If you’ve never tried a raw buckwheat smoothie or porridge, or buckwheat in any form for that matter, this yummy recipe is the perfect way for raw buckwheat to make it’s debut in your kitchen.  This smoothie bowl is thick, creamy, satisfying, and tastes like a peanut butter cookie. It’s also loaded with heart healthy fiber, easily digestible complete protein, vitamins, and minerals. More importantly though, it tastes like a peanut butter cookie.

Raw buckwheat is soaked overnight and blended with just a handful of ingredients, for a smooth, luscious, peanut-buttery base. Soaked and dehydrated buckwheat is stirred in and sprinkled over top for a crispy, crunchy, cookie-like effect.

It’s basically dessert disguised as breakfast. Don’t tell the kids, but it’s actually really healthy.

Despite its name, buckwheat isn’t a form of wheat, in fact it’s gluten free, and technically not a grain.That’s right, buckwheat is actually the seed produced by a broad leaf plant in the same family as rhubarb. Buckwheat boasts a higher protein content than cereal grains and holds another important distinction; it also contains a high amount of essential amino acids lysine and arginine. These amino acids bump up the quality of protein in the buckwheat, making it an excellent plant-based protein option, especially for breakfast. Other awesome facts about buckwheat:

• contains more vitamins and minerals than most grains, especially zinc, copper, manganese, and magnesium
• low fat, and the type of fat it does contain is predominantly heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids
• of all cholesterol lowering foods studies to date, (including oats, fruits, and vegetables) buckwheat remains in the top spot
• stabilizes post-meal blood sugar levels, important for preventing type 2 diabetes
• reduces hypertension and enhances cardiovascular health, thanks to lots of antioxidants, and is considered a “blood building” food
• its considerable soluble fiber (similar to oats; excellent for heart health and cancer prevention) content sets it apart from most grains which have mostly insoluble fiber
• good source of “resistant starch” which reduces blood sugar levels and is great for colon health

Buckwheat also feeds your beauty with good to fair amounts of zinc, selenium, pantothenic acid, magnesium, copper, and iron, all great for your skin, and especially helpful for hair growth and appearance.

This smoothie bowl/porridge is so delicious, I have even eaten it for dessert! My picky two and half year old loves this peanut butter buckwheat smoothie, and you can leave out the crunchy buckwheat pieces for a smoother texture if needed. It has no sugar; just one date and a banana lend it the perfect amount of sweetness. Feel free to fancy up your peanut butter cookie smoothie with fresh fruit, chia jam, coconut shreds, a sprinkle of coconut sugar, dairy free chocolate chips, or anything else your little heart desires.

I hope you all enjoy this one as much as we do!

Peanut Butter Cookie Raw Buckwheat Smoothie

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup raw whole buckwheat groats, soaked overnight with enough water to cover by a few inches
• 3/4 cup almond milk, or other plant milk of choice
• 1-2 Tbsp of peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 1 medjool date
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 frozen banana
• for topping and stirring in: soaked and dehydrated buckwheat groats (see notes below)

Instructions:

Drain and rinse your soaked buckwheat groats very well in a fine mesh strainer. Add the buckwheat and all the ingredients besides the frozen banana (and dehydrated buckwheat topping) to your blender. Blend from low to high until completely smooth. Add the frozen banana and blend again until smooth and creamy. Stir in a spoonful or two of crispy dehydrated buckwheat groats and top with a few as well, along with any other toppings of choice.

Notes:

To make soaked and dehydrated buckwheat groats (the crispy part of the Peanut Butter Cookie Smoothie) soak some buckwheat for at least 6 hours or overnight. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Rinse in the morning and drain the water very well, I even pat them lightly with a tea towel. Spread them on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate on low for about 4-6 hours.

I use an old, circa 1990 dehydrator that had been collecting dust in my parents attic storage. It works awesome for dehydrating nuts, seeds, and grains like this. If you’re not ready to purchase an Excalibur, I highly recommend scouring out thrift stores, yard sales, or even just purchasing a cheap one at the store for these types of things. Someday, I hope to have a serious dehydrator, but for now my retro one works great for my purposes.

You can probably dehydrate the buckwheat in your oven, although I’ve never tried it. I wouldn’t do it if your oven doesn’t go below 200 degrees F, because you might end up with toasted buckwheat (known as kasha) which would completely change the taste of this smoothie and any other recipe calling for raw buckwheat. Here is a great post from Yum Universe all about soaking and dehydrating (a.k.a. “Activating”) –> Soaking and Dehydrating Nuts and Seeds

Soaking nuts and seeds, and grains, reduces enzyme inhibitors and makes them much easier for our bodies to digest them and assimilate the nutrients. Soaking and dehydrating is great for when you want to use the grains, nuts, and seeds “dry” as in a raw cookie, as a topping, or to make flour or nut meals.

 

 

Sources:

Buckwheat: World’s Healthiest Foods: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=81

Dr. Perricone’s No. 5 Superfood: http://www.oprah.com/health/Buckwheat-Dr-Perricones-No-5-Superfood

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-health-benefits-of-buckwheat.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-christianson/buckwheat_b_7754674.html