Pikelets are one of the first things I learned how to make, besides scones and spaghetti bolognese. Over the years I’ve experimented until I came up with the fluffiest banana pikelets ever – because I was sick of the little dough coasters I kept churning out. I kept eating them though, having a layer of cream thicker than the pikelet itself, but I’d eat it! Especially these banana pikelets, who get their sweetness from ripe bananas.
The trick is self-raising flour AND baking powder, and to flip them before the bubbles that are appearing get too numerous. If you wait until bubbles appear and then burst, you’re not creating the biggest air pockets you can. So as soon as the bubbles appear and the sides look reasonably stable, flip ’em. They rise and get fat and are a hell of a lot better than a dough coaster.
Anyhow, these banana pikelets are baby-sized because they were Abby’s breakfast, but you can make them any size you want. You can also sub bananas for apples, sultanas, chocolate chips, blueberries – anything you like! It’s a good base mixture to go crazy with.
If you’re looking for a healthier option, you can use wholemeal flour, or half-wholemeal, half-white. You can leave out the sugar entirely or use a sugar substitute.
The easiest, fluffiest, and best banana pikelets on the planet. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself! You’ll love the very simple secret.
Scale
Ingredients
1 banana, mashed
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
a couple of drops of vanilla extract
pinch salt
Instructions
Mix everything into a bowl. Lumps are ok. At this point you can leave it to start activating the raising agents so it gets bubbly and produces a lighter result – about half an hour or so, or if you don’t think ahead, like me, just use it straight away.
Melt a little butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Drop a tablespoonfull (for baby sized pikelets) in the pan without touching. For bigger sizes, use two tablespoons and spread it out a bit.
After two minutes or so, bubbles should appear and begin to burst, and the sides of the pikelet should be fairly sturdy. The underside should be starting to brown. Flip carefully, as the top will still be quite gooey and you can quite possibly fling it everywhere, and cook the other side for a minute or so, until underside is golden.
Keywords: easy pikelets, fluffy pikelets, fruit pikelets, banana pikelets,
