Sunday mornings in our house when I was a child always involved us kids making Mum and Dad breakfast in bed. Of course it was pretty much coffee and cold toast, but as I got older I discovered my love of baking. One of the very first things my Mum ever taught me to make was the Aussie classic, Pikelets! I think every Australian kid grew up on them! Whether it was hot on Sunday morning, straight from the pan, smothered in butter that dripped down your arm. Or cold, again smothered in butter and jam, in the school lunch box the next day. I don’t know about you, but I just KNEW I had to make these babies gluten free. Because hey! We shouldn’t have to miss out either!
Now I know what you’re thinking. Here we go, another list of crazy flours and weird ingredients and 50 minutes to make gluten free pikelets a reality. Nope! These babies are simple. Like, ingredients you already have in your house, simple! So now there really is no excuse to whip them up this Sunday.
Gluten Free Pikelets – The Food of Champions
Pikelets are one of those classic Australian dishes. Most Americans, hey even the Poms, just don’t get it. And yes, before you ask, they are very different from pancakes. Well OK, actually they’re only one ingredient different from a pancake, but I digress! I don’t know about you, but in my home, gluten free pikelets are perfectly acceptable for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea, lunch or even dinner. Because this is Australia after all! (and frankly we’re all just a bit odd down under!… or sold I’m told). So it seemed only fitting that I make a gluten free version. I simply don’t believe in missing out!
It was quite easy to do too. What it comes down to is the fluff factor. Pikelets should be fluffy, but not too fluffy! and just crispy on the edges. So when it came to adapting this recipe I relied on the staple ingredient bicarbonate of soda and a good dashing of lemon juice to make these babies lift. From there, the rest was simple. Basic ingredients like flour, a touch of sugar, melted butter and eggs. All the basics most of us keep laying around the house! Wollah, one easy and quick breakfast the whole family will love!
No Crazy Flour Blends Allowed
Now if you’re a fan of my recipes, you’ll know I try to use easy to find, store bought, gluten free flour blends. Not only is it easier for you, (it’s also waaaaay easier for me too!), but seriously. Who has time for making your own flour blend? When all you want at 7am on Sunday morning is a cup of coffee the size of your head and a pile of gluten free piketlets stacked on your plate. (OK fine, you got me again. Mine pretty much don’t make it to the plate. I eat as I flip!).
My favourite store bought blend at the moment has to be the Be Well and Good range available from IGA. This flour blend has to be one of the most versatile blends I’ve used to date. From the base of my Gluten Free Caramel Slice, to the main ingredient in my Gluten Free Monte Carlos or Gluten Free Melting Moments. This blend does it all. The best part of this recipe though, is that ANY store bought gluten free flour blend will do. Yup. Really.
So whether you simply want to take a little jaunt down memory lane. Or you want to show your grand-kids just how wonderful the classic pikelet can be, or because you’re a die-hard and these babies are LIFE. My Easy Gluten Free Pikelets will be warming your stomach in no time!
Now tell me! How do you take your Gluten Free Pikelets? Covered in jam? Just butter or with shredded apple inside! Let me know in the comments below!
Easy Gluten Free Pikelets
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Milk
- 160 grams Gluten Free Self Raising Flour any brand
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate Soda
- 1 Egg beaten
- 35 grams Butter melted and cooled
- Extra Butter for the pan
Instructions
- In a bowl mix the milk and lemon juice. Set aside to coagulate for a good couple of minutes ( and basically become Buttermilk!). You'll notice it will start to separate the fat slightly once it's ready.
- Melt the butter and set aside for a moment. Allowing the butter to cool slightly before mixing it in will actually make a big difference. Thank you Mr Jamie Oliver for the tip!
- In another bowl mix the flour, sugar and bicarb soda. Make a well in the middle and pour in your cooled melted butter, the egg and 1/2 of the milk.
- Start whisking all the ingredients together. The batter will be very thick at this stage.
- Slowly add the milk, a little bit at a time, continuing to whisk. (You'll get a good arm work out for sure! But it's totally worth it!). Once all the milk is incorporated you'll have a thick, but runny batter that will dollop nicely into a pan.
- Put a large fry pan over a medium heat and add a dollop of butter to the pan to melt. Now add a tablespoon (or so!) of batter in small rounds around your pan, leaving enough room between each to expand.
