Buckwheat Pancakes
Grab your favorite well seasoned flat, cast iron skillet and get ready for perfect pancakes!
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups buckwheat flour
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
2 1/4 cups homemade buttermilk from raw milk * see buttermilk note
1/2 tsp rose petals
1/4 tsp cinnamon ( to help digest wheat)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp maple sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ghee (for cooking on skillet)
Buckwheat pancakes are, Ayurvedically speaking, a pretty perfect choice for breakfast, and a delicious way to start your day .
Buckwheat is not only gluten free, it’s a lighter grain, therefore easier for our digestive system to break down. We dont want to have a superheavy meal to start our day; this will stress our digestive system. Conversely, I do not recommend you skip breakfast, as you are kindling your digestive fire, meaning you are slowly waking it up.
Ayurvedic breakfast criteria is as follows:
It should be warm and nourishing.
Spiced with a good spice.
Nothing cold.
Milk should never be combines with anything savory.
These principles are based on the fact that mornings are cold and moist. For the earth, all that dew, and for the morning body (morning congestion and those eye buggars!)
Also remember to exercise a little and jump in that shower before you eat to help your digestive fire, it will be all rumbling and geared up for those delicious pancakes!
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, maple sugar, rose petals and cinnamon
In a seperate medium sized bowl, whisk the buttermilk and eggs together.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to stir until just combined — do not overmix your pancake batter or your pancakes will be flat. Use a light hand when stirring.
Begin to warm the cast iron skillet on medium, then with the back of a wooden spoon, spread ghee all over the surface. (* note- you can add extra ghee to the batter but I prefer to simply add a little ghee on top off my pancakes after they have cooked. Saves the time of melting it and adding it to the batter.)
Allow skillet to heat for 3-5 minutes, this also lets the batter sit which is good too.
Once skillet is heated (I usually test this by hovering my hand several inches above the pan and making sure I can feel the heat radiating from it) I simply pour the batter in directly from the bowl, until a good sized portion covered the surface of the skillet, this is usually about ½-⅔ cup of batter per pancake.
Allow pancake to cook until edges begin to appear cooked and bubbles in batter begin to appear even in the center. Using a pancake spatula, carefully flip pancake and continue to cook several more minutes until pancake is golden brown.
Repeat until all batter is used — I recommend spreading ghee on the skillet each time you pour the pancake batter.
Serve warm with maple syrup and plenty of gheeeee.
HOT PANCAKE TIP:
* I do not want you to get flat pancakes. Most likely this is a result of over-mixing the batter, this can yield flat, dense, or even rubbery pancakes. Do not over-mix your pancake batter — I can not overstate how important this is. When combining your wet and dry ingredients, gently fold them together with a spoon or spatula until just combined. A few flour streaks remaining in the batter is actually a good thing.
BUTTERMILK NOTE**
How to make delicious homemade buttermilk.
First off- if you know a dairy farmer, make them your friend! Cows that are treated well and cared for with love, and whose babies are fed yeild the best, most nutrient dense divine milk. This milk is easier for us to digest!
If you dont have access to a dairy farmer, see if you can go to a local grocery store and get some raw milk ( when it is pasteurized you loose a lot of the nutrients!)
Next you are going to need the buttermilk culture. I buy mine from this wonderful company, New England Cheese making company. Follow the link here to order the starter. You keep it in the freezer until you use it, and bonus! Once you have the buttermilk made, you can make more of it by simply adding one cup of the buttermilk to a quart of new raw milk! You dont need the starter!
To culture the buttermilk, I simply take one of the packets, add a quart of milk and let it sit on my counter, covered with some cloth, for 12-24 hours (depending on how warm the room is). Despite the culture’s instructions to heat the milk, I have found there is no need to do it. It cultures just fine on its own, save your gas/ or electricity!