Buckwheat Pancakes/Crepes

These were good. Really good. I followed this recipe but I cut it down because 3 cups of buckwheat a) exceeds what comes in a 1-pound bag, b) contains all your calories for a whole day and c) is a lot. 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup buckwheat groats (raw, not kasha; I used Bob's Red Mill)

water

salt

fillings!

Put the cup of groats in a large bowl and add a generous amount of water. Let it soak at least 9 hours. (Read more at the link regarding why).  It will get slimy; this is OK. Strain the water out and rinse the slime away, then put the groats in a blender and just barely cover them with water. Add a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth. If you don't think it's quite thin enough, add a smidge more water and blend again. 

Put a nonstick pan over high heat. Melt some butter, and when the foam dies down, pour some batter in. Quickly use a spatula to spread the batter out so it's thinner. Work quickly, because these cook fast. Once the batter sets on the first side, flip. I found these held together very, very well, so flipping was easy. In fact, I'll probably use a thinner batter next time to see if I can get the crepes thinner. Cook on the other side until cooked and a little browned. Set this crepe aside, add more butter to the pan, and repeat until you're out of batter.

I filled ours with Greek yogurt/strawberries/a little sugar for sweet crepes, and melted cheddar and baby arugula for savory. I also filled a leftover small one with Nutella. All of them were really delicious, but play with other filling ideas and see what you like best!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I love pancakes (who doesn't?), but it wasn't until recently that I tried making them with cottage cheese. There are a number of recipes out there with lots of eggs in them, but I can't have eggs, so I've adjusted the idea to come up with something that works for me. I've done these with diced pear before, but blueberries hit the spot today.

INGREDIENTS
140 grams all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum (if using gluten-free flour)
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped fruit (I used frozen blueberries)
butter for the pan

Mix everything together but the fruit and the butter. Start with 1/2 cup milk, but let it rest a minute or two and see if you need to add more milk to loosen and thin the batter (particularly if you're using the xanthan gum). Heat some butter in a nonstick pan and when it's hot, follow your usual method for making smallish pancakes. These are best when 5 inches or less in diameter -- much bigger and they're hard to flip over, especially once the cottage cheese melts! Serve however you like; we had ours topped with Greek yogurt and a little maple syrup.