The secret to making fluffy banana pikelets

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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 pikelets ever - because I was sick of the little dough coasters I kept churning out. I kept eating them, having a layer of cream thicker than the pikelet itself, but I'd eat it!

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 ones 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. 

Ingredients:

1 banana, mashed

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

a couple of drops of vanilla extract

pinch salt

Directions:

1. 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.

2. 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. 

3. 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.

There you have it. Twenty-five years of trial and error knowledge. Go forth and pikelet!

Unless you have a trick that I should know? Spill!