Butter’s best friend: crumpets
Crumpet.
Just the word sounds like Merrie Olde England, doesn’t it? So… jolly, with a splash of class. And a soupçon of serious respect, as is only proper for this classic grilled bread: the first crumpet recipe appeared 240 years ago, in 1769.
So, what’s the difference between an English muffin and a crumpet?
Pretty simple. The crumpet is a moister, denser, flatter English muffin, one whose holes extend all the way from center to top surface.
It’s these holes that make the crumpet so delightfully decadent: spread a pat of soft butter on a hot crumpet, and it disappears. Spread jam, and it disappears, all save a telltale swipe of color.
Hey, where did it all go?
Right into the center, where it melds with the crumpet’s interior to make one seriously “juicy” little bun.
See what I mean by the holes? Imagine popping these in the toaster, and spreading with butter. Maybe a dollop of apricot jam. Be still, my heart!
It took me awhile to come up with this recipe. The flour/liquid ratio, and the mix of leavening (yeast and baking powder) have to be right on for the holes to appear.
Here are some of my attempts along the way. Aren’t you glad we make all these mistakes so you don’t have to?
Finally, though, with the help of my long-time friend and mentor, test kitchen director Sue Gray, we worked out the details (in which the devil, in this case, definitely lives).
And here’s the recipe: plenty of details, no devils! Enjoy.
This batter comes together in a snap. Put the following in the bowl of your stand mixer, or in a mixing bowl:
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 cup lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Beat at high speed for 2 minutes.
The mixture will look like this: a thick batter, perhaps a bit thicker than pancake batter, but certainly not anything you could knead or shape.
Cover the bowl, and let the batter rise till it’s expanded and bubbly, about 1 hour.
Towards the end of the rising time, heat a lightly greased griddle or frying pan to about 325°F, cooler than you’d cook pancakes. Get out your English muffin rings, grease them well, and place them in the pan or on the griddle.
Can you make these without rings? Sure. You can collect used, washed tuna cans, from which you’ve cut both top and bottom lids. Or, if you love English muffins and crumpets, you can bite the bullet and invest in real English muffin rings, which certainly make your job easier.
Speaking of making your job easier… A level muffin scoop holds 1/4 cup. You want to scoop out a scant 1/4 cup – about 1 3/4 ounces, or 50g. This is what you’ll probably scoop out initially.
Dump a bit out, to make the quantity look about like this – that’s the perfect amount.
Pour the batter into the greased rings. You can see, off to the right, I’ve made some test crumpets. It’s always a good idea, when making English muffins or crumpets, to do a couple of test ones first, to see if the griddle temperature is right.
Ah, here we are, all lined up like little soldiers.
After about 4 or 5 minutes, lift the rings off the muffins. They’ll be set enough to hold their shape. If necessary, wipe the rings clean, and re-grease.
This crumpet isn’t ready to turn yet. It’s got just a few open bubbles, and still looks very wet on top. I haven’t even removed its ring yet, so it’s got a ways to go.
This one is ready. See the dry edges, and more bubbles?
Ready, set…
Turn!
Cook for another 5 minutes or so, to completely cook the inside, and to brown the top a bit.
REAL crumpets don’t have brown tops; they’re cooked on one side only. But I like the look of a lightly browned crumpet, so what the heck. Trust me, the Crumpet Patrol won’t yank your license if you give them a bit of color.
First butter…
…then jam. Apricot, my favorite.
There’s no need to do so, but you can split the crumpets if you like, and toast the halves separately. Look at all those lovely holes!
On the left, a store-bought crumpet. On the right, homemade. I’ll put my homemade crumpets up against the supermarket variety any day.
On the left, a crumpet made without an English muffin ring. On the right, with the ring. Still plenty delicious, just not as gorgeous.
One more shot - butter melting into the holes. This is what it’s all about, baby!
Read, rate, and review (please!) our recipe for Crumpets.
Buy vs. Bake
Buy: Sharrock’s all-natural crumpets, 27¢/ounce
Bake at home: Crumpets, 4¢/ounce
September 18th, 2009 at 8:00 am
I know what I will be making this weekend! (This and the apple challah recipe from last fall) I bought the English muffin rings this summer and LOVE THEM - I have made English muffins quite a few times and they are SO much better than store bought! Yippee!
September 18th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Thanks for a non-muffin and non-pancake breakfast idea! (We do love muffins and pancakes but my kids do want some more variety that is not overly sweet.) I almost forgot that I LOVE crumpets (I got mine from Marks and Spensers many years ago when I lived abroad).
