat with a little olive oil or coconut oil.
- Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the warm oiled griddle. Use the back of a spoon if needed to spread batter into a lovely round-shaped pancake.
- Cook until bubbles form on top and sides are set and dry – about 2 minutes, then slide a spatula under the pancake and flip on the other side. Cook for an extra 30 seconds on this side.
- Serve immediately or cool on a rack while you area cooking the rest of the batter. You should be able to make 11 pancakes.
- Serve with toppings of your choice, like maple syrup, brown rice syrup, almond butter, dairy-free coconut yogurt, berries, or banana slices, etc.
I would add 1/4 tsp salt in with dry ingredients to bring out flavors. A little flat tasting
Wow. This recipe is amazing. Thank you. It was a big surprise for me to see and taste such lightly fluffy pancakes…from buckwheat! Perfect. love these.
i used bob’s red mill bucketwheat flour and it is nothing like this photo. first of all buckwheat is darker, moreso when mixed with the wet ingredients. anyway, i read some good reviews and happy for them. just wondering if you really used your photo for this recipe though.
Buckwheat flour is grey in color, not dark in all countries, in New Zealand where I live it’s pretty much grey white while when I was in France it was more dark brown. I share recipes for free on my blog by passion for plant-based food and photography. I have no reason to use misleading pictures on my recipe post. I am sorry if your pancakes doesn’t look the same as mine, maybe try a different brand next time.
I also found that even with the increase to 1/2 tsp of baking soda didn’t create a fluffy pancake. They tasted great, but we’re on the flat side for sure.
Delicious recipe! I followed it to the letter and it turned out perfect. Kid approved too! Love that I don’t need to faff about with multiple flours or banana or flax eggs or apple sauce. Thank you
These pancakes are delicious and are our staple now. Thanks for a great clean recipe. I can’t get mine to look as fluffy as your picture though. They come out flat. Any ideas why?
I am so happy you love them too! Buckwheat flour has no gluten, so it won’t raise as much as gluten-based flour. However, adding the apple cider vinegar and baking powder do the trick for me all the time! You can add an extra 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to help the batter raise more if needed. Enjoy!
Made these last night and really enjoyed them, but mine are super dark and the buckwheat flavor was a bit much. Where do you find the light buckwheat flour? Also, any suggestions of another flour (not rice or wheat) that could be mixed in to balance out the buckwheat flavor? The texture is amazing. Also, I added a bit of sugar and a dash of salt. Thank you for the great recipe!!
Buckwheat flour has different color based on where you live. Back in France the buckwheat flour I bought was always dark grey but here in New Zealand it’s very light in color even if the nutrition panel is the same. You can decrease the flavor of buckwheat flour by using only half of it in the recipe and another half of all-purpose gluten free flour blend or chickpea flour. I hope it helps.
These are fluffy and they go great with fruit and maple syrup.
The vinegar came through a bit stronger than expected, but very tasty.
Delicious!
Just make some for breakfast… Delicious! Thanks!
I never take the time to write reviews but this recipe deserves it so much! I just found out I’m allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, and almonds so that makes making pancakes extremely hard. I made this recipe exactly as written except I used coconut milk instead of almond and I could cry with how well they turned out. Thank you so much!!!