Buckwheat Biscuits ~ buckwheat flour gives these tall, fluffy biscuits some great nutty flavor and a nutritional boost as well!
I’m like a kid in a sandbox playing with the colors, textures, and flavors of all the new flours I’ve discovered this year. I love the subtle changes they’re making in some of my favorite foods, but they have serious health benefits too, not only for you and me, but for the planet. Have you been reading about that scary wheat rust fungus that’s making a comeback? That kind of thing can cause real damage to our food supply when we’re so dependent on a single crop like wheat.
If you’re unsure about it, start small. In these biscuits I used a ratio of 1 part buckwheat to 2 parts white flour. The flour has a gray color with black specs (the ground up hulls of the buckwheat seed) running through it. It darkens as it cooks and the distinctive specs are beautiful. I went a step further and loaded the biscuits with parsley which gave them a green tinge as well. They were tender and amazing.
Buckwheat is an ancient grain that isn’t even related to wheat. It was one of the earliest crops grown in North America, and buckwheat cakes were a staple right up until the mid 20th century when corn and wheat took over our farmlands and our diet. Today buckwheat is more popular in Europe (light pancakes in France and Belgium, kasha cereal in Russia and Poland) and in Asia (noodles) than it is in North America where it’s pretty much relegated to specialty food stores.
Also try ~
Buckwheat Biscuits
Ingredients
- a generous 1/2 cup fresh parsley, packed (optional)
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 2 cups white flour, or a gluten free flour mix
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 12 Tbsp 1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut in pieces
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 1/4 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- If you are using the parsley, put it in the bowl of a processor and pulse till evenly chopped.
- Put the dry ingredients in the bowl of the processor, pulse to mix.
- Drop in the butter pieces and pulse about 10 times to incorporate the butter.
- Mix together the honey and buttermilk and while the processor is going, pour the liquids in and run just until the dough forms.
- Dump it out onto a floured surface and pat it into a fat disk, about 9", don't be worried by the sticky dough, all you are doing is patting it into shape and plopping the biscuits on the baking sheet, so you don't need to add too much extra flour.
- Cut out 6 biscuits with a 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter. Reform the dough gently and cut 2 more biscuits if you want, although I always find the biscuits made with the reformed dough are not nearly as good or as pretty.
- Bake on parchment or silpat mat for about 5 to 6 minutes until the biscuits start to rise, and then turn down the heat to 400 and bake another 8 to 10 minutes just until fully risen and lightly browned. Don't over bake!
Make it your own ~
- I made my biscuits extra large because I pair them with soup and call it dinner. If you use a smaller cutter you’ll get more, just be extra sure to adjust your baking times.
Wonderful! I didn’t have parsley so I used cilantro, which we loved. I didnt’ have buttermilk so I used half whipping cream and half water for that. They are light and delicious! I did the first 6 minutes on 425 and then 8 more minutes on 400. They could have maybe gone the full 10 minutes at 400, but they were just starting to tan on the edges so I took them out. Thank you!
Great, thanks for the feedback Diane!
I used 1.5 cups each of Bob’s Red Mill buckwheat flour and King Arthur Flour unbleached all-purpose flour, I didn’t have buttermilk in the house, so I mixed sour cream and 2% milk to make 1.25 cups. These biscuits are very tender and crumbly and not everyone will go for these, but I thought they were wonderful. My husband isn’t into whole grains like I am, so he didn’t eat any…;more for me! ? I’ll freeze the extras.
Thanks for posting the recipe.
Thanks Mary Jo ~ I agree, they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, but I can’t get enough of the tender texture and that complex buckwheat flavor…yum!
I had left over buttermilk and was dying to use the buckwheat flour, so I googled and these came up. I used whole wheat flour instead of white, and I added a container of the *new* lightly dried basil I just found in Publix. They are very crumbly and fall apart easily but are so delicious and smell great. Thanks. I’m going to freeze them and see how they do. LB
I was just wondering if it makes a difference if using the oven at 450 Convection or just on 450 regular oven, I always seem to over bake.
I now recommend baking these biscuits at 425F, and if you have a convection oven you can drop that down to 400F. Hope this helps, and always feel free to adjust baking time to suit your specific oven, they cary so greatly.
Why the white flour? I’ve made buckwheat biscuits w/o the all-purpose flour. They tasted great.
You can definitely go that way too, Wallace. I like the lighter texture that you get from using both. But I agree, buckwheat flour has amazing flavor all by itself.
What do you think about using a blend of buckwheat and almond flour (trying to avoid white flour)
Thanks!
I’ve never tried almond flour in a biscuit Gina, but I worry that it would be dense, and not fluffy like a biscuit should be.
Can you use almond milk instead of buttermilk?
Sure Kristen.
I just made these completely gluten-free and dairy free. (My daughter is allergic.) My whole family loved them! These will be a staple bread for meals at our house…thanks so much for sharing!
That’s so great to know, if you happen to come back I’d love to know exactly how you did it, Kasonya 🙂
Great recipe, I made biscuits tonight!
I am crazy about buckwheat flour, love the flecks, love the flavor, it’s so tender, too.
I’ve yet to experiment with buckwheat, and I’m not quite sure why. Thanks for reminding me. These look great.
I don’t know why I never use buckwheat! Thanks for the inspiration !