I’ll be making this for breakfast tomorrow. So excited!
September 18th, 2009 at 9:09 am
1769 was 240 years ago . . . unless I slept a lot longer than I thought last night!
That’s right George Washington was president. We’re America’s oldest flour company. Mary @ KAF
September 18th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Oh be still my heart! Crumpets were just about the best part of living in England for 3 years…and that’s saying something.
I think that would work. Try it and let us know. Mary @ KAF
Is there any way these could be made as successfully with whole wheat pastry flour??
Just so I don’t feel quite as guilty slathering them with a whole mess ‘o butter, you understand.
September 18th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Just wanted to say that as a new baker, the detailed photos of the process really help me to know if I’m “doing it right.” Sometimes for a newbie it can be hard to know what yeast dough is supposed to look like! Thanks for all the time you put into this blog! Looks like I’m making crumptets instead of pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!
September 18th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Mmmm, looks good! I love English muffins, so I’m sure these will be an “adequate” substitute…
And I’ve got, mmmmm, blueberry jam too….
Okay, gotta go do some zucchini bread. Maybe I’ll mix up a batch while I’m at it… I’ll have all the ingredients out anyway… Would be a shame not to…
Thanks PJ (and Sue)!
September 18th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I have some little teddy bear things for making pancakes. I can now make teddy bear crumpets!! Awesome!!
September 18th, 2009 at 10:18 am
My husband turned me on to crumpets a few years ago and I could find them online. I’ll have to make some now.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Mmmmmmmmmmm. I know what I’m whipping up in the morning! Of course I’ll substitute some KAF WWW for part of the KAF AP flour. Would this batter hold in the fridge for a day or two? Fresh, warm crumpets sound better than re-heated crumpets. Thanks for the recipe! -Tom< We haven’t tried keeping the dough, but I think it would work. Try it and let us know. Mary @ KAF
September 18th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Oh, man! I’ve gotta try these! With my homemade jam…YUMMMMM!
September 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Have been wanting a crumpet recipe for ages! Thanks, PJ!
I think I’ll drop some dried blueberries or dried cranberries into some of them (this is a BIG batch!).
p.s. And I might try baking a few in third-full muffin cups, to see what they look like….
September 18th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Cooking for one is so hard. How many does this recipe make; could it be reduced to enough for 2 servings? Could the batter be refrig for 1-2 days?
It makes 20 crumpets. It would probably work to refrigerate the dough. The baked crumpets would freeze, I think. Mary @ KAF
September 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am
YUM! I leave for London next week and I’ve never had crumpets before. I might have to make them over the weekend to see how they are!
September 18th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Ah PJ, thanks for this recipe! I was just toying with a similar recipe. For the food nerds among us… it’s interesting to know that while the first modern “published” recipe is dated from the mid-1700’s (Raffald’s recipe from “The Experienced English Housekeeper” published in 1769), there is are earlier references for “a crompid cake” from 1694. Other references show the term used as far back in the 1300s! Just goes to show, some of the best things stick around… and covered with apricot jam, these are yum-my! =)
September 18th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I was looking for english muffins at 5 this am and came across this recipe and thought about making them for Sunday breakfast… It’s been a long time since I have had crumpets … (usually for tea in Scotland, but who has time for tea. The weekend are so full we barely get dinner these days.) but the muffins are to die for
September 18th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Could one substitute some or all of the flour with the KAF whole wheat white flour ?
You can try, Denise - not sure what’ll happen. Start with subbing 1 cup white whole wheat and see what happens, then let us know, OK? PJH
September 18th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I have been looking for a good crumpet recipe so I’ll be making these this weekend. I love crumpets. I have also tried making my own rings out of foil, with some success. They are good in a pinch. I like them with marmalade or honey (lovely when it drips through). Thank you so much for this recipe.
September 18th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
These look SO delicious. Do you think they could be made with sourdough starter? If I used 1 c. fed starter to replace 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 c. milk, and omitted the yeast, do you think that would work or would I need to make additional adjustments? Thanks in advance for any tips!!
