Bring a little bit of England into the kitchen with this Crumpet Recipe. These Crumpets only take a few simple ingredients to make this delicious English snack.
Make your favorites at home! Instead of going out, try these Crumpets, Homemade Soft Pretzels, or your own Apple Cider Donuts.
Crumpet Recipe
A few years ago, I was gifted a cookbook – Good Food, Good Life by Curtis Stone. If you know me and my love of cookbooks, you would know that this is a perfect gift for me.
While I was looking through the cookbook, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a recipe for crumpets. You see, just the weekend before, I was in Seattle for just under 24 hours. I was on a mission to try as many places as I could, and one of those places was The Crumpet Shop in Pike Place Market. It was at that restaurant that I tried a glorious crumpet that was topped with ricotta and lemon curd. It was my last stop, and I almost didn’t stop because the line was long and I was so full, but it ended up being probably my favorite thing that I ate. So needless to say, I had to make the crumpets.
What is a crumpet?
A crumpet is a small griddle cake, usually made with just flour, water or milk, and yeast. Crumpets traditionally come from the United Kingdom, eaten for breakfast or with afternoon tea, depending on the region.
The crumpets of today are no doubt different than when they first originated, but that doesn’t make them any less delicious! Crumpets are soft and almost spongy – the holes that form are the perfect vehicle for butter, honey and/or jam. They almost remind me of a fatter pancake with lots and lots of holes and crevices.
The Difference Between a Crumpet and an English Muffin
They may look somewhat similar, but crumpets and English muffins are not the same. While English muffins and crumpets are both a type of griddle cake, English muffins are breadier, and a lot dryer.
The dough/batter for each is also very different. Crumpets have a looser batter, more like a pancake batter, while English muffins are made from a dough. And just as a technicality, English muffins are split in half when they are eaten, while crumpets are not.
Here in the United States, English muffins can be found at any grocery store, but I have never seen crumpets sold at our grocery stores. (They might be found in some regions, but they are definitely not as easy to find as English muffins!)
Ingredients
- Milk: I have only ever made these with 2% milk. But I did have a reader say that using water will give you even taller crumpets!
- Sugar: The salt will help with not only activating the yeast, but it helps with color and structure of the crumpets.
- Yeast: I use active dry yeast, but instant yeast should work as well.
- Flour: You need all-purpose flour.
- Salt: The salt will help balance the flavors. I usually use sea salt.
- Water: This will get mixed into the risen batter. Try to use room temperature water.
- Baking Soda: This gives the crumpets an extra little lift when the go onto the heat.
How to Make Crumpets
These crumpets do take a little bit of time to make, but they are pretty simple.
STEP 1: Combine your milk, sugar and yeast and allow the yeast to bubble up and foam.
STEP 2: Add the flour and mix in until the mixture is smooth. You will have a batter that is almost stretchy. Cover the bowl and set it aside to rise until the mixture has doubled and the batter is bubbly.
STEP 3: Once the batter has risen, stir together your water and baking soda.
STEP 4: Add the water mixture to the dough and mix. It will seem like it doesn’t want to mix in at first, but just keep mixing until it is incorporated.
STEP 5: Then you will let it sit again for about 30 minutes. All of this waiting is to make sure your crumpets will end up with lots of little nooks and crannies for butter and jam. 🙂
STEP 6: Heat a griddle or a skillet, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place your rings on the griddle, and make sure your rings are sprayed as well so that the crumpets will not stick. Pour your batter into the mold and allow the batter to bubble up and cook for 10-12 minutes.
STEP 7: Use tongs to remove the ring. You can then flip the crumpet over to cook quickly on the other side, only about 1 minute. Traditionally, crumpets are not cooked on both sides, but I like to cook that second side very briefly if I’m eating them right away. If I’m saving them for another day, I won’t flip the crumpet, but I will toast them before serving.
STEP 8: Serve your crumpets with lots of butter, honey, or jam!
Tips and Tricks
- Because crumpets are made with a looser batter, you do have to have a special ring to make them. There are rings that you can order online, called a crumpet ring, English Muffin ring, or egg ring. I bought these on Amazon. (affiliate link) I bought 2 packages, and the minimal investment was totally worth it. Because these babies are good.
- Make sure to keep the heat on medium-low. The crumpets will cook through on the one side, so if your crumpets are burning, you’re heat is on too high.
- Make sure to grease the rings – otherwise, the crumpets will stick.
- If you make these ahead of time, you’ll want to toast them before serving so that the outsides are crisped up.
- Crumpets can also be frozen. Again, once they are thawed, you’ll want to toast them before serving.
- I love to eat these with a bit of butter and honey, but as I mentioned above, the first time I had a crumpet it was served with ricotta and lemon curd, and it was divine! They also topped them with all kinds of things, like eggs, pesto, and even smoked salmon.
More fun breakfast recipes:
The breakfast recipe we make the most at our house is pancakes, and I really believe that this is the Best Pancake Recipe.
