Crumpets

Recipe by PJ Hamel
81 Reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars

This traditional British teatime treat is midway between English muffin and pancake. Like an English muffin, it's full of holes, perfect for collecting rivulets of melted butter. But it's also moister and thinner – more like a small pancake. These are best enjoyed toasted, and spread with butter, jam, and/or clotted cream. Since their holes reach to the outside crust, there's no need to split them before toasting.

Prep
15 mins
Bake
15 to 20 mins
Total
1 hr 45 mins
Yield
20 crumpets
Save Recipe
Crumpets

Instructions

Prevent your screen from going dark as you follow along.

  1. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, and beat vigorously for 2 minutes. A stand or hand mixer, set on high speed, work well here.

  2. Cover the bowl, and let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour. It will expand and become bubbly. Towards the end of the rest, preheat a griddle to medium-low, about 325°F. If you don't have an electric griddle, preheat a frying pan; it shouldn't be as hot as the temperature you use to cook pancakes.

  3. Lightly grease the griddle or frying pan, and place well-greased 3 3/4" English muffin rings in the pan, as many as will fit. Pour sticky batter by the scant 1/4-cupful into each ring; a muffin scoop works well here.

  4. After about 4 minutes, use a pair of tongs to slip the rings off. Cook the crumpets for a total of about 10 minutes on the first side, until their tops are riddled with small bubbles/holes. They should be starting to look a bit dry around the edges. Their bottoms will be a mottled, light-golden brown. Note: They probably won't be as full of holes as store-bought crumpets; that's OK.

  5. Turn the crumpets over, and cook for an additional 5 minutes, to finish cooking the insides and to brown the tops gently. This isn't traditional; "real" crumpets are white on top, but the crumpet police won't chastise you for adding a little color to the tops.

  6. Remove the crumpets from the pan, and repeat with the remaining batter, until all the crumpets are cooked. Serve warm. Or cool completely, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature. To enjoy, warm in the toaster. Serve with butter, or butter and jam.

Tips from our Bakers

  • You can make crumpets without English muffin rings, but they'll be perfectly round and ever so much nicer looking if you use rings.

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