The Long Winter: Almanzo's Buckwheat Pancakes

"Almanzo had stacked the pancakes with brown sugar and he had made plenty of them. Royal had eaten half-way down his stack, Almanzo was nearing the bottom of his, and done tall stack of two dozen pancakes, dripping melted brown sugar, was standing untouched when Pa knocked on the door. Royal opened it. 

'Come in, Mr Ingalls! Sit up and have some pancakes with us!' Royal invited him."

"He was making pancakes, not because Royal could boss him any more but because Royal could not make good pancakes and Almanzo loved light, fluffy, buckwheat with plenty of molasses." 

-The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder

We decided for our book project for The Long Winter we would have buckwheat pancakes. We were also studying the state of Vermont this week so we decided to to have a taste-test with maple syrup, molasses and brown sugar. The results?
The buckwheat pancakes were not very popular, although I remember liking them as a child, so it could have just been that they needed a little less buckwheat flour and a little more sugar in the batter. They tasted a little like cardboard. As far as the toppings go, brown sugar was the favorite topping by far. That might even been a staple in our house for pancakes for now on.