sticky sticky buckwheat.

July 8, 2009

I was testing out a loaf of bread the other day & ran out of starch. It was simply not an option to run up to the grocery store seeing as I had a fine dusting of various flours on my brow and a mixture of eggs, butter, molasses, yeast & other goodies working away in the stand mixer. Since buckwheat has inherently sticky properties I thought I’d try using it as a substitute for half of the starch quantity. The other half came from instant mashed potato flakes. [Kids, don't underestimate the value of those instant potato flakes in your cupboard! They're a great add-in to waffle batter – savory or sweet.]

Long story short: it rose, it baked, it cooled, it was delicious with creamy butter & homemade plum jam.

And despite its deceptive moniker, buckwheat is indeed a gluten-free grain, but, like oats, it can easily be contaminated by shared machinery or nearby glutenous crops. To be safe, put a call in to the manufacturer and ask the important questions GFers know to ask: do you share equipment with wheat products? is your product certified gluten-free? And for more information, check out this great resource that discusses in great detail the details of the one humble grain known as buckwheat.

Filed under: the science of it