This is the crumpet recipe released by Warburtons, the UK’s biggest commercial crumpet maker. They’re an absolute dead ringer for store bought – except far better – with the signature holes, distinct “spongey” texture, perfect for toasting. If you’ve ever wanted to know how to make a crumpet, this is going to blow your mind! And it’s easy!
Crumpet recipe
Warburtons is the UK’s biggest and most popular commercial crumpet producer. They make over 700 million of them a year!
To cheer up the UK public during lockdown, they shared their secret crumpet recipe for people to make at home. Though I doubt it’s the precise commercial batter recipe (they probably adapted it for the home cook), the end result is EXACTY like store bought crumpets.
After many, many, MANY failed crumpet attempts over the years (even from notable chefs!), I am still shaking my head at how astonishingly perfect these crumpets are – and how easy they are to make!
What are crumpets?
Hailing from England, they’re like a cross between an English muffin and pancakes. Their distinguishing feature is the surface that’s riddled with holes which allows butter to permeate through from top to bottom. The surface has a unique almost “spongey” texture, but it’s very fluffy inside, just like bread!
What goes in crumpets
Here’s what you need to make crumpets. I always knew yeast was in the batter. The addition of baking powder was the key that made all the difference – from crumpet making fails to crumpet making success!
Yeast – use instant / rapid rise yeast or active dry yeast (sometimes just labelled “yeast”). Both work just fine.
Fresh yeast? Haven’t tried with fresh yeast but see no reason why it wouldn’t work using the standard conversion of 7.75g / 0.275 ounces fresh yeast per 1 teaspoon of dry yeast. Crumble into warm water with sugar and follow above directions for active dry yeast.
Flour – just normal plain / all purpose flour. Not self raising flour, not wholemeal flour.
Gluten free – unfortunately doesn’t work with gluten free flour. We tried, and it was a dismal failure!
How to make crumpets
Here’s how to make crumpets in 3 easy steps:
Mix water, flour and salt to form a sticky but stirrable batter. Then mix in yeast dissolved in a bit of water, baking powder and sugar to form a smooth batter;
Leave in a warm place for 30 minutes until the surface gets foamy; then
Ladle into rings and cook on the stove until bubbles pop on the surface and the top is cooked.
It is quite straightforward, but because homemade crumpets is a bit of a unique recipe, I’m going to add a bit more information about each step in the proceeding sections. If you’re not interested, jump to the recipe! (Or video – or Dozer 😂)
The crumpet batter
The crumpet batter is literally a dump-and-mix job, though you do need to mix well for a couple of minutes by hand (or half that time using a handheld mixer) which I assume is to get good gluten formation to get that signature chew for any type of yeast bread, as opposed to being “cakey”.
Then once mixed, you simply put it in a warm place so it gets nice and foamy. This is the equivalent of dough rising so the crumpets rise when they’re cooking.
The crumpet batter won’t increase in volume very much – just around 10 / 15%.
Crumpet rings
Crumpet rings are a “thing”. They are around 9 cm / 3.5″ wide and about 2.5cm / 1″ tall. The ones I have are non stick, but they come in silver too.
But honestly, anything metal and round will do the trick – egg rings, biscuit cutters, scone cutters, even cleaned large tuna cans. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be round! Star shaped crumpets, anyone??
Cooking crumpets
Now, I’m not going to lie to you – you probably won’t nail the first one. It does take practice – but no more than when you first started out perfecting the art of golden fluffy pancakes or pikelets!
The secret to cooking crumpets perfectly is to start them off on a high heat to get those bubbles activated, then turn the stove down so the crumpet cooks through without burning the base. The cooking technique is one change I made to the original Warburtons recipe – they say to cook on medium high the whole time = scorched base.
Though store bought crumpets don’t have colour on the holey side, I like to flip to get a blush of colour on it and cook any residual raw batter.
And here’s a close up of the inside of the crumpets with the signature vertical “tunnels” from the holes!
Even better the next day!!
An essential step with crumpets is to cool them completely, otherwise they are kind of moist and “doughy” inside.
In fact, if you want an absolute dead ringer for store bought crumpets, they are best made the day before, or the day before! They keep for days in the fridge – I’ve kept them for 5 days and once toasted, they are perfect.
Can you freezer homemade crumpets?
They freezer perfectly too. Thaw or even microwave thaw, then toast as usual!
