Buckwheat Pancakes or Waffles {gluten, dairy and egg-free}

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After our daughter's food sensitivities were diagnosed, one of the first items we tried to recreate were pancakes.  Our family has a Saturday morning pancakes for breakfast tradition.  Without a gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free pancake recipe, we'd have to change our weekend ritual and we REALLY didn't want to do that.  So we began with a promising looking box of gluten-free pancake mix and tried substituting egg replacer and soy milk into the recipe on the box.  What we made could hardly be called pancakes!  These things were awful!  They were so gummy that when the plate was turned upside down, these so-called pancakes stuck fast!  They didn't even think about falling off the inverted plate.  We did try eating them and we did try to appear happy but there was no fooling anyone.  So the 'glue cakes', as we affectionately call them, had to be scraped into the trash.  This was the first, but certainly not the last, gluten, dairy and egg-free baked good that went the way of all things foul.

So on to the successful pancake recipe that was birthed following this sad ordeal.  My hubby actually came up with this one. It's simple.  It's nutritious.  And it has been happily consumed in our home by family and visiting friends for the last couple years.  We hope you'll find it as pleasing as we do.


Most Saturday's, my hubby makes these wonderful buckwheat pancakes for us.  Often, we make two batches - one for the morning's pancakes and one for waffles for the freezer.  Making a batch of waffles while you make pancakes saves a great deal of time.  The waffles go into a zipper freezer bag, separated by freezer paper.  Later in the week, we pull out a few waffles, pop them in the toaster and voila - a hearty breakfast at the ready. 



Buckwheat Pancakes or Waffles {free of gluten, dairy and eggs}

2 cups buckwheat flour *see note about buckwheat flour 

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup applesauce

4 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons honey

2 cups dairy-free milk (almond, soy, rice or other non-dairy milk)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Add in applesauce, oil, honey and milk.  Mix it all together using a whisk or wooden spoon.  If the batter is a bit too thick, add in a little more milk to thin it.  Heat griddle or skillet over medium-low heat.  Spoon batter onto heated griddle - make these as small or big as you like.  Cook these as you would any pancake, watching for bubbling to let you know it's time to flip.  These are great with any add-ins you like such as blueberries, dairy-free chocolate chips, cut-up strawberries, etc.  I also recommend this wonderful raspberry syrup topping found at Tessa the Domestic Diva.


*A note on buckwheat flour:  The finished product will vary depending on the brand of buckwheat flour you use.  I recommend Hodgson Mill or Arrowhead Mills (though these aren't certified gluten-free).  Our pancakes were flat and dense when we made them with Bob's Red Mill buckwheat flour so I don't recommend it, at least for this recipe.

TIP:  To keep your pancakes warm and non-soggy, transfer cooked pancakes to a cooling rack placed on a cookie sheet in a warm low-heat oven.  That way everyone can sit down to breakfast together and enjoy fresh hot pancakes.