Buckwheat Waffles

buckwheat waffles

Though both of my parents were a smidge too young to really be hippies in the Woodstock-and-Vietnam-protest-sign sense, they adopted many hippie behaviors and interests: gardening and smoking doobs, eating whole grains and not eating sugar, for it is the Devil. (My dad focused mainly on the first two, my mom the latter activities.)

I have them to thank for growing up and knowing what is tofu, what is buckwheat, and why a bong must be called a “water pipe” in public spaces. While he’d still eat pretty much anything put in front of him, my father preferred more traditional food like chili, cornbread, brownies and ice cream than did my mom, or maybe my mom just put a higher value on exposing us young’uns to “weird shit” while we were still impressionable, lest we grown up to be the kind of picky adults that are not very fun to cook for.

Buckwheat was one of the grains she’d make use of occasionally, either in porridge form or pancake form. This was the early 80’s and at that time, I think Sun Harvest was the only local health food store that had all those wacky non-wheat flours available in bulk bins. Sometimes she’d buy blue cornmeal, too, and we’d have blue cornmeal Johnny Cakes for breakfast. Johnny Cakes were one of my favorites and I liked them even better with that unusual blue-gray color that isn’t generally considered appetizing, but to kids who’ve never been allowed to eat Fruity Pebbles, blue-gray is a magnificent wonder of nature.

Thinking about that, and in keeping with my efforts to eat a little better, drink a little less, yoga a little more, and be a little (or a lot) healthier than I was in 2013, I made these buckwheat waffles for breakfast yesterday to ring in the New Year. I almost never make waffles because waffles always seem like a pain in the ass. Maybe because pulling out a separate appliance to make breakfast seems extravagant; maybe because most waffle recipes use lavish amounts of butter and butter is not cheap.  But really they’re no more difficult than pancakes when you get down to it so let us get down to it.

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Buckwheat Waffles

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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4 waffles 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk or kefir
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds (or chopped pecans)

Instructions

  1. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk milk, butter, egg and vanilla together in another bowl.
  2. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix quickly to combine.
  3. Preheat a waffle iron.
  4. Pour 1/4 cup of batter in the center of the iron and sprinkle with a tablespoon of the nuts.
  5. Close the iron and cook 2-3 minutes or until the iron opens easily.
  6. Serve with maple syrup or honey or whatever the hell ya want. It’s your waffle; Live with it.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 276
  • Fat: 16
  • Carbohydrates: 26
  • Protein: 7

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10 Comments

  1. KeninMT on January 2, 2014 at 2:42 pm

    We have a hand-me-down 1930’s electric waffle iron, it makes wonderful perfect waffles, now I must try these.
    My last exposure to buckwheat was a buckwheat hull pillow in Korea in the mid 1970’s….noisy hard terrible thing.
    Happy New Year Hilah, you are a treat!

    • Hilah on January 2, 2014 at 6:22 pm

      How cool! I have one from the 50’s that still works great, too. I’m sure you will like these.

  2. Julia on January 4, 2014 at 12:04 am

    The old waffles makers were nicer, I think. My sister bought a waffle maker in 2010, and I do not like the thing. Rarely use it, and maybe I should, but the thing is a pain to clean.

    • Hilah on January 4, 2014 at 10:25 am

      Hey Julia!
      I have a new one from Cuisineart I bought last year and it’s really easy to clean! It has non-stick irons that just wipe clean with a damp cloth. I still use my old one sometimes, too, for fun.

  3. Gene Cox on January 13, 2014 at 1:29 am

    You’re so cool Hilah. I am stalking you on twitter now. I love waffles, and the buckwheat thing sounds like a hip thing to try.






    • Hilah on January 13, 2014 at 10:16 am

      Hope you do, Gene! They are real real good.

  4. Tim on January 24, 2014 at 11:53 am

    There’s a lady (“The Honey Lady”) who sells all kinds of honey a few towns away, and last time I was there she sold me a small bottle of buckwheat honey that she said no one likes.

    It’s real different. I think it tastes like what dirty socks would taste like if you removed the fabric and sweetened what was left.

    I’m wondering if buckwheat pancakes have similar qualities?

    Tim

    • Hilah on January 24, 2014 at 2:31 pm

      Wow! I’ve never had buckwheat honey but now I must find some and try it. Buckwheat flour to me doesn’t have any hint of dirty socks. 🙂 I like it. It’s kind of nutty and sweet and corn-y tasting.

  5. Thomas on January 9, 2015 at 9:33 am

    I have a waffle maker from the ’50s I got at a garage sale. It only makes one waffle at a time, though.

  6. ryan on February 28, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    Hey I just now ran across your website n been
    looking at it for four hours non-stop I missed family dinner.which I am usually the chef I can’t get enough of your style and recipes! I usually integrate what I know and learn from others. Wish I could talk to you!

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