Buckwheat Pancakes (for real maple syrup lovers only)

A couple of months ago, I took a last minute trip home to New York. The weekend was full but we managed to find time on a dreary Sunday morning to go on a road-trip for pancakes . . . an hour-long road-trip.

Now, if you think it sounds absurd to drive an hour for some pancakes, you are not alone. This is what I thought as we drove through the smallest, most desolate towns you can imagine. But people don't drive an hour and wait hours more in line for just any pancakes with just any syrup.

We New Yorkers take our syrup seriously. Vermont gets all of the credit for real maple syrup, but, in my totally-biased opinion, New York maple syrup is even better. Since you can't get in in Utah, my wonderful mother regularly mails me bottles of it to adorn my homemade pancakes and waffles.

Making its own maple syrup right on sight, the Maple Tree Inn in Angelica, NY serves all-you-can-eat buckwheat pancakes . . . and not much else. Knowing that buckwheat is gluten-free, I asked the waitress if there was also wheat flour in the pancakes. Sadly, there was. So, I ordered some eggs, disappointed, and a maple shake--In upstate New York, you can order a milkshake filled with syrup for breakfast and no one will judge you. It's a beautiful thing--But I still longed for pancakes. So I made some buckwheat pancakes for myself, and for you wonderful fellow gluten-free people who love real maple syrup almost as much as I do.

Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes
makes about eight-4" round pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, separated

In a medium bowl, whisk together buckwheat flour, cornstarch, baking powder baking soda, and salt. Add buttermilk, 1/2 cup water, and 2 egg yolks and stir just until combined.

In a separate, clean bowl, whisk egg whites to stiff peaks. Slowly and gently stir egg whites into buckwheat mixture.

In a skillet or frying pan, heat a bit of neutral-tasting oil (I used cannola) and butter together over medium heat (it should only be a thin layer). Drop pancake batter by the 1/4 cup into greased pan. Turn when bubbles form around the outside and cook until done.

Serve with real maple syrup only. Or else.