How to eat a crumpet
I realise that writing about how to eat crumpets may induce eye rolling from Crumpet-Eating-Experts. But bear with me – not everyone has been eating crumpets all their life!
Toasting is essential to make the golden base crispy. Then slather with butter (what do you think all those holes are for?? So the crumpet gets soaked with butter, from top to bottom!) then spread of choice.
What to put on crumpets
As far as what to put on crumpets (other than the mandatory butter) – honey is by far the top choice (think – hole seepage). My personal second choice is Vegemite (it’s an Aussie thing 🇦🇺), followed by jam. Other spreads like Nutella and peanut butter go great too – whatever you put on toast, you can put on crumpets!
Though if you want the ultimate crumpet experience, don’t go past butter and honey. That moment when you bite into the crumpet and salty melted butter and sweet molten honey squirts into your mouth…
Arrrgh … I’m torturing myself at the thought. I’m off to toast another crumpet for morning tea! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Crumpet recipe
Ingredients
- 150g (1 cup) white flour , plain / all purpose
- 200ml (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) warm water , tap water (200g) (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp salt , cooking/kosher salt (1/4 tsp table salt)
- 1/2 tsp white sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
Yeast Mixture
- 1 tsp yeast , instant/rapid rise OR dry active yeast (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp warm water (just tap water)
Cooking:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted (or vegetable oil)
Instructions
Crumpet Batter:
- Place flour, water and salt in a bowl and whisk for 2 minutes (electric beater 1 minute on speed 5).
- Yeast Mixture – Dissolve Yeast into 1 tbsp warm water in a small bowl.
- Add Yeast Mixture, sugar and baking powder into bowl, then whisk for 30 seconds (or 15 sec speed 5).
- Cover with cling wrap or plate, then place in a very warm place for 15 to 30 minutes until the surface gets nice and foamy. It will only increase in volume by ~10 – 15%.
Cooking Crumpets:
- Grease 2 or 3 rings with butter (approx 9 cm / 3.5" wide, though any ring or metal shaper will do, Note 3) (TIP: Non stick rings – brush with melted butter. Everything else – smear with butter)
- Brush non stick skillet lightly with melted butter then place rings in the skillet.
- Turn stove on medium high (medium for strong stoves) and bring to heat (Note 4 for “sizzle test”).
- Pour 1/4 cup batter into the rings (65ml), about 1cm / 2/5" deep (will rise ~60%).
- Cook for 1 1/2 minutes – bubbles should start appearing on the surface (but not popping yet).
- Turn heat down to medium, cook for 1 minute – some bubbles should pop around the edges.
- Turn heat down to medium low, cook for a further 2 1/2 to 4 minutes, until the surface is "set" and it's clear there will be no more bubbles popping! (At this stage you can help the final bubbles pop with a skewer!)
- Remove rings (you might need to run knife around to loosen).
- Then flip and cook the other side for 20 to 30 seconds for a blush of colour.
- Transfer to write rack (golden side down) and fully cool.
- Can be eaten once cool, but it’s even better the next day (Note 5).
How to eat crumpets:
- Toast in a toaster until the base is crispy.
- Slather generously with butter, then spread of choice (honey is perfection) and devour immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
And every once in a while, his patience pays off and food I’m shooting falls to the ground….
Great recipe, thanks for sharing but I have am struggling to understand one thing:
How are you supposed to be able to have some left over for the next day?
Also – Butter and grated cheddar ftw!
So easy. I used wholemeal flour and they turned out beautifully. I I did halve the salt on the second batch. Our new weekly treat.
Made these for Christmas morning breakfast , used biscuit cutters in Christmas shapes, looked cute tasted delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Loved how easy this is. Need to practice with a good pan. But for the first try, they came out well
BTW, can be made GF provided you add 1 full cup of water instead of 200mls. Reason for this is that GF flour is more absorbent and adding the extra water compensates for that🙂
hi there can you please advise which set of measurements you are quoting (ie) imperial or USA
t/y
I am curious. Do you think a sourdough start up can be used. I have IBS I can eat sourdough bread. And I though if we can’t use gluten free flour may I could use a sour dough start up.
King Arthur Flour has a great recipe that uses sourdough discard
YES, I have made these with my discard from my sour dough and they are delish… I have also made these Nagi ways many times.. Always the best!!
