Having lived in England a couple times, I had the pleasure of experiencing delicious crumpets with melted butter and honey served with tea – one of life’s little pleasures. I tried to find them in the States but only came up with these bland store-bought ones that did not cut the mustard. So, after a little research and the purchase of some English muffin rings, I decided to make my own. These crumpets are delicious and easy to make. The tricky part is to have the batter at the right consistency so that you get the all-important holes at the top through which the butter and honey can seep. If the batter is too thick then no holes, and too thin will mean too flat. Also the temperature is important so they can cook as long as possible on one side without burning. Traditionally, the crumpets are not flipped so the top is white, but I think it is best to give a flip toward the end just to get a little golden color on top. This is unnecessary however if you are making them ahead to be toasted later. 

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole milk, slightly warmed

1 tsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

2 3/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 tsp sea salt

3/4 cup, plus 1 tbsp. slightly warmed water

1/2 tsp baking soda

In a bowl, mix the warmed milk with sugar and yeast and let proof for 10 minutes or until the yeast begins to bubble. (This is unnecessary if using fast rising yeast. Then you can add the yeast directly to the dry ingredients in the next step and add in the liquid.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour and salt. Attach to mixer and using the paddle attachment, gradually add in the milk mixture while stirring at low speed. Increase the speed and beat for 3 minutes.

Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled, about 1 hour.

Then mix the water and baking soda together and beat them into the dough. Let stand for about 10 – 20 minutes while getting the griddle ready.

Heat a skillet over medium heat, or an electric griddle to about 300 degrees. Wipe the skillet with oil and wipe the inside of the English muffins rings.

Place the rings on the skillet and fill the molds so they are no more than halfway full. Let the crumpets cook; bubbles will appear on the top while the bottom browns. Adjust the temperature so that the bubble have time to appear before the bottom gets too brown. If no bubble appear, the batter is too thick. Simply add more warm water then.

Using tongs, remove the rings and flip the crumpets and cook for a minute or two on the other side until lightly golden. Remove from griddle and cool on a rack. Repeat with remaining batter.

Best served warm with butter and honey or jam. They will keep for 2-3 days. Just toast them to reheat. They will also keep for a couple months in the freezer. We never got past 2 days with them and the whole household just gobbles them up.