Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes with Smashed Blackberries

Hello and thank Faramir it's Friday! And happy 4th July to all you 'Mericans!

Last Saturday I had a scurry about town, five hours of it no less... And when I came home I had gotten everything from a second-hand pair of jeans and four DVDs from charity shops, CDs, borrowed books at the library, and some random milk tea pearl drink (curtesy of Chinatown, Glasgow, no less!), and....buckwheat flour - because you know, these things happens.

I have seen a good few buckwheat recipes over the past few months, and I figured why not try it? As soon as I set my foot in the organic wholefoods shop, and lay my eyes on it, I though "Well, not I have no choice but to buy it".

On Sunday morning, I thought I'd try and make up some buckwheat pancakes, because I had some crème fraîche that needed used up, which is almost like soured cream, which is almost kefir, which is what they use to make "lapper" (thick pancakes) in Norway with. And you know what? It worked a treat!

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes with Smashed Blackberries
(Serves 2, makes 6-7 pancakes...Which obviously meant four for me as there were no one around)

1 egg
1 tbsp xylitol/sukrin gold/brown sugar/agave syrup
1/3 tsp bicarbonate of soda (which, in my notes, I usually shorten down to BCoS)
1 tbsp melted light butter
150ml light crème fraîche
3 heaped tbsp buckwheat flour
A good splash of water, so the batter isn't TOO thick

Smashed blackberries:
150g blackberries
2-3 tbsp agave syrup

- In a small baking bowl, whisk together the egg and sweetner until it's well incorporated, light and airy. Then add the BCoS, butter and crème fraîche. Once it's all mixed, fold in the flour and add a splash of water if needed.

- Heat about 1 tsp butter in a small frying pan on medium heat. Spoon a third/half a ladle full of batter, cover with a lid and cook. The reason for using the lid is because the texture from plain flour pancakes varies from these ones. The lid also allows the pancake to cook more quickly and evenly I found!

- Let it cook for about a minute, and remove the lid. Flip the pancake and fry it for about half a minute/a minute on that side too, before transferring to a plate.

- Continue doing this with the rest of the batter until you have a lovely pile of buckwheat goodness!

- For the smashed blackberries, simply have the berries in a cup and mash them until they are like a saucy jam, add the agave syrup, and you're done! I also topped my pancaked with some dessicated coconut... Because it looked pretty and coconut is always tasty!

I call this picture "the Red Wedding"....

Have you tried buckwheat pancakes before? Aaaand have you got any exciting plans for the weekend to come?

Recipe by yours truly,

- Jules