- Cook for 2 minutes. This batter is very thick, so you may not see the typical bubbles start to form on top. Use an egg slicer to flip each pikelet over and cook for a further 2 minutes. Your pikelets will be golden brown once cooked and will fluffy up nicely.
- Finish with the remaining batter, making your pikelets as big or little as you like! Serve hot with lashings of butter or cold the next day! 😉
Notes
- Want to make these Gluten Free Pikelets into pancakes? Simply leave out the sugar! Wollah!
- These guys also handle converting to Dairy Free as well! Simply use Coconut Milk instead of standard cows milk and Nuttelex instead of butter.
I have some quinoa flakes in the cupboard how can I use them to make slices please Stacey?
Hey Ea,
Hmmm I’m honestly not a huge fan of quinoa flakes to be honest. I’ve tried them as a substitute for oats in a few biscuit recipes like Anzac’s but they’re really not my favourite thing to work with. If you’re looking for slices to use them in, I’d suggest anything seeded or muesli bar like, or even some fruit crumble type slices? Try subbing the quinoa into the base but only use them with other products like flours and seeds etc. Good luck though! If you come up with anything awesome using quinoa flakes let me know! 😉
Thanks,
Stacey
I adore how enthusiastic you are about gluten free baking. My husband was diagnosed several years ago at age 46. I have tried and tried to re-create his favourite cakes and pies but never had much success. I had all but given up when I came across your website. You have given me fresh hope that perhaps I can produce a few successful recipes, that he will actually eat! Thank you and keep doing what you are doing.
Kind regards
Leanne
Hey Leanne!
Oh that’s lovely, thank you. I do hope you’re able to whip your husband up some wonderful treats. If you’re wanting to convert recipes over to GF I definitely recommend starting with my 7 Tips to Nailing GF baking, which I’ll pop the link below for you! It can be tricky to start with, but definitely don’t give up! With the range of products and ingredients available on the market these days you can really create some wonderful GF desserts!
I wish you the best of luck!
Stacey
7 Tips to Nailing Gluten Free Baking
Hi Stacey, when do we add the sugar? I made these but they didnt look like yours. The texture was good and they tasted yummy but mine came out really thin. I added the sugar before the milk. Maybe it’s the flour? Used organ SR flour.
Yummy! Baby aproved too
Like you I ate as I flipped
Cheers
Hey Sommer,
So glad the baby approved 😉 haha
Great pickup on the sugar too, I’ll go add it in now, can’t believe I missed it! Yes you mix it in with all your dry ingredients.
Now if your pikelets didn’t fluff up it could be a couple of things:
1. Bicarb Soda – how old is yours? Bicarb soda and baking powder do go off, and I don’t mean in the past it’s expiry date kind of way. After some time in your pantry both products will start to lose their fizz, and that’s what gives you the fluffy rising action! So check your bicarb soda and baking powder regularly, ideally it shouldn’t sit in your pantry for more than 6 months. Now there’s a really easy way to test if yours is still doing it’s job.
– Test baking powder by adding 1 tsp into a cup with say 1/3 cup of hot water
– Test Bicarb soda by adding 1/4 tsp into a cup and 2 tsp of Vinegar.
Both products should start fizzing right away! If not, your products are old and should be replaced. This would mean anything you use them in is likely not getting much rise at all!
2. The 2nd reason your pikelets might not have risen is the chemical reaction. Baking soda only fizzes when it’s reacting with vinegar or buttermilk (so in this case, the lemon juice and milk). Buttermilk isn’t as readily available here in Australia so we mix the lemon juice with the milk to curdle it and you’ll get the same reaction.
Did you leave your lemon juice and milk for a good couple of minutes? and did it go slightly curdly? Or all else fails just add another 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.
