Sunday, March 18, 2012

Apple and sultana quinoa pikelets

I always love reading comments, but those left on my green ice cream post were particularly entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of you were enthusiastic about the idea, but had to smile at some of you clearly being more horrified than intrigued...but in a very polite way :-)

It's probably for the best that today's post is green-free and a little more traditional in its focus. Traditional with a twist, mind you, but traditional nonetheless.

The background to this comes from my discovery of quinoa flakes last week:


Quinoa in its standard grain form has become a normal part of my pantry, but I hadn't seen it sold as flakes before. When purchasing it, I had high hopes for using the flakes as I would oats.

Such as, for instance, mixed in with yoghurt:

Quinoa flakes, plan natural yoghurt, plum, apple

However, I had forgotten that quinoa has a slight bitter note to it, whereas oats do not. I also later discovered that quinoa flakes are best cooked before use. Thus, it probably isn't surprising that I didn't really enjoy them raw in unflavoured yoghurt!

I imagine that cooking the flakes into porridge would work much better, but I need cool mornings for porridge and there aren't any on the horizon here just yet. Quinoa flakes can also be cooked into a rice-type dish, as per the more standard quinoa preparation, but I have quinoa for that purpose already.

So. What to do with the near-full box of flakes?

The box itself included a serving suggestion / recipe for quinoa pancakes, and this led me to think of quinoa pikelets. To provide sweetness, apple and sultanas entered the equation. Fruit was something my Mum routinely added to pikelets when she made them for us as children, and I always enjoyed the contrast in texture and flavour.

I had in mind that pikelets were an English creation, and thought I might need to explain their nature to Americans. However, some brief research on the origins of pikelets turned up a few things that I didn't know. Most notably, they are actually unique to Australia and New Zealand, a discovery that took me by surprise.


Australian  pikelets are effectively a small American pancake, with similar ingredients, texture and flavour, but they typically have some sugar or sweetness added to the batter, along with raising agents, whereas pancakes may not.

In contrast, in some parts of England the term pikelet is applied to a variation of crumpets or drop scones, and English pikelets are more like those products than the small pancakes typical in Australia.


How did Australian pikelets go with the addition of quinoa flakes? Well, even better than I had hoped. I certainly don't think I'll be having any trouble finishing off the flakes...in fact, the only problem I had with this recipe was the resulting challenge of not eating all of the pikelets in one go!

Apple and sultana quinoa pikelets
Makes 16 pikelets
Vegan and low in fat
Best served warm, and most enjoyable straight after cooking; however, can be stored in an airtight container for several days

Print recipe

Ingredients
3/4 cup self-raising flour (see note below regarding gluten-free alternatives)
1/4 cup quinoa flakes
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
Egg replacer to the equivalent of 1 egg, or 1 egg (I fully intended to use a chia egg here, but ended up using commercial egg replacer without thinking)
3/4 cup milk (I used soy milk)
1 medium apple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup sultanas (small raisins)

Oil spray for coating the pan


Method
Combine the flour, quinoa flakes and bicarbonate soda in a large mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, prepare your egg replacer or egg. Add to the dry mixture along with the milk, and stir well to combine. Mix through the diced apple and sultanas.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and drop dessertspoonfuls of mixture onto the pan. I did 3 pikelets at a time. Cook until bubbles start to appear (1 - 2 minutes) and then flip and repeat, so both sides are browned. Repeat for the other pikelets.



You could serve these with jam or honey, but I loved them plain. Really, really loved them in fact - the quinoa added a depth of flavour and slight nuttiness, as is typically of the grain, whilst the apple and sultanas provided sufficient but not excessive sweetness. They were fluffy and light, but also slightly thicker than standard pikelets, I imagine due to the quinoa. 


As a final benefit? These take about 20 minutes to prepare and cook.

Which is good, because I can see myself making them on a very regular basis.


If you prefer or require gluten-free recipes, these would also be an easy product to adapt to that purpose. I'm quite keen to try them again with 1/2 cup self-raising flour and a 1/4 cup each of quinoa flakes and oats. I think using oat flour or spelt flour in place of the wheat would work well if desired, but you would need to add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp baking powder to allow them to rise.

