Crumpets - Original British Recipe (Video)
This is the crumpet recipe I've used across my 20+ year professional cooking career. It's never failed me, and it delivers authentic crumpets with loads of little holes and delicious crispy crust with soft chewy interior. Perfect to soak up heaps of butter and a generous drizzle of honey sprinkled with flaky salt. Just as life should be.
Servings 12 crumpets
Ingredients
- 300 g (2 cups) flour - plain or all-purpose (note 1)
- 200 g (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) water - room temperature (note 2)
- 200 g (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) milk - whole milk (note 3)
- 8 g (2 teaspoon) yeast - instant or dry active (note 4)
- 4 g (1 teaspoon) sugar - white granulated
- 6 g (1 teaspoon) salt - kosher or table salt
- 10 g (2 ½ teaspoon) baking powder - note 5
For cooking
- 25 g (1 ⅘ tablespoon) butter (for buttering the rings) - unsalted butter or cooking oil
Instructions
Prepare the Batter:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sifted dry ingredients.300 g flour, 10 g baking powder
- Dissolve the yeast in room temperature water along with the sugar and salt.200 g water, 4 g sugar, 8 g yeast, 6 g salt
- Add the yeast mixture and milk to the bowl with flour and baking powder. Mix well for about 3–5 minutes by hand or 2 minutes with an electric mixer.200 g milk
Rest the Batter:
- Close the Bowl with a plate, damp towel or plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place to proof for about 30 - 45 minutes. It should increase by about 50%. No more. If it's ready before then use it, or if it needs longer then give it some time.
- Once it's nice and bubbly, you need to gently stir it to evenly distribute the bubbles. You don't want large, uneven air bubbles in the batter. Neither a flat, deflated batter.
Cook the Crumpets:
- Brush or rub 9 cm (3.5 inches) crumpet rings with melted butter, or if you don't have crumpet rings, use one of the alternatives mentioned in the post. Tuna tins or pastry cutters does the same job.25 g butter (for buttering the rings)
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Place the buttered rings in the pan and pour about ¼ cup or 60 grams of batter into each ring. While your first batch cooks, keep the batter covered in the fridge to stop it from over proving and drying out.
- Cook the crumpets for about 2 minutes on medium high, then turn the heat down to medium as soon as the bubbles appear and naturally pop. If some bubbles don't pop, then help it along with a tooth pick or tip of a knife.
- Once the top is fully set, no raw batter is left and the bubbles are all popped, turn up the heat once more, remove the rings and flip the crumpets over. Cook for a minute on the side with holes until beautifully golden brown.
Cool and Store:
- Once cooked, you set them aside. Preferably on a wire rack to avoid soggy bottoms. They are best served when cooled down slightly but still a touch warm.
- Once cooled down, crumpets will keep at room temperature for a day, sealed airtight. Keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days. For longer storage, they freeze very well and the quality won't change. Good for 3 months.
Video
Notes
- Classic crumpets are made with plain or all-purpose flour. I've provided a few tips in the ingredients section in the post on how to use gluten-free or other flour.
- You don't have to use warm water with instant yeast. When using fresh yeast, use water that's no hotter than body temperature.
- Whole milk is my choice. You can of course replace it with water or use a dairy-free milk of your choice. I prefer oat milk as an alternative for its flavor. Make sure to use oat milk that's just oats and milk instead of the stuff in cartons that contains fats, sugars and other additives.
- You can use fresh yeast instead of dried instant yeast. Simply double the amount called for. You can also make crumpets with a sourdough starter. Simply omit the yeast, flour, and liquids. Replace with 300 grams of ripe sourdough starter. This is a fantastic way to use sourdough discard btw.
- Baking powder is not baking soda. You need to use baking soda(alkaline) in conjunction with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar to deliver similar results. Simply use 5 grams (2tsp) of baking soda with 5 grams (1tsp) lemon juice or vinegar. Add this when adding the liquid to the dry ingredients.
- See the post for in depth top tips and frequently asked questions answered, as well as the best way to serve crumpets.
- Nutritional value is per crumpet.
Nutrition
Serving: 50grams Calories: 120kcal Carbohydrates: 21g Protein: 3g Fat: 3g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g Monounsaturated Fat: 1g Trans Fat: 0.1g Cholesterol: 6mg Sodium: 304mg Potassium: 59mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 1g Vitamin A: 79IU Vitamin C: 0.002mg Calcium: 75mg Iron: 1mg
Keywords:crumpet recipe, homemade crumpets, how to make crumpets
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