I doubt it would be the flour in this case. You’ll find, (if you look at the ingredients lists on store bought gluten free flour blends) most are very similar in ingredients. It’s the quantities and tiny differences that separate them apart, with pikelets it wouldn’t be enough of a difference to affect your baking. It definitely sounds like you’re missing the lift in your pikelets. Try the tips above and let me know if you have some success or not! We definitely can’t have you eating non fluffy pikelets 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by Sommer,
Stacey xx
Oh and I thought I would mention, I’m filming this recipe for my YouTube channel shortly! So you might be interested in watching it, sometimes there’s little nuances that I do when I bake that aren’t as easy to describe on here. I’ll let you know when it goes up!
https://www.youtube.com/champagnegumboots
I’m new to gluten free and there are limited options for flour here. Tried these with 1/2 corn and 1/2 buckwheat flour. The mix was quite runny but they tasted light and fluffy. Actually liked the slightly chewy/crunchy texture better than normal pikelets!
Hi Gipsy,
Thanks for stopping by, I’m so glad you loved the recipe. So I’m just wondering where abouts you are located?
Interesting choices for flour swaps too, the buckwheat and cornflour would definitely give you some wholegrain and starches, but it’s also what changed the consistency and taste/texture for you. They’re not really meant to be chewy or crunchy. Rice flour is an excellent flour to add into a mix which is what will give you the lightness and right texture for these. If you do need to make your own flour blend have a quick google, there are heaps out there to choose from, and mix up your own. You want a flour blend high in starches like potato and tapioca for a recipe like this.
Or if it’s easier check out some of the amazing online gluten free/health food stores, you can find basic flour blends like Well and Good really easily. Then you won’t have to sub ingredients and you’ll end up with perfect fluffy pikelets every time.
Happy baking!
Stacey
I tripled the recipe to make school snacks but the mix is really thin.
Tastes good but they don’t look like yours.
Any tips?
Thanks
Kelly 😀
Hi Kelly,
Thanks so much for your comment and for stopping by.
So it depends on what you mean by thin. Do you mean the raw batter is really runny and thin? In which case I’d say you need to increase how much flour you’re using. I definitely recommend watching the YouTube video for this recipe, which can be found above in the notes or here below as I give the gram weight for flour needed, I’m fairly heavy handed with this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN1-rSlrbt4&t=1s
If you mean you’re cooking them and they’re not fluffing up thick like mine I recommend checking a couple of things:
– First check how old your SR flour is, if its been sitting in your pantry for 6 months or more it’s likely the baking powder in it has stopped being effective.
– Secondly check your Bicarb soda as well! You can do this by adding a 1/2tsp of Bicarb soda to a couple of Tablespoons of vinegar and seeing if it fizzes. If it doesn’t it needs replacing as its no longer active.
– Thirdly be sure to check you’re using all of the lemon juice as listed as the acid is essential to activating the bicarb soda.
This recipe requires lots of fizzing to get that rising action which is what makes these pikelets soooo fluffy!
Give my tips a shot, definitely check out the video above and let me know if you need anymore help!
Happy Baking,
Stacey xx
An excellent recipe, always double the quantity for me (I need to be gf), and my 2 kids (who don’t)..
Hi Natalie,
Thanks for stopping by. I’m so glad you’re loving the recipe, it’s definitely fabulous. I always double it too 😉 cold pikelets in lunch boxes were my favourite as a kid so I always try and snag a few extras now too!
Happy baking,
Stacey
My family loved these, thanks for the recipe.
The ingredients list calls for 160g flour but the video says 180g. Either way, I needed 220g to get it to thicken up.
I’m going to try the IGA brand you recommend and see if that’s different to the Woolies brand.
Definitely need to double the quantities next time, they were devoured by everyone and mum missed out.
Going to be spending a lot of time on you website I think.
Thanks,
David
Hi David,
Thanks for picking up the error in the video. The weight definitely is 160 grams for the pikelets, however like I said in the video you can always adjust the thickness with more milk. With yours not thickening up I’ve never heard of that problem before, the Woollies blend is definitely very different to Well and Good (I recommend you check out my blog post here for more info https://champagneandgumboots.com.au/gluten-free-flour-australia/). That could be a result of the cheap filler flours Woollies use. But there’s an easy way around this, as the recipe states you mix the milk in slowly. So when you reach the desired consistency (a thick batter) you would simply stop adding milk. By adding more flour to milk you’re unbalancing the other flavours (sugar) and the raising agents too (you would’ve had to add more Bicarb soda to get really good lift).
I’m glad everyone enjoyed them, doubling is an excellent idea! Plus cold leftover pikelets the next day is always the best!
Thanks for stopping by and happy baking,
Stacey