Buckwheat flour is a powder ground from the grain known as buckwheat.
There are two forms of buckwheat flour, light and dark. The light one is made with hulled buckwheat; the darker flour is made from unhulled and has dark flecks from the hull. The dark one, naturally, also has more fibre.
Buckwheat flour is very low in gluten, and so must usually be mixed with wheat flour in order to make any breads, quick breads or noodles. It also has a greyish tint to it that will come through in some of your baking. Its strong flavour can be overwhelming, and the flour is somewhat gritty, so use it sparingly and in combination with other flours. Generally, use no more than ⅓ buckwheat flour to ⅔ wheat flour; the usual recommendation is ⅕th.
The flour’s use is varied: in America, the most common use is pancakes, in Asia, it’s noodles. The flavour can be great in pancakes and some breads.
Cooking Tips
The Japanese use buckwheat flour for soba noodles. North Americans and Bretons in France like to use it for pancakes.
Substitutes
Use a blender to grind whole white buckwheat groats until it becomes flour. Or try another non-wheat flour for a different taste, or just use all-purpose flour.
Nutrition
Buckwheat Flour is approximately: 63% carbohydrate, 11.7% protein, 2.4% fat, 9.9% fibre, 11% water and 2% minerals.
Contains a small amount of gluten, so is not gluten free.