But if my husband were to choose a favorite, it would be this Best Waffle Recipe.
Perfect for a weekend or a holiday, I love this Overnight French Toast Casserole.
If you are a muffin lover, try these Cinnamon Muffins or Brown Sugar Muffins.
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Crumpets
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk heated to 110ºF – 115ºF
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, sugar and yeast. Let them sit until the yeast starts to bubble, about 5 minutes.1 cup whole milk, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- Add the flour and salt to the yeast mixture and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, or until the batter is smooth and it stretches when you lift out the beater. Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free area until the mixture has doubled in size and is bubbly on top, about 1 hour.1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- In a small bowl, stir together the water and baking soda. Stir this mixture into the batter, then set aside for 30 minutes.1/3 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Heat a large skillet over medium low heat. Spray the surface lightly with nonstick cooking spray, and spray 4- 3 1/2 -inch crumpet molds. Place the molds in the skillet. Add enough of the batter to the center of each mold to go about halfway up the mold (about 3 tablespoons) and then cook until the bottoms are a deep golden brown and air bubbles have formed on the top, about 10-12 minutes. Use a pair of tongs to remove the molds, then turn the crumpets over to cook on the second side for about a minute.
- Remove the crumpets to a plate or serving platter, then repeat until you have used all of the batter. Serve warm.
Kieron says
ok…so I wasn’t paying attention and mixed the water and baking soda in after the initial mix. so I covered rested for the 60 mins…then stirred and rested again.
it was thick and wouldn’t spread enough so I just added more to cover the bottom. they didn’t bubble, so flipped and finished cooking then removed from pan and split them right down the middle ….they were full of the holes so returned to pan and browned off…they came out perfect…proper crumpets. oh and I used butter spray in the pan and rings..
Michelle Casey says
As a Brit i’m crazy about Crumpets so I’m always happy to see a variety of Crumpet recipes out there. I’m happy to say I think I’ve perfected the art with another recipe I found online from Warburtons, who are master Crumpet producers. If you want a good rise ( you said yours weren’t as high as you’d like) use very warm water instead of milk ( added bonus it’s then suitable for vegans ), it really does make a fluffier batter AND I found adding a pinch of sugar to the yeast when you’re hydrating it ,(and give it 10 mins before adding to your batter) really gets it going. And one last thing, make sure your proving environment is REALLY warm. I set my oven to 50°C for a while and use that space to prove. Hope you don’t mind these suggestions, and keep enjoying your Crumpets! ☺️
Pat says
I can’t wait to go and make these right now.
Barb Chamberlain says
I life in Seattle and have yet to get to The Crumpet Shop. Now that I’ve made the recipe I need to go there because honestly, these didn’t blow me away for the time involved. They were improved by putting lemon curd on them, pretty bland with butter and syrup or honey.
I didn’t have the rings so I used wide-mouth canning lid rings, reoiling after each use. They worked fine; remember to put the big side touching the pan, not the side with a lip that will get caught in the batter.
raish says
thx for the great recipe! really easy to make. only i didn’t have the molds so i just dropped them like pancakes… not great looking but super tasty!
Michelle Casey says
Hi Barbara, you probably forgot all about this but I’m only just reading this recipe and the comments today.. although this recipe with milk in IS more true to original 14 th century recipes and I’m all for authenticity, but using water instead of milk definitely gives a better rise, is lighter and tastes better. If you had Crumpets in England ( where I’m from) you most likely had ones made by a company called Warburtons, as they’re the biggest (I think) commercial producer of crumpets and they’re damn good at it. They recently released their recipe for us Crumpet muggles to make at home and it’s foolproof.
https://www.warburtons.co.uk/news/crumpet-recipe-revealed/
I would add though, I find if you add a pinch of sugar to the yeast (essentially, feeding it) as you’re hydrating it and leave it 10 mins , it really gets it going. And really coating COLD rings inside, thickly with butter and only putting them onto the hot oiled pan seconds before half filling with your warm batter guarantees they don’t stick. I say warm batter because in order to really get the yeast AND bicarbonate of soda working on the batter it needs to prove in a REALLY warm environment…like a very low oven 45-50°C (no hotter). And I can’t remember if it’s mentioned in the recipe but, the flavour develops if you make them a day in advance, you can freeze them at this stage, and then toast them the next day… it’s the toasting that really perfects them, and for me it has to be proper English salted butter and honey slathered on. Lemon curd nearly as good . Hope this helps.
steve a temming says
great tips-followed yours to a T-my life just improved to super happiness!!
Michelle Casey says
Just a Brit passing on some useless information ☺️ if you don’t use rings and drop them straight onto the pan they’re called Pikelets, originally, rich households who could afford the rings had Crumpets and the peasants had Pikelets, exactly the same as Crumpets just flatter 😉
susan says
OMG, this my last stop too on a short, first visit to Seattle. I loved it so much that I told the staff I wish I could be a ‘regular’! Can’t wait to try these at home! Thank you.