Gluten-Free Buckwheat Waffles

March 3rd came and went — I am 26. Ryan was at work. Patty called at 7:15 exactly as promised. Babcia Rose called and asked if the stand mixer was treating me well and then blessed me in Polish for three minutes. Steve said "twenty-six, huh" which is as I have documented the same speech every year and long may it continue. I made Babcia Rose potato pancakes for my birthday breakfast with the stand mixer, because Babcia Rose said it was cheating and I am choosing to interpret that as a challenge and also she was wrong, the mixer does it beautifully and the pancakes are the same. I ate them with sour cream at the kitchen table in the warm ivory kitchen and called it a celebration.

Ryan surprised me when he got home: he had bought a second hand bread machine he found on Facebook Marketplace for eleven dollars, because apparently his interest in bread making has evolved into wanting automation for certain things. He set it up on the counter next to the stand mixer and said we now have a baking station. I said the kitchen is not that big. He said there is room. There is, barely, room. The warm ivory color helps somehow.

My students came back to in-person five days a week this week, which is the first time since March 2020 that I have had all of them in the room at the same time. I stood at the door on Monday morning watching them come in — masked, yes, distancing markers on the floor — and felt something large and difficult to name. These kids. These specific kids. They made it through a year and they walked in and they went to their spots and we started again. I needed a minute after the first period ended. I took it.

The blog birthday post this week was potato pancakes and what 26 means: a year of learning to cook under pressure, a wedding in three months, a classroom full of kids who came back. That is what 26 means.

The potato pancakes were already spoken for — Babcia Rose’s, and now officially mine — but the spirit of that birthday breakfast, something made carefully and eaten slowly at the kitchen table with sour cream and quiet satisfaction, is exactly what these gluten-free buckwheat waffles carry. They’re a stand mixer recipe too, which felt right: nutty, substantial, a little unexpected, the kind of thing you make when you want the morning to mean something. Twenty-six deserved a proper breakfast, and this is the one I’ll be making on repeat.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or 1 1/2 cups milk with 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, rested 5 minutes)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Non-stick spray or additional butter for the waffle iron

Instructions

Prepare your station. Preheat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In a large bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined.
Separate and beat the eggs. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2–3 minutes. Set aside.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk, melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine wet and dry. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined — a few small lumps are fine. Do not overmix.
Fold in the egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter in two additions, keeping as much air as possible. The batter will be light and slightly thick.
Cook the waffles. Lightly grease the waffle iron with non-stick spray or butter. Pour enough batter to fill the iron (typically 3/4 to 1 cup depending on your iron). Cook until the waffles are golden and crisp and the iron’s indicator light signals doneness, about 4–5 minutes per waffle. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve. Serve immediately topped with sour cream, maple syrup, fresh berries, or whatever makes the morning feel like a celebration.

Nutrition (per serving)

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Waffles — The Birthday Breakfast That Proved Babcia Rose Wrong (Lovingly)