Jennifer, I hesitate to give any advice at all on changing this recipe. The leavening/flour/liquid ratio is SO crucial, I just wouldn’t guarantee anything. But give what you mention a try, making sure the dough seems to be the same fluidity as what’s in the picture/description; see how they turn out, and let us know, OK? Good luck - PJH
September 18th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Oh Jennifer, I love sour dough flavor! Please tell us how the sour dough starter experiment goes if you try it! It sounds very tasty! You might consider leaving the instant yeast in the recipe, though, since sour dough starters can be “slow” (unless you’ve got yours growing like mad) and just use the starter for that great sour dough flavor.
I wonder, if you fed your starter, then just used it as is - adding some chemical leavening - if it would be just the right consistency for crumpets? PJH
September 18th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I can’t wait to give these a try! I love crumpets!!
September 18th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I absolutely love crumpets! And for the sourdough, there is actually already a recipe on the website to make sourdough crumpets. It is super easy, quick, and doesn’t make a huge batch. For us a big batch is great because these freeze well and you can toast from frozen. The kiddos love crumpets with butter and my homemade strawberry cranberry jam. Can’t wait!
September 18th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
PJ, I love your blog! I’m inspired and want to try these soon! I’m a bit novice on bread making - can you give me a better feel for “lukewarm” water? Is there a temp range? Looking forward to trying these!!!
Yup, lukewarm is about 95°-100° or so, right around body temperature… PJH
September 18th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
sorry, another question - do you think it would work with skim milk?
Yes, skim milk would be fine, Candace. PJH
September 18th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
I hope this doesn’t mean you’ve given up on presenting recipes in both weight (ounces) and volume (cups), and gone back to volume alone. You should see what the humidity does to baking in southern Maryland.
Not at all, Fred - you can easily toggle between weight/volume in the recipe (though not in the blog, as it doesn’t have that technological capacity). And as for southern Maryland - with our Noah/Ark-like flood of rains this summer, I think northern New England rivals you right now!
PJH
September 19th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I absolutely love crumpets! For me, they have to be lightly toasted and eaten with butter and strawberry jam. Oh I just have to try this recipe.Thanks!
September 19th, 2009 at 9:38 am
oooooh, I can’t wait to make these! I actually bookmarked a crumpet recipe on this site a couple of weeks ago and just hadn’t gotten around to trying it yet!! I’ve wanted to make crumpets for years but just kept forgetting about it…. now I have pictures of the process—- thanks!!! I’d make them tomorrow, but our a/c is out since yesterday and I’m staying out of the kitchen as much as possible!! Boooo Florida! Where’s Fall??
Where’s fall? Up here in northern New England - frost predicted for tonight… BRRRRR! PJH
September 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am
OMGoodness -you cannot imagine my delight in seeing this recipe. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE crumpets. they were so much easier to get my hands on when we lived in Toronto - Rural North Carolina…. not so much
Off to bake - muffin rings or not! Thank you so much for your diligence in perfecting the recipe.
September 19th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Oh, these look delectable! I’m all for anything that serves as a vehicle for butter and apricot jam (also my favorite). My English/Irish grandmother would be proud of you all! She made these when we were growing up and now I am feeling nostalgic. We have houseguests coming soon and I can’t think of a better excuse to try these lovely things. Thank you for doing all the “heavy lifting” - or at least the heavy calculations - to make it easy on the rest of us!
September 19th, 2009 at 10:41 am
lovely recipe and photos, i could almost smell the sweet aroma when they were being cooked,
cheers from london,
pity
Ooooh, kudos from London about crumpets? I’ll take that as a great affirmation any day! Thanks, pity. Love your blog - the pictures are wonderful - the one with the madeleines and the little boy in particular caught me eye. Such nice framing/depth of field choices… - PJH
September 19th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Any way to find out the calories per crumpet?
We are working on having nutritonal information for all our recipes but it is not available yet. Meanwhile you can go to www.nutritionaldata.com. Joan@bakershotline
September 20th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Love the blogs, but this is for Lish (which is ONE of the reasons for reading all the blogs): Can you please reveal your recipe for strawberry and cranberry jam? I love strawberry with rhubarb, but can’t get the rhubarb in the winter (stores don’t carry frozen rhubarb in the winter here in NH). Cranberry just might be the answer to my cravings.
Again, thanks for the blogs- they are a godsend for those of us that need constant hand-holding while terrorizing the kitchen.
That’s what we’re here for, Rick - LOTS of hand-holding! And I’m sure your kitchen doesn’t feel terrorized… does it?
