B is for…Buckwheat Flour!
I tend to accumulate bags of flour in my pantry…as with a lot of ingredients (!), one of the main reasons for doing this A to Z challenge in the first place. I seem to have worked my way through most of them, leaving teff flour, which, until I made my tasty Teff Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas I’d only used for making injera, and buckwheat flour which I used for my blueberry-orange buckwheat waffles, but has since been sitting redundant until now.
I’m still a little wary of gluten-free baking and so instead of simply substituting buckwheat flour (a gluten-free flour) for wheat in a recipe, I thought I’d look for something which is gluten-free and uses buckwheat flour by default. The obvious choice for me was Breton galettes.
The “galette bretonne” is a buckwheat flour crêpe traditionally from Brittany, France, although it’s now available and popular all over France. Unlike its wheat flour counterpart it’s usually served with savoury fillings. Neither the crêpe itself or the fillings are typically vegan as they involve eggs, meat and cheese, but of course my version contains no animal products 
Buckwheat Crêpes with Creamy Mushroom Filling:
Crêpe-making can seem tricky at first, and it kind of is, but don’t be discouraged if the first couple (or first batch!) don’t turn out so well, you’ll get the hang of it. It definitely helps to have a nice thin batter so you can swirl it round the pan easily. Although galettes should be a little thicker than dessert crêpes, you’re not making thick fluffy pancakes here but are after a more delicate, slightly crisp pancake.
Galettes:
1T Ground flax + 3T water
1C Buckwheat flour
1/2T Oil
1/4t of salt
1C Water (more if needed to make a fairly thin batter- about the consistency of heavy cream)
1T Oil for cooking galettes
Combine all ingredients and whisk well in a large bowl. Cover and leave to sit at room temperature for a couple of hours ideally.
Preheat a large crêpe pan or non-stick pan over medium high heat with a little oil. When hot pour a ladleful of the batter onto the pan and swirl to distribute quickly and evenly. After about a minute, slide a spatula under the crêpe and carefully flip. Let it cook on the reverse side for another 30 seconds or so and remove to a plate. Repeat, cooking the crêpes until all the batter is used up.
Serve warm, filled with the creamy mushroom mixture or your choice of fillings. Breton crêpes are not usually rolled but the 4 rounded sides are folded in over the filling, forming a square, as pictured.
Creamy Mushroom Filling:
1/2T Oil
I Onion, chopped
250g Chestnut Mushrooms, sliced
2T Finely chopped fresh mixed herbs (I used rosemary, sage and thyme)
1/4C White wine (or vegetable broth)
1T Arrowroot
1/3C Non-dairy Cream (I used oat but cashew or soy would be fine)
Salt + Pepper
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and gently cook the mushrooms until soft and fragrant. Add the herbs and the sliced mushrooms and continue to cook until they release some moisture. In a small bowl dissolve arrowroot in wine or vegetable broth. Add this to the pan along with the cream and cook for a few minutes until it has thickened a little. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and serve with crepes.
Serves 2-3
Buckwheat flour is made from whole buckwheat groats, actually a seed not a grain. The groats can be used in recipes too and I especially like this Raw Buckwheat Porridge.
Other buckwheat recipes to try:
Using whole buckwheat groats:
Buckwheat & Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
Raw Sprouted Buckwheat Chocolate Bars
Using buckwheat flour:
Blueberry, Almond & Buckwheat Muffins
Savoury Buckwheat Pancakes with Spicy Potato & Apple Stuffing
Gingerbread Buckwheat Pancakes
I’d love to hear about your experiences with buckwheat. Tell me how you like to use it.
Have you made crêpes before?
Are you a pantry hoarder like me?!
Hope everyone’s enjoying Vegan MoFo so far. If you’re new to Coconut and Berries please do sign up for email updates or add me to your reader. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram (@coconutandberries), Twitter and Pinterest.
I’ve always wanted to make crepes with chickpea flour, but never did, and also I have never tried buckwheat flour, and that sounds interesting to use it. I love your theme, it sounds so much fun to discover your pantry ingredients. Now I wonder what would be the “Z” letter!
You are an awesome pantry hoarder…. My Oregon pantry consists of Asian condiments, noodles/pastas, different spices, and loads of grains 
I wish I can photograph it and show it to you. It is super organized ;(
I love experimenting with different flours. I’ve never tried buckwheat flour though, another one to add t my list
I love crepes but I’ve never made them with buckwheat flour before. I have the same flour accumulation issue but this is actually one that I don’t have in my collection!
Oh no I hope I’m not encouraging you to extend your collection even more! I’m in the process of moving right now and am going to have to cut down my pantry supplies
I have a ton of buckwheat flour that I rarely use! Love this savory crepe idea!
Thanks Joanne. You should definitely give the galettes a go! I think classic buckwheat pancakes are next on my list.
Hi Emma!
I HAD to leave a comment as I’m from Brittany and I love buckwheat galettes and crepes. The original recipes are very close to yours (usually just buckwheat flour, water and salt, no egg! so it would still work without the flax egg, but they are a bit more fragile then, and tricky to flip). As I personally like them rather soft than crispy, I often use a mix of milk and water, and cook them in a small to medium-sized pans to make it easier. Creamy mushroom is one of my favorite fillings, along with creamy leek spiced up with curry.
