I love a toasted English crumpet with butter and jam or even better, traditional Lyles’s golden syrup, but I’m ashamed to admit that before I made these I had never had one that was made from scratch!  Inspired by a friend who made a bucket list of all the food she wanted to make, I started putting together my own bucket list and these were right at the top.  I mean, I was born in England and I have the word crumpet right in my blog name… it’s almost a disgrace NOT to make them, am I right???

So what is a crumpet?  It’s a small griddle cake eaten in the UK, about three inches in diameter, which to me resembles something between a pancake and an English muffin.  It’s made from a yeasted batter that is light, airy and filled with holes that have been produced by bubbles in the batter that expand while it sits.  The batter is cooked in ring molds on a griddle or in a frying pan, slowly on low heat, which helps create a soft spongy texture with a golden crust on the outside.

I had only ever had crumpets store bought before making these, but let me tell you… I definitely won’t be buying those again because there is absolutely no comparison!  It takes practice to get the holes on the top, so be careful as you flip or you will smear the holes shut, but these are spongy, crispy golden deliciousness!

I purchased these ring molds from Amazon to cook the crumpets in and they worked beautifully.  (You can cook them without ring molds, you just won’t get the really round shape.)  If you have never made your own crumpets you should definitely have a go at this!  You can eat them immediately with butter and jam or syrup, or you can store them in an airtight container and then toast later when you are ready to eat.  (They can also be frozen and toasted at a later time.)

Ingredients:

• 1-1/3 cup bread floor, (spooned not packed)
• 1-1/3 cup all purpose flour, (spooned not packed)
• 4-1/2 tsps instant yeast, (or two of the small packages)
• 1-1/2 cups warm milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Stir together the bread flour, the all purpose flour and the dry yeast in your mixers mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the warm milk and sugar and pour in to the middle of the flour mixture.  
3. Beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes until you have a thicker batter that almost looks like bread dough.  
4. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and let it sit in a warm place for an hour.
5. In another bowl, dissolve the baking soda and salt in the warm water.  
6. Pour it over the batter and stir it in well until evenly combined.  
7. Cover back up and let sit 20-30 minutes.
8. Spray your ring molds and your frying pan with plenty of canola oil and place the ring molds in the frying pan over medium-low heat.  
9. Use a 1/3 cup measure sprayed with canola oil to scoop the batter in to the molds, (you want to fill the rings only 1/2-2/3 full maximum.)  
10. Let them cook without touching them for about 6-7 minutes on level 4 heat or until they get all bubbly and start to dry on top.  
11. Use some tongs to gently remove the rings, (remember they are hot), increase the heat to 5, quickly flip them over with a nylon turner and tongs and cook for an additional 2 minutes on the other side until they are light golden brown.  (You have to flip them very carefully and not move them once they are flipped or you will seal up the holes as I did in most of mine the first time.)
12. Set your finished crumpets aside, respray the rings and pan with canola oil and repeat until you have cooked all your batter.  This recipe made about 12 crumpets.

*Note, you don’t slice the crumpets open like you would an English muffin.  You just put your butter and jam/syrup on top!  Butter and Lyles Golden Syrup is my absolute FAVORITE crumpet topping!