Crumpets!

For breakfast or afternoon tea

I haven’t had a crumpet in years—probably decades—so I’m not sure what made me want to make them. The ones I grew up with were from POM Bakery. POM stands for Pride Of Montreal, and they had these little green vans in which they would deliver bread daily to households, grocery stores, and dépanneurs. Sadly, it appears that they no longer make crumpets, and my attempt to find any brand of crumpet at my local grocery store was futile—all the more reason to make them myself!

A word of warning for people who have trypophobia (a fear, aversion, or disgust for small, clustered, holes or bumps): this might not be the food for you! (I have a very mild case of it, and only in certain situations, and, thankfully, crumpets isn’t one of them.) But in the case of crumpets, those holes are the receptacles for melted butter, so how can you even resist! This is the same reason I prefer waffles over pancakes (but I still prefer French Toast over both of them) as the indentations get filled with melted butter and maple syrup. To be honest, I kind of had a love/hate relationship with crumpets as a child. Unless they were toasted, I found them a bit rubbery, so I always double-toasted them to get rid of that gumminess

Toasted crumpet with butter and raspberry jam

Crumpets likely originated in Wales, but they’re widely consumed across the UK and Ireland, and through colonization, they became popular in Canada and other British colonies. They are sort of like a pancake since they are made with a batter, rather than a dough, and are cooked on a griddle or in a frying pan. But unlike pancakes, they do have some gluten development (from the mixing) and are leavened with both yeast AND baking soda.

How To make Crumpets

The following recipe comes from Warburton’s, one of the UK’s original bakers of crumpets. Yield: 6x 3”/10cm crumpets.

Equipment

• A non-stick frying pan or griddle (well-seasoned cast iron works well)

• Whisk—I used a Danish dough whisk as the batter won’t get stuck as much as with a regular whisk

• 3”/10cm metal rings (cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, etc.)

• Large bowl, measuring cups/spoons, scale, etc.

Ingredients

• 150g flour (about 1 1/4 cups)

• 200mL water (about 3/4 cup)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon yeast (active dry or instant)

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• Butter for greasing, and more for serving

• Jam of choice (I like Bonne Maman Raspberry or Cherry)

Method

1. In large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and water using the dough hook or whisk until well blended and the batter appears to be stretchy (3-4 minutes.) This helps develop the gluten, which gives the crumpets structure.

   

   First mix of the batter: flour, water, and salt

2. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar with a bit of water, then add it to the batter along with the baking powder. Mix thoroughly.

3. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm spot for 15-30 minutes (it was closer to 30 minutes for me) until the batter starts to show some bubbles on top

   

   Batter starting to show some bubbles

4. Pre-heat your pan or griddle to medium-high heat. Grease the insides of the metal rings and the surface of the pan with butter. Place the rings on the pan/griddle.

   

5. Stir the batter again to remove any large bubbles.

6. Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter and ladle it into one of the rings, making sure it spreads out all the way to the edges.

   

   Depending on how many rings you have (I only had two) and how large your frying pan or griddle is, you can cook as many crumpets at once as you wish.

7. Turn the heat down to medium (so that the bottoms don’t burn) and let the crumpets cook for 4-5 minutes. You can remove the rings once the sides have set, even if the tops are still wet.

   

8. Continue to cook until all the bubbles pop and the tops are starting to dry out. Flip the crumpets over to finish cooking the tops

   

   Showing the underside of the crumpets while the tops finish cooking

How to Serve Crumpets

Finished crumpets

• You can serve them hot from the griddle, but I find they still taste a bit “raw” so I finish them off in the toaster, then slather with butter and jam. You can also use marmalade, honey, maple syrup, or treacle (e.g., Lyle’s Golden Syrup.)

• Keep the crumpets covered in the fridge for several days (if they last that long) and pop them in the toaster to reheat before serving.

• Traditionally, they would be served with tea, but you can have them with whichever hot or cold beverage you prefer.