Speaking of cranberries, try this: 1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce; 1 bag frozen raspberries; 1 pack sugar-free raspberry Jell-O. Mix it all up. Cranberry sauce deluxe! I know people scoff at the Jell-O and canned sauce, but hey, this is just one of those easy/easy things that tastes good…PJH
September 20th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Every time I read your blog, I need new items. This week it will be English Muffin Rings. I personally keep your online store busy filling my orders. I get excited for the new products that I order and I sure enjoy learning how to use them. Thank you so much, I have rediscovered an old hobby!
September 20th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Made these for Sunday brunch today–they were delicious. Did have a bit of a problem with them sticking to the rings–I have English Muffin rings and used Crisco for greasing, spread it liberally. Do you let the rings heat and then add the batter or plop them down and put the batter in as you go? Any thoughts? (Even with funny edges, they disappeared!!)
Charlene, I just lay the rings onto the griddle, and fill. I use non-stick vegetable oil spray, but don’t see why Crisco shouldn’t work… Maybe with Crisco you should let them rest a minute on the griddle before filling? PJH
September 21st, 2009 at 4:39 am
I love it! I love it! haha..crumpets! I am excited to try this one this weekend! Thanks for the photos!
September 21st, 2009 at 9:31 am
Reporting back after making these for the first time Saturday morning. Batter went together really easily by following the photos on the blog, and somehow mine wound up looking a lot like yours! I also used Crisco to grease my English Muffin rings and after the first batch you really need to make sure to wipe the inside of the rings before the next batch to avoid sticking. These reheated nicely in the toaster oven both Sunday morning and today! Thanks for giving us new baking adventures! The photos really do help a lot!
September 21st, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Made these on Saturday according to the recipe, but my water/flour ratio must have been a bit off. Batter was a little doughy and they came out more like english muffins, but they sure are delicious! Thanks for the great post!
September 21st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Rick,
My husband’s favorite is also strawberry rhubarb and the rhubarb this year was awful so that is why I tried the cranberry. This works using frozen berries too. Here is what I did:
3 cups strawberries, stemmed
2 cups cranberries picked over
1/4 cup lemon or orange juice (both work, orange provides more actual flavor, lemon is a little less noticeable)
Heat berries and juice in saucepot, crushing with potato masher. Cook over medium heat till cranberries pop, adding tablespoon or two of water if the fruit is not juicy enough, stir often. Bring to a boil over high heat, add 6 cups sugar, boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in box of powdered fruit pectin, and boil one more minute, stirring constantly. Then put into sterilized jars and process 10 minutes, or refrigerate or freeze. You can also use no sugar added pectin and splenda, following the directions on the package of pectin. Hope you enjoy it, let me know how it comes out for you!
Thanks for sharing! We love this community of customer/bakers (and jam makers!)! Irene @ KAF
September 21st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Just saw this recipe; will be trying this as soon as I find my rings (just moved and can’t find a thing). I agree with Rick, would love to have the Strawberry/Cranberry Jam recipe that Lish mentioned.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:12 am
These look so delicious!! I’m out of yeast but off to the grocery store to get some so that I can try this recipe
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I’m cooking these right now and they are awesome!!!!!! Thank yoooou!
You’re welcome - enjoy! PJH
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:28 pm
I tried making crumpets using sourdough starter, they turned out looking OK but tasted sourish. Got any suggestions?
Hi Hani - I’d say if you don’t want sourdough crumpets that taste sourish, don’t use sourdough starter; follow the recipe as written for a nice, “sweet” tasting crumpet. If you really are devoted to sourdough, feed your starter for several days (once each day) before using; that shold make it a bit less sour. And use less of it, to reduce the sour flavor even more. Good luck - PJH
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Do you think I could I prepare the batter and store in the fridge overnight to save time in the morning?
I think you might be pushing it, with the chemical leavening losing its punch and the yeast working too long… but heck, give it a try and see what happens. Let us know if it works, OK? Thanks - PJH
September 24th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
This looks delicious! My first batch sadly failed, I’m a novice and used the red star active dry yeast I have along with the KAF bread flour. Since the recipe uses instant dry yeast, I forgot to activate the yeast in the water (I don’t cook very often) and it was a disaster! A few mistakes later trying to revive it I had to throw it away.
I’ll try again with the right flour and dissolving my yeast in the warm water for 10 minutes, wish me luck!
Good for you, Lionel, not to give up. Active Dry yeast just doesn’t like to be asked to do any heavy lifting before it wakes up. I can relate. Susan
September 26th, 2009 at 11:43 am
PJH- Thanks for the cranberry sauce recipe! I made the crumpets and they came out great. Then I made the sauce and tried them on the crumpets. I know taste is a subjective matter, but I think that the crumpets and the sauce is a delicious combo!!