Hi Mary Lou – sorry but I just don’t know without testing that – it’s a completely different recipe with sourdough! N x
Absolutely! Google making crumpets with sour dough starter discard. Easy, I make mine on an electric griddle (so easy to control heat). They are very good!
Gotta say you’ve nailed this recipe ! Making it non stop for visitors. They love it !
These look delicious! I’m wondering if it’s ok to double the recipe or should I stick to making one batch at a time?
I just made this. I liked it and will use this recipe again for sure!😁 I haven’t tried other crumpet recipes but I liked this. The crumpet was soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. I think my 1 cup of flour was too compact that the batter was not runny like in the video and pictures therefore I added warm water till it looked like the consistency in the video. I played the video a few times to ensure the consistency was the same as the video and they turned out good!😍Thank you very much Nagi for sharing this recipe and the video😁😍👍
I just made this. I liked it will use this recipe again for sure! I haven’t tried other crumpet recipes recipes but I liked this. The crumpet was soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. I think my 1 cup of flour was too compact that the batter was not runny like in the video and pictures therefore I added warm water till it looked like the consistency in the video. Thank you very much Nagi for sharing this recipe and the video😁😍👍
Loved this recipe. I’m British, but crumpets have been a mystery to me for many years… Now I cam make my own! (I did star shaped and a Christmas tree! 😁)
Oh my goodness. I feel like l’ve died and gone to food heaven. Stumbled on your recipies looking for a “honey soy sauce” recipe. 20 (at least) recipes later l’m still here. Have so many on my list to try and have subscribed to your newsletter but, just when l thought it couldn’t get any better, here’s your crumpet recipe! I LOVE crumpets, so much so l even bought a toaster with a special crumpets setting but, horror of horrors, the manufacturer here in NZ has stoped using yeast in their crumpets. As you can imagine a vital flavour component is missing and they’re no longer worth eating. Have tried so many less than satisfactory recipies but yours look perfect. Can’t wait to try! Thank you!
Thank you for this Nagi. I love crumpets but only recently considered making my own. I’ll try your recipe this weekend. I’m in Canada so naturally, I’ll need to try them with butter and maple syrup.
Hello! Thanks for the recipe! I’m from the US and have never before eaten, let alone made, crumpets. I think I did okay for the first time, but I think my batter was too thick and prevented some of the bubbles from coming through. Should I try adding more water next time I make it, or is there some other secret for getting the batter a bit more runny? Thanks!
I am so thankful for your recipe, Nagi! These are hands-down the absolute BEST crumpets. Way better than any store bought, and you’re right – they are even better the day after. I have to double even triple the recipe to have enough for the week. They are so easy, take under an hour – which is incredible for a busy mom like me!
I’m just in love with them. THANK YOU A MILLION!
You are very welcome Stephanie!!! N x
tsp and tbsp are very.confusing for non english users. especially when cooking and checking the recipe on my smartphone at the same time. i. hope the amount. is shown by gram or cc. many times i made mistakes with the recipes here. pity.
Hi K. Hope this will help for any future recipes where you may come across these measurements, as they are quite common in many countries. TSP/tsp is TeaSPoon and about 5ml. TBSP/tbsp is TaBleSPoon (an old type of cooking spoon) and about 15ml. A less common one nowadays but that you MAY come across occasionally is DeSertSPoon, DSSP/dssp which is about 10 ml. It’s the spoon you would eat pudding with and is about the same size as a soup spoon. Hope that helps. 🙂
Hi K…there is a toggle button for metric measurements at the top of most of my recipes so you can choose the type you prefer. Thanks! N x
I made these crumpets today and they were delicious. I couldn’t wait to try them.
It was easy and the instructions an video were so helpful. I no longer have to buy them at Trader Joes.
As someone who grew up eating crumpets aka pikelets on chilly winter Saturday afternoons watching Dr Who I have to say this recipe is not only easy but delicious and went nicely with the spiced plum and port jam I made last month.
I thought a cup of flour is 120g. Using 150g yeilded a thicker batter than seen in the video so I added an additional 4 Tbls of water. Fantastic!
So, so good – better than store bought. Made them on an electric griddle, turned out perfectly. Will be even better next time, I’ll make them a bit bigger so I get 6 instead of the 7 I ended up with, using a 1/4 c measure.