Buckwheat & Banana Pancakes (Gluten-Free, Vegan, No added sugar)

This is my favourite recipe for easy Buckwheat & Banana pancakes, which happen to be gluten-free, dairy free, egg-free and sugar free and still taste amazing!

I make them every time, when I need a nutritious breakfast and make me feel I’m starting my day on the right track.

I usually serve these Buckwheat & Banana Pancakes on their own with some extra bananas or blueberries (or both!). Whilst these pancakes don’t have any added sugar in them, if you want to add a little bit of sweetness you can always drizzle them with some honey, simple brown sugar syrup or earl grey sugar syrup or agave syrup.

Why make this recipe?

These pancakes are super healthy. They are gluten – free, low in sugar, suitable for vegan diets. One pancake is about 45 calories (based on 8 medium pancakes made from this recipe batch).

These buckwheat pancakes are suitable for low FODMAP diet, where the only tricky ingredient is the banana. If you know that you are sensitive to the sugars in banana use un-ripen banana before they go brown.

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Benefits of Making Pancakes with Buckwheat Flour

Buckwheat flour is a nutritious alternative to traditional wheat flour (plain or cake type of flour), and it has some amazing benefits when used to make your morning breakfast pancakes. My favourite reasons, why I use buckwheat flour for making pancakes include:

• Gluten-free: Buckwheat flour is naturally gluten-free, making it a great option for people with gluten sensitivities or celiac disease.
• High in fibre: Buckwheat flour is high in fibre, which means that your buckwheat pancakes will keep your fuller for longer and they will be also easy to digest.
• Rich in minerals: Buckwheat flour is a good source of minerals like copper, manganese, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium, which are important for maintaining good health.
• May improve heart health: Buckwheat has been shown to have a positive effect on heart health by helping to lower cholesterol levels and improve blood pressure. I was specifically recommended to swap regular flour for buckwheat flour when I had a slightly higher cholesterol level
• May help manage diabetes: Buckwheat has a low glycemic index, which means it can help regulate blood sugar levels and may be beneficial for people with diabetes. It gives your body the energy you need, but not the sugar rush that white flour might give you.

I also love that when I’m using buckwheat flour for my pancakes, the flavour is very different to traditional pancakes – it’s sort of nutty and slightly earthy flavour and it can also create a fluffy texture.

The only thing, you need to bear in mind, is that buckwheat flour is naturally gluten free and it doesn’t contain gluten. This means that the flour is a bit trickier to work with than traditional wheat flour.

I usually just use the flour as it is, but if I don’t want to have any problems with my buckwheat flour pancakes falling apart, I use a little bit of xanthan gum, which is used instead of gluten in gluten-free baking.

You can also solve this problem, by using a little bit of regular plain flour (with gluten), but that slightly defeats the objective of having these pancakes gluten-free.

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Top tips for making buckwheat & banana pancakes

Be prepared to adjust the thickness of your pancake batter before you start frying your pancakes. Buckwheat flour is thicker than normal flour and soaks up more liquid (milk).

When frying your pancakes watch out for the bubbles forming in the batter and the colour changing slightly. Flip over and carry on frying on the other side. Buckwheat flour is slightly darker than other flours, so the batter can look like it’s done when it needs to be cooked for a little longer.

Notes on ingredients & possible substitutions

Buckwheat Flour

Buckwheat flour is naturally gluten free, has a darker colour and is more wholesome than regular plain/cake flour. It taste a little bit like wholemeal flour.

Whilst I love using buckwheat flour in this pancake recipe, I do sometimes mix it with other gluten free (or even non-gluten free flour), depending on what I have in the cupboard.

MORE RECIPES WITH BUCKWHEAT FLOUR

• Buckwheat Pizza Base >>
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Banana

I’ve used banana in this buckwheat pancakes recipe to replace the egg, bu it also compliments the flavour of the buckwheat flour.

I like to use ripe bananas as they have more flavour and also more sugar than un-ripen bananas. I’ve left out the sugar in this recipe and the bananas add the sugar in naturally.

Milk

I’ve used almond milk as I often keep frozen almond milk in the freezer and because it compliments the buckwheat flour really well.

If you don’t have almond milk you can use any other plant based milk (such as soya, hazelnut, coconut, hemp, rice milk or normal (dairy) milk.

Cinnamon Powder

Since this buckwheat pancakes recipe doesn’t have any sugar (the only sweetness comes from the banana and the milk), I find that it’s nice to add cinnamon powder or other warming spices, such as nutmeg, mixed spice, gingerbread or pumpkin pie spice .

How to make buckwheat and banana pancakes

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: buckwheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, mash the banana with a fork.

Add plant based milk and vanilla extract and mix together with the mashed banana.

Pour the banana mix ingredients into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Leave the pancake batter rest for about 5 minutes and adjust the thickness with extra milk if needed (if it’s too thick)

Fry your pancakes on a lightly oiled frying pan, about 2 minutes on each side.

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Recipe size

This Buckwheat & Banana Pancakes recipe will give you 8 medium sized pancakes (about 3 inch-8cm) or 4 very large pancakes, depending on how you make them.

I usually find that this recipe is enough for 2 people, but if you are cooking for a family, you can always double or triple the ingredients (just toggle the recipe quantities in my recipe card and the ingredients will automatically add to the desired quantity.

How to serve Buckwheat & Banana Pancakes

Serve your pancakes hot topped with extra bananas or blueberries and drizzled with maple syrup, honey or other maple syrup substitutes from my favourite list of pancake syrups or keep it low sugar by using fresh fruit only.

How to keep & store Buckwheat & Banana Pancakes

If you make far too many pancakes, you can always freeze them (on the same day) or keep them in the fridge (covered in a suitable container) for 2-3 days (as a minimum).

This pancake recipe can be also frozen (ideally on the same day) and then defrosted (overnight in the fridge). You can keep these pancakes frozen for 1-3 months or slightly longer if you need to.

This blog post was originally written on 12 November 2020 and last updated on 27 March 2023