Soft, chewy, and topped with tons of delicate holes, this recipe for crumpets will have you swooning at breakfast! Step-by-step photos teach you how to bake this quintessential British bread!
Growing up in a British family in America there are a few food items that are favorites but unfortunately not too frequently enjoyed because of the lack of availability here in the States. Crumpets are one of those foods, you can find some store-bought crumpets at some Trader Joe's but to be honest, they aren't my favorite. Nothing compares to the iconic Warburtons Crumpets. My absolute favorite, we always load up in England and will often smuggle some back into the States!
These are best served warm, reheating and toasting them is the way we enjoy. My ideal way is to enjoy a warm toasted crumpet slathered with a thick schmear of Lurpak butter. And sometimes butter and jam. Some enjoy honey on top too!
So when I saw that Warburtons released their iconic recipe I knew I had to try it myself. The first time I made these was with my mom, we were both shocked it had taken us so many years to make them for ourselves. So easy and so delicious. I adjusted the Warburtons recipe to use one standard American packet of yeast, 2 ¼ teaspoons. This recipe makes 12 crumpets using a 3.5-inch ring, I tried using 3-inch rings and we felt they were just too small.
The beauty of crumpets is that they freeze beautifully. You will adore this tasty bread recipe.
Let's get to the recipe
What are crumpets
Crumpets are a British unsweetened griddle cake. Made from only six ingredients this porous bread is best served toasted with generous amounts of butter, jam, and/ or honey.
The texture is lightly spongey that soaks the topping up beautifully.
Ingredients
For these delicious bites of carb heaven you only need a few ingredients:
- Instant Yeast. You'll need to use rapid rise or instant yeast for this bread recipe.
- Warm Water. The water needs to be at the correct temperature to activate the yeast.
- All-Purpose Flour. Also known as plain flour, just make sure you measure your flour properly. Too much or too little flour could potentially ruin the recipe.
- Salt. You may think it sounds like a lot of salt but the salt helps give the dough great flavor.
- Sugar. Just a smidge helps feed the crumpet batter.
- Baking Powder. You'll want to make sure your baking powder is fresh so it activates properly.
- Butter. I like to use butter to cook the crumpets it gives them a gorgeous golden brown exterior.
There is one other key component the crumpet rings. You could use egg rings or cookie cutters that are heatproof, but ideally they will not have a top piece that you can easily hold a cookie cutter with, because it will be hard to flip out the crumpet.
You can cook them in a non-stick frying pan, cast iron pan, or a stainless steel pan greased well.
Instructions
First thing is you need to activate your yeast, if it doesn't activate then your crumpets will not turn out.
In a small bowl combine the yeast and 2.5 tablespoons of warm water. It is critical that you use the right temperature of water for your brand of yeast, mine is 120F-130F. I use a thermometer to check the temperature as you want to make sure you activate your yeast without burning and killing it. Whisk it together then let it sit aside for 5 minutes it should get nice and foamy.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl, needs to be large enough for the batter to almost double in size. Now with a whisk combine the flour, remaining water, and salt.
Mix for 2-3 minutes in a stand mixer on low-medium speed or for 5 minutes whisking by hand.
Now add in the baking powder, sugar, and yeast mixture. Mix for another 30 seconds to a minute everything should be completely combined.
Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and place it in a warm environment to proof for 15-20 minutes. I turn my oven on to 200F/93C and turn it off to create a warm but not too hot place for the batter to rest. When ready the crumpet batter will have lots of air bubbles, about 15-20 minutes.
Place a non-stick frying pan over medium heat add half a tablespoon of butter and swirl around. Take your round cutters and heavily butter them. I take a paper towel and rub some butter inside each round cutter.
Place the buttered cutters inside the pan so they are sitting completely flat. I like to use a large ice cream scoop but two spoons will work to drop the batter into the round cutter. You do not want to fill them more than halfway full.
Cook on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until you start to see lots of bubbles popping then reduce the temperature to low, and cook for another 2-4 minutes or so until the top of the crumpet no longer looks wet and there are lots of empty holes.
Take a piece of butter and place it in the pan to melt then remove the rings and turn the crumpets down onto the butter. This helps create a gorgeous golden brown crumpet top. Cook for an additional minute or two.
