Buckwheat pancakes have a place in the American imagination, but rarely at the breakfast table. When you do occasionally find them at restaurants, the percentage of buckwheat flour is so low that you can hardly taste it. Which is a shame, because the warm, toasty, nutty flavor is delicious.

You can easily substitute up to 50% buckwheat flour in any pancake recipe and it will be fine but possibly a little flat. I counteract that tendency with buttermilk, which adds a lot of leavening power. Pancake batter should be fairly thick so that it has time to rise instead of spread when poured on the griddle.

Pancakes are a great way to introduce children to cooking because the mixing is fun, they are ready to eat in minutes, and most kids love them. Making them from scratch teaches your munchkins the value of home-cooked instead of pre-packaged foods, and it gives you the opportunity to make them from healthier ingredients. When we don’t make buckwheat, we’ll use a mixture of half whole-wheat pastry flour and half unbleached white flour, which is also delicious.

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