They can also be delicious with sweet fillings: the nutty flavour of the buckwheat matches very well with chocolate, nut butters, caramelised apples… it makes me want to cook some very soon
I also like buckwheat flour to make savory pastry crust (half buckwheat, half whole wheat flour, but I haven’t tried a complete gluten free version yet. I have also recently bought unsweetened buckwheat flakes (breakfast cereals from Big Oz), to make granola bars, and they’re very nice.
I have been too a pantry horder for the past years, accumulating lots of different flours as I wanted to try all the recipes I was seeing on blogs. About a month ago, when the weather was particularly hot, I had the bad surprise to find a few moth larvae coming from a flour bag (that was about 1 year old I think). After reading awful reviews about how difficult it is to get rid of them, I decided to chuck all the other flour bags and give a massive clean to my pantry
such a waste! A good advice I found was to store flours and other grain, pasta, seeds (especially when organic) in glass containers so they can’t contaminate each other (these awful little bugs are able to pierce through plastic!). Also I decided I would keep only a small selection, and wouldn’t buy more until I have used the ones I have in stock Sorry for the rather disgusting story, but I thought it could be helpful.
I’ve been following your blog for a few weeks now, and I like it very much, there’s already lots of recipes I want to try!
All the best
Gabrielle
Thanks so much for the lovely comment Gabrielle! So pleased you’re enjoying reading
That sounds like a horrible experience with the pantry bugs. I better keep a close eye on my supplies….I guess I sort of thought buckwheat galettes = savoury and wheat crepes= sweet but you’re right that there’s no reason I can’t make the galettes sweet. I love the nutty taste of the buckwheat and bet it would be fantastic with chocolate or a choc-hazelnut spread perhaps..?
J’ai étudié le français donc je peux lire votre blog pour pratiquer! J’aime bien le blog Vegan à Montréal aussi. L’auteur écrit en français et j’aime écrire mes commentaires en français
Hi Emma, thanks for the lovely reply!
I’m not strictly vegan but I read a lot of vegan blogs like yours and I am very often positively influenced by them! I had started to write a blog to share my recipes with my family back in France, it evolved with some recipe testing for healthier alternatives and I have yet to translate most recipes to English (and after seeing your perfect written French, I seriously think I should pay more attention to mine… I tend to get very annoyed switching English and French keyboards that I don’t use accents all the time, shame on me!
I’m glad you can read my blog
I’ve read you are moving from Oxford to Bath, good luck with your new life and studies. I am moving soon too, to Bracknell but will work near Oxford. I can’t wait, there must be so many nice places to visit there, and I’ll definitely keep in mind the Lebanese restaurant you just reviewed, it will be a perfect place to bring my parents when they come to visit next month!
A bientôt
Je ne remarquais pas que tu habitais en Angleterre! Votre anglais est parfait! Know the feeling on the keyboard…I often omit accents too.
I’m sure you’ll love Oxford. Definitely try and get to Al Shami!
this is great - I really like buckwheat flour and groats but confess that I have bought groats that have been badly neglected. The groats are great in an oh she glows salad I have tried. I have used buckwheat flour a bit - it is one of the gf flours I really like - I added it to sausages I made this week (will be blogging during mofo)
Looking forward to seeing those sausages. And I haven’t used the groats in a salad yet. Were they sprouted? I love the crisp taste of sprouted buckwheat.
I hoard so many flours, beans, and grains in my pantry as well!
I love buckwheat flour, and this recipe looks so delicious. Looking forward to your month of posts!
Thanks Sophia! Glad I’m not the only hoarder. I’m thinking of doing a photo or video post of my kitchen once I’ve moved into my new place. A little nosy into my pantry!
Awesome idea!
I had buckwheat crepes for the first time ever when I went to Paris, an acquired taste for sure and then in Brittany where I had a go at making my own at our hosts home, they were quite fragile. Lovely recipe. Like you I’ve used teff flour only for injera too.
I need to find some more teff flour recipes! And make more injera!
I’m afraid to make crepes! I just don’t see that ending well for me 😉 I have soooo many different flours in my freezer that I don’t use but buckwheat just happens to be one of the ones I really like, maybe if I get over my fear I’ll try this.
I think it’s basically inevitable for the 1st crepe or 2 to be a dud. Once I accepted that I was much more open to crepe-making!
This looks so good! I love the mushroom filling. I have some unopened buckwheat flower in the pantry, so I’ll have to try this soon.
Thank you! I hope you try and enjoy them
I made something very similar a couple of years ago after a trip to France. But my crepes never looked as elegant as yours.
Aaaw thanks Mihl
i havent used buckwheat much. just in some bakes. those crepes look gorgeous with the savory mushroom filling. great going with the theme
Thanks Richa. There’s definitely a lot more fun to be had with buckwheat!
I’m definitely really good at accumulating flours and other slightly weird pantry items. I like to think of it as a skill, rather than a vice — I mean, I’m usually ready to follow just about any recipe without having to go to the store! That said, I’ve also been working my way (very slowly) through a bag of buckwheat flour, and actually just pulled it out last weekend to make buckwheat pancakes, which I looove.
Oh yes, definitely a skill! I’m yet to make buckwheat pancakes but really want to soon.
I’ve never tried buckwheat flour, but this looks like a terrific recipe to try it out with! Especially that mushroom filling. Yum!
It’s got a lovely nutty taste that I really love
Yum, yum, crepes!! 😀 They look fantastic. And of course I adore buckwheat!! Thanks so much for including my shepherd’s pie recipe in your roundup.
Thanks Ricki. You know I love your recipes. That Shepherd’s pie has got to happen this Autumn