Sprouted buckwheat. It’s my new best friend at the moment, and I’m having a quiet love affair with it in, well pretty much everything.
Since last December I’ve been playing with it in various incarnations and there is yet be a combination that I haven’t liked. I’ve put it in bread, alive granola, a base for tarts, raw energy ball snacks, porridge, pancakes and smoothies. Plus a few experiments with pizza bases, cakes and biscuits. Really, I think the possibilities for these little stars would be endless.
So what’s so good about it and why would you bother sprouting it?
– It’s gluten free.
– It’s super easy to sprout, (given reasonably warm conditions, it can sprout within 24 hours.)
– It’s considered a super food and has a low glycemic index.
– Sprouted it is full of live enzymes and nutrients.
– High in iron and protein, and acts like a grain but isn’t a grain.
– Great for balancing blood sugar levels and has been linked with stabilising cholesterol.
– It’s also incredibly versatile when it comes to making and baking.
How to sprout buckwheat
You’ll need a glass jar, some muslin and a rubber band or alternatively one of these fancy pancy sprouting jars, and raw buckwheat (not roasted).
Rinse your buckwheat.
Leave it to soak in tepid water for about 2 hours, (twice the amount of water to buckwheat.) Buckwheat will swell.
Rinse again, getting rid of any of the slimyness that might have built up (starch). Drain, turning it upside down. Keep rinsing and draining every 6 hours until little tails appear. (In warmer weather this can take as little as 24 hours.) Make sure it’s well drained as you don’t want it to go mouldy. Wait until their tails are the same length as the groat.
And that’s it. Depending on what you are you using it for. You can halt the sprouting process by popping it in to the freezer, or dehydrating if you aren’t quite ready to use it there and then. I don’t have a dehydrater but have used the second shelf of my oven while cooking something at a slow temperature with the same effect (see top picture.)
An incredibly versatile food that is rich in nutrients and other health benefits. Easily accessible, (check in your local health food store) giving a little nutty texture to any food you decide to pop it into. So not hippy food at all, just a simple food item that really, I can’t get enough of at the moment.
Now get sprouting people.
Alive Granola
200g sprouted dehydrated buckwheat
150g dates
100g coconut
100g linseed
100g sunflower seeds
50g sesame seeds
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Pulse everything in a mixer and eat instead of a boxed cereal.
cityhippyfarmgirl 
Great idea! It certainly sounds versatile and healthy indeed
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so very versatile and healthy 🙂
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I like the idea of doing this Brydie, I’ve seen buckwheat flour at the little local health food store but not dehydrated buckwheat probably because I haven’t looked for it! So it’s the grain I should look for?
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No, it’s raw that you want Rose, and you should be able to find it easily at your local health food shop too. It can also be cooked up like rice, if you don’t want to sprout it. It gives a lovely moist loaf to your bread when you pop it in.
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Ah, that makes sense, the raw of course is what you would need for sprouting. Thank you.
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I’ve eaten it ground (in a flour mixture) and had the groats roasted and eaten them ( a little like popcorn or corn nuts) but I’ve never tried sprouting them. They are supposed to be very good for diabetics. Maybe I’ll give them a try.
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They are supposed to be really good for diabetics Heidi. You could also use just cooked if you didn’t want to sprout them as well. A super duper food! 🙂
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I’m going to see if I can order some 🙂
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Let me know how you go Tandy.
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I think we might still have to call it hippy food, but there is nothing to be ashamed of in hippy food 😉 I haven’t jumped in to sprouting yet but this is the first post I’ve read that may push me to do so – thanks for the step by step instructions and for demystifying the process!
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Kari, last year I thought sprouting was for the hard core hippies who clearly had far too much time on their hands….I stand so very corrected and it really is super easy.
It’s a perfect marriage for vegan/raw food foods too.
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I’m going to ask my MIL about this! Not because she’s a hippy, I think she mentioned this and your post has intrigued me!
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Sounds like something I should be doing. Certainly sounds like something I should be eating.
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I love the idea of making your own sprouts. I constantly admire them at the farmer’s market, I will definitely try this in the near future!
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Time to add “Buckwheat Groats” (and an explanation of what a “Groat” is to my shopping husband 😉 ) to the shopping list! Cheers for the info and the great recipe 🙂
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I didn’t know it was gluten free. And your bread looks so good. I would like to try baking this loaf. And that cereal sounds like a great way to start the day xx
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If it is baked into something I am all for it – ha! – YUMMERS!!!
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Yay, I am so glad that someone else is as obsessed as me Brydie! I’ve been sprouting everything at the moment (I am pretty sure my husband thinks I’ve gone mad) and buckwheat is definitely my favourite. It’s so delicious and I feel like I’m doing my body good every time I eat it. (P.S I think I killed my sourdough starter by going on holidays and not feeding it. Is this possible? Me sad!)
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Laura it does feel good doesn’t it. It’s like your body quietly salutes you whenever you take a mouthful.
Starter?….stay with it!! Don’t toss it out. Take a very small portion of it from the bottom (if it’s mouldy, crusty, purple, liquidy up top) and feed it from the small portion. The longer you were away, the longer it will take to get back. Email me, if you want some help 🙂
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