Thanks Lish for the jam recipe. I’ll be trying it as soon as I get some pectin.
Rick, never thought of putting the cranberry stuff on the crumpets - but of course, great idea! You’ve inspired me… PJH
September 27th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
I agree about that raspberry cranberry sauce! That is such a great easy recipe and I loved it on toast, as well as on a turkey sandwich. The crumpets were gone before I made it, but the strawberry cranberry jam was good on it, as was my latest jam creation, sangria marmalade! The raspberry cranberry sauce is almost gone, so I am making more tomorrow. Especially since the whole berry cranberry sauce is on sale everywhere around here. Thanks for great ideas!
September 28th, 2009 at 9:03 am
I would do this on a gas stove, and only 4 at a time for pan would only hold that many. My question is should I preheat the pan than turn it down to what, medium or low? Everyone’s stoves are different but try preheating the pan over a medium heat and then turning it down to medium low before doing a test crumpet. Molly @ KAF
September 28th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Erin in Austin Said: “Just so I don’t feel quite as guilty slathering them with a whole mess ‘o butter, you understand.”
Artisanal bread is never less than (though it may well be more than…) a butter-delivery-mechanism. No guilt, please. All the same, I too will be watching for the results of a whole wheat recipe experiment.
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:17 am
These were amazing!
I made them this morning and they turned out great. Unfortunately, I only had one round ring and one oval, so I made them in batches of round, oval, and freehand. No one cared.
I served them with my own blueberry and my plum jams. Nom!
Necessity IS the mother of invention! Glad your shapes all turned out delicious (and family pleasing, too)! Irene @ KAF
October 6th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Does your cost estimate for homemade include a nominal cost for the energy to cook the crumpets? Do you include this figure on any of your baking cost estimates?
Thanks,
~Rich~
No energy costs, Rich - heating your oven, or driving to the store for ingredients. No labor costs, either, simply ingredients. We considered it, and it was just too complicated to try to factor in the varying prices of oil/gas all over the country/world…
October 13th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Dear king Arthur, Yes, those crumpets are easy & delicious. I had eaten a lot in the past but this is thw first time I made them. I used the large griddle which takes only 4 9 I have 4 rings only). 1/4C batter was a bit skimpy that I put 1/3C batter. Maybe my rings are larger? (WS purchase) The rings were meant to be for making Engkish muffins ut were alright I thought. We ate some for lunch yesterday 7 this morning I had 2 7 my husband had 4 ! Thanks for the recipe. Enjoyed cooking crumpets.
October 24th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Could you ever make these (or english muffins for that matter) in those shaped pancake molds? With young kids in the house, they’re all about fun food. I suppose it may just be a matter of estimating the amount of batter to put in to adjust for the varied size of the mold. Any suggestions on this?
You’ve got it, Kelli - experiment. My one doubt would be if the molds are so large that the inside of the center of the muffins wouldn’t cook thoroughly before the edges are done, but hey, give it a try, right?
PJH
October 26th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
So was it 340 years ago in 1669 or 240 years ago in 1769?
Johnny, what can I say, I’m an English major.
Thanks, all fixed. PJH
November 8th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I’ve made these twice and they taste awesome, according to my husband! But both times, my batter is not of the pourable consistency - it’s a glutinous mass that needs to be coaxed out of the bowl and sticks to EVERYTHING. What am I doing wrong? I have followed the instructions to a “T”.
Thanks!
Beverly, are you using King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour? Are you using a scale? It sounds like too much flour - please take a look at our flour measuring tips, to make sure that’s not the issue… If you’re still puzzled, call our Baker’s Hotline, 802-649-3717 - they can talk things through with you. PJH
November 11th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Shouldn’t there be some sugar in there? Crumpets are a touch sweet.
Sorry, Justin, I never had a sweet crumpet, nor saw a crumpet recipe with sugar - far as I know, the sweetness comes from anything you put on them - like pancakes with syrup. But certainly add a bit of sugar if you like - PJH
November 16th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I just tried Crumpets the other day from the store…I fell head over heals for crumpets; I thought to my self…I need to learn how to make crumpets. I searched high and low, so far this recipe sounds the best. Justin, here is a link to another recipe that calls for sugar or honey to make the crumpets.
http://www.greatpartyrecipes.com/crumpetrecipe.html