Crumpets when cooked and eaten fresh are soft and full of texture. Laden with butter and your favourite jam, the holes fill with sticky goodness. They are perfect for breakfast or a mid-morning snack. This is a simple crumpet recipe that will leave you wanting more.
“Crumpets, or at least terrible travesties of them… are more commonly sold packeted by grocers or supermarkets than by bakers. Perhaps indeed they are delivered direct from a plastics recycling plant, and have never been near a bakery,” Elizabeth David, English Cookbook author
Whilst this recipe is simple, it takes a little while for the process to be completed. Stick with it and you will be rewarded with soft, melt-in-your-mouth crumpets. Here’s how to cook crumpets at home.
Why this recipe works
- It’s simple – both the ingredients and the process
- The early stages of it can be made ahead of time to allow for enough time to prove and then the cooking part is quick and easy. You can even make it the night before, allowing you to have fresh crumpets for breakfast or brunch.
- They taste 100% better than anything you will ever buy that is packaged
Ingredients
- 400 ml milk
- 20 gm butter, plus extra, softened, for greasing and cooking
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 3.5 gm dried yeast
- Pinch salt
- 250 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 25 ml warm water
How to make crumpets
Step 1
Place the milk and butter in a saucepan and heat on low until the butter melts. It is likely at this stage that the temperature will exceed 37º Celsius. If this occurs, leave the milk aside until the temperature reduces to 37ºC. If you are in a rush, empty the milk mixture into a new dish to get it out of the hot saucepan.
Step 2
Combine the sugar and yeast in a small bowl. When the milk mixture has reached the correct temperature, take 100ml only and mix it in with the yeast and sugar. Stir and then place in a warm place for about 5 minutes. The mixture should foam up.
Cook’s tip – Do not put all the milk mixture in at this step.
Step 3
Combine the flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast/sugar/milk mixture slowly. Stir in a little flour.
Step 4
Now add the rest of the milk (should be 300 ml). Whisk the mixture until it is all combined and there are no lumps.
Step 5
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm spot. The mixture needs to get aerated and foamy and will usually take at least 90 minutes.
Step 6
Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 25ml of warm water.
Cook’s tip: Make sure the water is only warm not boiling!
Step 7
After the 90 minutes has passed and the mixture has become foamy, add the bicarb/water mixture and whisk to combine.
Step 8
Cover once again and leave it to foam up. This will take around 30 minutes.
Cook’s tip: This time the mixture doesn’t need to go into a warm place. It’s ok just to leave it on your kitchen bench.
Step 9
Get your frying pan ready on low-medium heat. Add some butter and then place your greased rings into the pan. Fill them 2/3 of the way up the ring.
Cook’s tips: I added a small amount of olive oil to my butter to stop the butter from burning.
Don’t be tempted to fill the rings to the top as they will overflow, affect your cooking time, and make it hard to get out of the rings. Yes, you guessed it, I’m guilty of doing this!
This is the part that can vary depending on your mixture, how much mixture is in the rings and the cooking temperature. Keep an eye on them when they are cooking.
Cook them until the mixture bubbles and small holes form on the surface. Eventually a skin will also form.
Cook’s tip: Whilst it is recommended to cook slowly, cooking too slowly can cause the skin to form on the top over the holes, meaning the crumpet won’t be properly aerated. Time, patience and practice is the key here.
Step 10
Flip the crumpets over and cook for about one minute, just enough for the tops of the crumpets to be golden brown.
They are fabulous served straight away and can be toasted the next day. Freezing crumpets is also possible.
Yes, you can, allowing you to have fresh crumpets for breakfast.
Depending on how you like your crumpets, you could actually put them in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up and then add your toppings. Mostly, however, crumpets should be toasted to give them crunch and warmth.
Crumpets can be simply toasted in your toaster. Many toasters these days have a bagel or a crumpet function. Obviously toasting should be done to your own liking, but mostly, you should aim to have a darker, more toasty bottom and light to medium brown on the top. Under-toasting might make them too ‘doughy” feeling in your mouth, but over-toast and they will be hard and unable to absorb the butter and toppings. Crumpets can also be toasted under the griller.
Yes, crumpets can be frozen. Place some freezer wrap in between them so it’s easier just to pull single crumpets out of the freezer.
Some toasters have a reheat from frozen function. If so, you can pop them straight in here. Otherwise, use the defrost function of your microwave first and then toast as normal.
Homemade crumpets
Make these crumpets and you'll never want to buy them from the supermarket again. Simple to make and really yummy to eat.
Ingredients
- 400 ml milk
- 20 gm butter, plus extra, softened, for greasing and cooking
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 3.5 gm dried yeast
- Pinch salt
- 250 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 25 ml warm water
Instructions
- Place the milk and butter in a saucepan and heat on low until the butter melts. It is likely at this stage that the temperature will exceed 37º Celsius. If this occurs, leave the milk aside until the temperature reduces to 37ºC. If you are in a rush, empty the milk mixture into a new dish to get it out of the hot saucepan.
- Combine the sugar and yeast in a small bowl. When the milk mixture has reached the correct temperature, take 100ml only and mix it in with the yeast and sugar. Stir and then place in a warm place for about 5 minutes. The mixture should foam up.
- Combine the flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast/sugar/milk mixture slowly. Stir in a little flour.
- Now add the rest of the milk (should be 300 ml). Whisk the mixture until it is all combined and there are no lumps.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm spot. The mixture needs to get aerated and foamy and will usually take at least 90 minutes.
- Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 25ml of warm water.
- After the 90 minutes has passed and the mixture has become foamy, add the bicarb/water and whisk to combine.
- Cover once again and leave it to foam up. This will take around 30 minutes.
- Get your frying pan ready on low-medium heat. Add some butter and then place your greased rings into the pan. Fill them 2/3 of the way up the ring.
- This is the part that can vary depending on your mixture, how much mixture is in the rings and the cooking temperature. Keep an eye on them when they are cooking.
- Cook them until the mixture bubbles and small holes form on the surface. Eventually, a skin will also form.
- Flip the crumpets over and cook for about one minute, just enough for the tops of the crumpets to be golden brown.
- They are fabulous served straight away and can be toasted the next day. Freezing crumpets is also possible.
Notes
- Do not put all the milk mixture in at once in the beginning. Only use 100ml.
- When dissolving the bicarb, make sure the water is only warm not boiling.
- As you are proving the mixture with the yeast and other ingredients in the bowl can remain on the bench. It doesn't need to go into a cold place. When cooking the crumpets, add a small amount of olive oil to the butter to stop them from burning.
- Don't be tempted to fill the rings to the top as they will overflow, affect your cooking time and make it hard to get out of the rings.
- Whilst it is recommended to cook slowly, cooking too slowly can cause the skin to form on the top over the holes meaning the crumpet won't aerate properly.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 162Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 61mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 5g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix.
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