Tag: Buckwheat

BuckaRoo Brekkie Loaf

This bread is full of goodness and is a different way to incorporate buckwheat into your diet. The inspiration for this loaf came from a Buckwheat, banana and brazil nut bread recipe by Hanna Sillitoe from her book ‘Radiant’.  I hadn’t thought of using buckwheat in this way before and I was intrigued. My intention was to bake her recipe but I didn’t have any bananas or brazil nuts in the house so I decided to experiment and one thing I do have ALOT of at the moment is rhubarb.   The result is this mix of Buckwheat, Rhubarb, nuts and seeds.

BuckaRoo Brekkie Loaf

buckaroo loaf2

  • 150g Buckwheat groats
  • 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil (or coconut or olive oil)
  •    Pinch Salt
  •   100g pitted dates – chopped
  • 150g mix of nuts and seeds (I used almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds)
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • 2 tablespoons flax seeds
  • 180g Rhubarb
  •   1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
  •   100g oats
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Method

  • Line a 450g loaf tin with baking paper.
  • Wash the buckwheat and put into a pan with enough water to cover, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.  Check the water – I needed to add a bit more during cooking to stop it sticking.  Drain off any excess water and leave to cool.
  • Cut the rhubarb into thin sticks (1cm thick and approx. 7cm long – check they fit into your loaf tin width ways) and toss with the coconut palm sugar.
  • In a food processor blitz the dates, nuts and seeds, chia and flax seeds, oats and cinnamon until well combined. Add the buckwheat and maple syrup and blend until combined.  The dough will be dry and coarse but will squish together.
  • Line the bottom of the tin with half the sticks of rhubarb, then add half the bread mixture. Lay the other half of the rhubarb sticks on top. Finally add the rest of the bread mixture and firm down.
  • Bake 180c/350f/Gas 4 for 40 minutes.
  • Leave to cool slightly in the tin before removing and letting it cool completely.

Delicious with almond butter and banana.  Also nice with a dollop of yoghurt on top.

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Triple Choc Buck Granola

Still on the chocolate theme and this time it’s a dark chocolate granola which is decadent but oh so full of antioxidants with all that lovely cacao and not too sweet, in fact it’s more on the bitter side in a really good way.  This is an oat free granola using just buckwheat and quinoa flakes.  It’s the first time I’ve used buckwheat in granola and it gives a welcome nutty crunch and texture.

You need to store this in the fridge because of the chocolate content.  I’ve been sprinkling it on yoghurt and fruit for brekkie.

Triple Choc Buck Granola

triple choc buck granola

  • 100g buckwheat
  • 50g quinoa flakes
  • 50g raw cacao
  • 50g cacao nibs
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom
  • 50g hazelnuts (whole)
  • 50g pecans (broken up)
  • 50g coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 100g dried cranberries
  • 25g finely grated dark chocolate

Mix the buckwheat, quinoa flakes, raw cacao, the nibs, cardamom and nuts in a bowl.

Melt the coconut oil in a pan and add the maple syrup.  Pour this over the buckwheat mixture to coat it well.  Spread this mixture onto a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes – stirring it up every 10 minutes.  170c/320f/Gas 4.

Take it out of the oven and mix through the cranberries and grated dark chocolate.  Leave it to cool and then put it in a container in the fridge.  Worth waiting for at least 30 minutes for it to really chill down in the fridge before you tuck in as it allows the chocolate to really harden up and clump it all up a bit.

Buck hazelnut bowl

My usual milks are almond or coconut but I fancied trying some different nut milks so have been using hazelnut milk.  The idea for this bowl came from eating a Cadbury’s fruit and nut bar – that lovely mix of raisons, hazelnuts and chocolate. The banana adds more creaminess and the dates give a tiny hint of caramel.

You could really be decadent and replace the cacao nibs with some milk chocolate chips or small buttons – but for now I’m sticking to the slightly healthier option.

The texture is like a thick smoothie with added crunchy bits – best eaten with a small spoon to savour each mouthful!

Buck hazelnut bowl (serves one)

Buck fruit and nut

  • 50g buckwheat – soaked in water overnight and then rinsed
  • 100ml hazelnut milk
  • 1 banana
  • 3 dates (I used Deglet nour which are a little smaller than medjool – so if you use medjool you probably only need 1 or 2)
  • Cacao nibs
  • Raisons
  • Hazelnuts

Blend the buckwheat, banana, dates and hazelnut milk.  Put the mixture into a bowl or glass and stir through some cacao nibs, raisons and whole hazelnuts. Then put a few more on the top to decorate.  I used a very generous sprinkle of cacao nibs, around 25g raisons and about 10 hazelnuts.

Pear & Fennel Buck Bowl

Buckwheat fennel bowl

I’ve been using buckwheat for a little while now mainly cooking risottos with it. However I recently discovered that soaking and blending it (no cooking) creates a fabulous creamy dish.

Deliciously Ella and Oh She Glows have some lovely buckwheat porridge recipes so I’ve been inspired to experiment. This week I’ve also been pondering fennel. On Tuesday I had an energy bar that had fennel seeds in and I loved the slight aniseed hit that it gave.  I’m not a great fan of strong aniseed but this was lovely.

So I’ve been thinking about how to incorporate this into a breakfast dish.  Subtlety is the key and I think that raw blended buckwheat makes the perfect base for including more delicate flavours.

It’s quite a small amount compared to my usual bigger bowls of porridge, but it’s surprisingly filling and tastes wonderfully creamy.  I did add some maple syrup to mine as I was craving sweetness today, but the dish works without this too.

Pear and Fennel Buck Bowl (serves one)

Buck pear with maple

  • 50g buckwheat – soaked overnight – it won’t work if they aren’t soaked.
  • 1 pear
  • 2 tbsp. natural yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp. almond milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds – grinded in a pestle and mortar
  • 4-5 walnuts

Drain and rinse the buckwheat. In a blender or food processor blend the buckwheat, 1/2 the pear, the yoghurt and almond milk.  Put into a bowl and stir through the ground fennel seeds, the rest of the pear diced up and the walnuts crumbled in.   Decorate with some walnuts and a few extra whole fennel seeds if you fancy a bit more aniseed.   Drizzle over some maple syrup if you fancy more sweetness.