Pikelets

Name: Pikelets
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 150 g all-purpose flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 30 g sugar; ¼ tsp salt; 1 egg; 180 ml milk; 15 g butter, melted, plus a little for the pan; 80 g jam (optional)

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

Small, thick, fluffy griddle cakes cooked in spoonfuls and eaten warm or cold with butter and jam. A quick morning-tea staple in Australia and New Zealand.

Pikelets is an Australian sweet, ready in about 35 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and milk. It serves 5 and is rated beginner to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 20 min
Rest: 5 min
Total: 35 min
Serves: 5
Level: Beginner
Calories: 192

Ingredients

5 servings (about 20 pikelets)

150 g All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Contains wheat, gluten
2 tsp (9 g) Baking powder (opens in a new tab)
30 g Sugar (opens in a new tab)
¼ tsp (1.5 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
1 (50 g) Egg (opens in a new tab)Contains eggs
180 ml Milk (opens in a new tab)Contains milk
15 g Butter (opens in a new tab), melted, plus a little for the panContains milk
80 g Jam (opens in a new tab) (optional)To serve, with butter or whipped cream.

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Whisk (opens in a new tab) the flour, baking powder (opens in a new tab), sugar (opens in a new tab) and salt. Whisk the egg (opens in a new tab) and milk (opens in a new tab), pour into the dry ingredients with the melted butter (opens in a new tab) and whisk just until smooth; the batter should be thick enough to hold a soft mound. Rest 5 minutes.
How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels
2
Step 2
Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium-low heat and wipe with a little butter (opens in a new tab). Drop in level tablespoons of batter, spaced apart, to make 6–7 cm rounds.
- 2 min
- medium-low heat
- Frying pan / skillet (opens in a new tab)
- Griddle / tawa (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir on Pexels
3
Step 3
Cook about 1½ minutes until bubbles rise and begin to pop on the surface and the edges look dry, then flip and cook 1 minute until golden. Repeat with the rest, keeping cooked pikelets wrapped in a clean tea towel.
- 18 min
- medium-low heat
- Spatula (opens in a new tab)
4
Step 4
Serve warm or at room temperature, spread with butter (opens in a new tab) and jam (opens in a new tab).
- 1 min
How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Not attributed to one place · Origin uncertainIn Australia and New Zealand 'pikelet' means this small thick pancake; in parts of Britain the same word is used for a thin crumpet-like yeasted bread.Also popular in Australia, New Zealand
Dish: Breakfast · Snack · Sweets & confectionery
Cooking method: Pan-fried
Taste: sweet, buttery, mild
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Child-friendly · Budget-friendly · Everyday · Freezer-friendly
Cook more with: All-purpose flour · Milk · Baking powder · Sugar · Egg · Butter
Techniques: Pan-frying

Allergens

Contains: Milkfrom milk, butter
Contains: Eggsfrom egg
Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

192 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 84 g · recipe makes 5

Where the energy comes from

Protein 12%
Carbohydrate 65%
Fat 23%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	192 kcal	228 kcal
Protein	5.5 g	6.6 g
Carbohydrate	31.2 g	37.2 g
Net carbohydrate	30.4 g	36.2 g
Sugars	8 g	9.5 g
Added sugars	6 g	7.1 g
Fibre	0.8 g	1 g
Fat	4.9 g	5.8 g
Saturated fat	2.6 g	3.1 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	47 mg	56 mg
Sodium	355 mg	422 mg
Salt equivalent	0.9 g	1.1 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 96 mg
Calcium: 157 mg
Iron: 1.8 mg
Magnesium: 12 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 54 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0.7 µg
Vitamin B12: 0.3 µg
Folate (DFE): 94 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
Optional ingredients are not included: jam.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Wrapping cooked pikelets in a tea towel keeps them soft.

Common mistakes

Too high a heat browns the outside while the middle stays raw.

Serve with

Serve with butter and jam, or with whipped cream and berries.

Storage

Airtight 2 days; freeze up to 1 month.

Reheating

Toast briefly or warm in the microwave for 10 seconds.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-purpose flour150 g
Egg1 piece · 50 g
Milk180 ml · 185 g
Butter, melted, plus a little for the pan15 g

Used in step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 10 min
Mix only until no dry flour remains — overmixing makes it tough and tunnelled.
Rest · about 5 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 20 min
Risen and golden; a skewer in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs; the top springs back.
Start to finish: about 35 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

Gummy or wet crumb
Likely causes
- Under-baked
- Sliced while hot
- Hydration too high for the flour
What to do
- Bake to 93–96 °C inside (cakes: clean skewer)
- Cool completely on a rack before slicing
- Reduce water by 3–5% or use a stronger flour
Collapsed or sunken middle
Likely causes
- Oven door opened too early
- Too much leavening or sugar
- Under-baked centre
- Over-proofed yeast dough
What to do
- Don't open the oven for the first two-thirds of baking
- Measure leaveners exactly with spoons, levelled
- Test the centre before removing
- Proof less
Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Cracked or domed top
Likely causes
- Oven too hot (crust sets before the centre rises)
- Too much leavening
- Overmixed batter
What to do
- Lower the oven 10–15 °C
- Use the exact leavening amount
- Fold just until combined
Big holes or tunnels
Likely causes
- Overmixed batter (cakes, muffins)
- Air trapped while shaping bread
- Uneven proof
What to do
- Mix quick breads only until no dry flour shows
- Degas gently and shape tightly
- Proof covered in an even, warm place
Dry or crumbly
Likely causes
- Too much flour (scooped, not weighed)
- Over-baked
- Too little fat or sugar
What to do
- Weigh flour, or spoon it into the cup and level
- Check 5 minutes early
- Don't cut fat or sugar by more than a quarter without another moisture source

Reviews & corrections

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