Now, are you familiar with pikelets in the above form? Or even an alternative, English version of the product?
Have you tried quinoa flakes in any other ways?

21 comments:

  1. Given that most oats are not GF in Australia I think these might be interesting to substitute for oats - though I tried rice flakes once and they were a disaster so these might need some experimentation

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    1. oh and I love your pikelets - I had thought I had seen packets of pikelets in supermarkets in the UK but now am unsure

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    2. Well, it sounds like the term is applied to a lot of products in a lot of ways, so maybe you did! I'm quite looking forward to checking English pikelets out next time I'm over there.

      I've made a note of rice flakes being a challenging oat substitute, at least in your experience (which is good enough for me!). These did work better than I could have hoped, so I imagine they could be a useful option for GF dishes.

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  2. These pikelets look great! I had never come across pikelets in America, but when I looked at recipes I realized they are just what I grew up knowing as silver dollar pancakes. Love this variation though!

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    1. Isn't it funny how we end up with different terms for the same dishes? I'll know what to look out for if I want pikelets in American now :p

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  3. I have never, ever tasted this oft-proclaimed bitterness in quinoa, not even in these exact flakes! I did find the rolled amaranth I bought disgusting and sour, though, so maybe don't kick me out of the tasting club yet? :)

    Pikelets mean my late grandma to me, although ours were simply plain and sweet and served with butter :)

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    1. My Australian grandma make plain sweet pikelets spread with butter too :) I think it was about the only time I had actual butter spread on something as a child.

      In fairness to quinoa, I've never found the standard cooked grain to be bitter, but then again I've always cooked it in vegetable stock or with plenty of herbs in order to avoid it. Did you try these flakes raw?? I'm keen to discover what they're like in porridge form as I have hopes for them being non-bitter then.

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  4. Yes please, these look great - actually you can add spinach and make green pancakes and they actually taste quite good!

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    1. Now you want spinach :) I'm yet to do green pancakes but have got a few recipes bookmarked!

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  5. I've never used quinoa flakes but I've seen then in the shop. I'm going to give these a try.

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    1. I hope you enjoy them :) I am definitely converted to quinoa flakes in this form.

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  6. I have not heard of pikelets before. I always find it interesting how different cultures use the same word/ name to describe something different. (Like how the fries you get in America will not be the same as the ones you get in Belgium.) I'm sure an Australian who went to England and ordered pikelets off of the menu would be quite surprised!

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    1. I know! I have loved discovering the differences in dishes and names between countries. It's amazing how we can have semi-similar foods presented and titled in so many different ways.

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  7. oh these are so cute! I would love to try them!

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    1. I would recommend them if you do want to give them a try! Although any pikelets are good pikelets really :)

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  8. I love pikelets. S and I literally ate ourselves sick on them one afternoon, they are just too good to stop eating. Adding the quinoa flakes sounds like a great idea and with the apple and sultanas, well I just might have to make these on the weekend.

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    1. You have made me feel better about making these on Saturday and having them completely gone today :p They are too good to stop eating!

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  9. I'm still on a learning curve when it comes to cooking with quinoa because it's a grain I've only recently discovered. I think cooking pikelets with quinoa flakes is a great idea and adding the sultanas and apple would give a lovely sweetness to the pikelets. Great idea!

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    1. I'm on a learning curve too, believe me. This seems to be a good dish for training wheels! It was extremely easy and I did really like the bits of sweeter fruit.

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  10. This is very timely because I have been looking for recipes using quinoa flakes. I found a packet in my pantry recently and tried some in burgers but found their flavour was a bit overpowering. I like the look of your pikelets, might have to give them a try!

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    1. Thanks Mel - glad to have provided a timely recipe (I often feel I'm several steps behind food occasions and trends, so it's a novel feeling)! Interesting to hear the flakes don't work so well in burgers; I'm sure I'll be doing a lot more experimenting with these.

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