Transfer cooked crumpets to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days or freeze.
How to freeze
Let the crumpets cool completely then transfer to a freezer-safe container in an even layer. Flash-freeze for an hour or two then you can stack them in your freezer not in an even layer.
To thaw the crumpets let them sit in the fridge overnight or you can toast right away. Since crumpets are quite small you can transfer from the freezer directly to the toaster. Depending on the strength of your toaster you may need to toast on both sides.
Can you double
You can certainly double the recipe, this would be a great to have a nice big freezer stash. Make sure that you use a very large bowl so the batter has room to proof.
More British recipes
Another delicious British classic are sausage rolls, so easy to make and so delicious!
An afternoon tea treat we all love is my Bakewell Tart recipe.
Our favorite dessert has to be Sticky Toffee Pudding, it never disappoints!
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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Crumpets
Soft, chewy, and topped with tons of delicate holes this recipe for crumpets will have you swooning at breakfast! Step-by-step photos teach you how to bake this quintessential British bread!
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 Crumpets 1x
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ Teaspoons ( 1 Standard- American Packet) Instant Yeast
- 15.2oz ( 1 ¾ Cup + 2.5 Tablespoons) Warm Water
- 338 grams (2.5 Cups + 3 Tablespoons +1 Teaspoon) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Sugar
- 2 ¼ Teaspoon Baking Powder
- Butter, for cooking
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the yeast and 2.5 tablespoons of warm water. Make sure you use the right temperature of water for your brand of yeast, mine is 120F-130F. I use a thermometer to check as you want to make sure you activate your yeast without burning and killing it. Whisk it together then let it sit aside for 5 minutes it should get nice and foamy.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with a whisk combine the flour, remaining water, and salt. Mix for 2-3 minutes in a stand mixer on low-medium speed or for 5 minutes whisking by hand.
- Now add in the baking powder, sugar, and yeast mixture. Mix for another 30 seconds to a minute everything should be completely combined. Cover the mixing bowl with a clean tea towel and place it in a warm environment to proof for 15-20 minutes. I turn my oven on to 200F/93C and turn it off to create a warm but not too hot place for the batter to rest. When ready the crumpet batter will have lots of air bubbles, should take about 15-20 minutes.
- Place a non-stick frying pan over medium heat add half a tablespoon of butter and swirl around. Take your round cutters and heavily butter them. I take a paper towel and rub some butter inside each round cutter.
- Place the buttered cutters inside the pan so they are sitting completely flat. I like to use a large ice cream scoop but two spoons will work to drop the batter into the round cutter. You do not want to fill them more than halfway full. Cook on medium-high for 2-3 minutes until you start to see lots of bubbles popping then reduce the temperature to low and cook for another 2-4 minutes or so until the top of the crumpet no longer looks wet and there are lots of empty holes. Take a piece of butter and place it in the pan to melt then remove the metal ring and flip the crumpet down onto the butter. This helps create a gorgeous golden brown crumpet top. Cook for an additional minute or two, carefully check for a golden brown top with no wet batter.
- Transfer cooked crumpets to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to three days or freeze.
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: British
Keywords: how to make crumpets, english crumpet recipe, british crumpets
Recipe Source: Warbutrons
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Karen says
I moved here from England and these bring back so many great memories, I would eat a Warburtons crumpet every day. These are just as good!
★★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thank you for the lovely review, Karen! You truly cannot beat a crumpet!! Take care. XX Liz
Lydia says
I have made these so many times, I love warming them up the next day in the toaster!!!
★★★★★
max nomad says
i likes me a nice bit a crumpet.. with cheese n marmite usually ;P
★★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Ooo I have never tried with marmite gotta change that!!
Doris says
This recipe was surprisingly easy and only took an hour from start to finish. I didn’t have the beautiful results like yours. I think my yeast was old or I used water that was too hot. I didn’t have the large number of bubbles and few eventually popped. Plus my centers should have been more firm so I probably didn’t cook them long enough. I plan to try again in the near future. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Olivia says
Where is the measurement for the “remaining water”?
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Olivia, its 1 3/4 cup- please let me know if you try the recipe how you like them!! XX Liz