Pikelets are as Australian as meat pies and Lamingtons. Quick to make – less than 20 minutes from start to finish – these mini pancakes are a delightful breakfast, or as a snack at any time of the day. These are really EASY Pikelets, I promise! Serve them with copious amounts of strawberry jam and cream for the true Aussie experience!
PIKELETS – an Aussie favourite!
It wasn’t until I was in my 20’s that I learned that pikelets are actually a very Aussie thing. I grew up thinking that kids all over the world were snacking on pikelets and begging their mums to make them for breakfast.
But actually, while they are well known in Australia and New Zealand (and apparently in Scotland???), the rest of the world is sadly deprived of pikelets.
Do you know what pikelets are? They are just mini pancakes! I don’t play favorites, I LOVE my pancakes, but the great thing about pikelets is that they can be eaten with your hands. It would be weird to daintily eat pikelets with a knife and fork. Just plain wrong!
The other little thing I want to share with you other than a little intro to essential Aussie grub is this very important cooking tip 😉 :
HOW TO MAKE THE FIRST PANCAKE PERFECT
Anyone who has made pancakes before would know that the first pancake comes out quite splotchy and sometimes a tad soggy, rather than perfectly light and fluffy and a beautiful golden brown. In fact, I even saw an episode of Brunch with Bobby Flay where he spoke of this exact problem.
It’s so childish of me, but I felt immense satisfaction with the knowledge that I knew something about cooking that Bobby Flay doesn’t know – that you can make the first pancake perfect, every single time.
All you need to do is melt butter in a non stick skillet, then wipe it off with a paper towel before putting the batter in the skillet. It’s a little trick I picked up from the clever folk over at America’s Test Kitchen. The pikelets in the skillet in the photo above are the first batch. They came out perfectly, just like this:
Pikelets are so popular in Australia, they are actually sold at supermarkets. It baffles me why anyone would ever buy them! I tried them once out of curiosity and they actually taste artificial. They have a weird fake vanilla-egg flavour.
But putting that, they cost a few dollars for a pack of 6 or so, whereas it would cost maybe $1 to make a dozen at home, with the added bonus that they taste so much better. And they are so fast to make, plus easier to handle in the skillet than pancakes.
An essential part of experiencing pikelets the true Aussie way is to serve them with copious amounts of jam and cream. Or lashings of butter. I’m partial to the jam and cream myself. 🙂
So whether for breakfast, for a snack, or a treat for company, I hope you give these easy Pikelets a go! And I hope you have a great weekend! – Nagi x
More Aussie favourites
-
Scones – and Lemonade Scones 3 ingredient shortcut scones!
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Pikelets
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups / 185g plain flour (Note 1)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup / 185ml milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extra (optional)
- 2 tsp butter
To Serve
- Strawberry jam and cream (heavy cream, whipped) or butter
Instructions
- Whisk flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, add egg, milk and vanilla. Whisk until the batter is almost lump free - a few small ones is ok. The batter should be the consistency in between maple syrup and tomato sauce - see photo above in post.
- Melt butter in a NON STICK skillet over medium high heat. Then WIPE all the butter off with a paper towel so there are no visible drops of oil. This is how the first batch comes out beautifully golden instead of splotchy.
- Place 2 tbsp of batter (or 1/2 filled ice cream scooper which is what I use) into the skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface (see photo) then flip and cook the other side until golden (usually around 1 - 1 1/2 minutes). Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve warm with jam and cream, or butter!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
I spy with my little eye….evidence that Dozer’s been snacking on pikelets…… 😉 Actually, I was training him to not touch food until I give the command. He absolutely hates practicing that which is why his face is turned away, refusing to look at the pikelet or the camera. Usually he just gets up and walks away from the food, that’s how much he detests it!
Duncan Wilson says
Took me straight back to childhood again! I love your recipes (well, at least all those I’ve tried so far). X
Tracey Hastings-Ward says
THANK YOU!!!
Jenny says
I love a good Pikelets and these were great
Nelly says
Found out about these, while following another recipe here. So I had to try them right away, wasnt even done with the Crumpets, that I had started the pikelets 😅
Glad I did, discovered something delicious!
Bisous from Geneva, Switzerland ☺
Elaine says
I only ran across your site today, and I am excited to try many of the recipes. Tomorrow I will try the Butter Chicken recipe, and perhaps a dessert. I am going to my daughter’s for Thanksgiving weekend so hope to try out several recipes while visiting. I live in Canada, Saskatchewan to be exact. ☺️ I will let you know how I make out tomorrow after supper.
Andrew Petri says
Thankyou kindly for adding me to your mailing list looking forward to more of your tasty recipes
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Andrew!! N x
Jo says
Actually pikelets as shown here are extremely common in England as well, they just have a different name. Usually called mini pancakes or weirdly scotch pancakes and exactly the same as an Australian or NZ pikelet – I say weirdly though because in Scotland, a pikelet is a completely different thing. A pikelet in Scotland is like a mini, flattened crumpet. So pikelets – with a different name, have been in the UK longer than in Australia or NZ, but they are not as popular
Dalecia at nz says
hi my name is Dalecia an I am 9 years old and I am going to try it at school for my ST(RE)AM that we are bowing is pikelets
Charlene says
My husband and I love the recipe. It came out great and I will make it again.
Joeanne says
I love this recipe, thankyou! I doubled the ingredients,which I can use for breakfast for my kids this week before school.
Lylrosy says
Hi Nagi , thanks for all tge wonderful work you’re doing been learning a lot from you especially on ig anyway pls whats the difference between pikelets and panncakes and i see a slight similarity to crumpets , would love to hear from you, thanksgiving
Caz says
Hello I tried melting the butter and wiping off and it was a success
My mum came from Scotland and we grew up loving Pikelets
I also love your recipes
Prudence says
Love this recipe! Best pikelet recipe I’ve ever found. I make this several times a week for the kiddos. It’s also delish with a couple ripe bananas mashed into the batter if you want to omit the sugar
Veronika says
1st try & some came out flat other came out fluffy? Lols but tasted nice
Doris Browne says
Hi Nagi
Have just made these yummy pancakes for my grandchildren and they’re disappearing very quickly just plain with no jam or cream!
Sam says
Hi Nagi , can I make the mix today and save unused batter for tomorrow or will it not really work ?
Nagi says
Hi Sam, unfortunately you can’t, once you’ve mixed the wet ingredients you will have activated the raising agent and you need to cook them. You can always cook the pikelets ahead of time and then microwave to reheat the next day. N x
Patricia says
Hi Navi. Hope you and Dozer are coping ok.
I made these pikelets with only a smidge of sugar to use as base for smoked salmon and creme fraiche appetiser for Christmas Day. Topped with a little finely chopped chives They are the perfect texture. And they were wolfed down quickly. I do think these are the best ones I’ve made so thank you
Rosemarie Boyd says
I’ve been making these for over 30 years. I serve them more as a cross between an English muffin and a crumpet. Totally worth the effort and more
Cat says
The only pikelet recipe you’ll ever need. They turn out perfect everytime.
Lisa says
Hi Nagi would you be able to let me know how much ingredients to make about 4-6 of these, for one person, using S.R flour? I’m not very good at working out how to cut down on ingreds to get less servings 🙈
Nagi says
Hi Lisa, you can click the servings and then scale it down. All the ingredients will adjust for you! N x