Have you ever made your own crumpets? I love a toasted crumpet spread with butter and Marmite, but I’d never made my own crumpets – until now!
These are simple to make and scrumptious to eat. Unlike mass produced crumpets, these are soft rather than chewy so if you’re not usually a fan of that unique texture crumpets have you might be pleasantly surprised by these.
You only need a few basic ingredients to make these and a little patience while they prove and cook. Crumpet rings are required to cook them in those perfect circles, although you can drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot pan to create thinner yet equally delicious pikelets.
If you have an airing cupboard or a sunny windowsill away from draughts, these are great places to prove your baking. In the summer you will find your bakes prove much quicker than in the winter, so make allowances for this when you’re planning your baking. During the winter months I find I have to prove my baking alongside a radiator, otherwise I’d be waiting all day! Also, it’s worth checking if your air fryer has a proving function as that’ll do the job quickly, all year round. I have a Ninja Flex Drawer and it proves in as little as 30 minutes, so it’s brilliant if you’re against the clock.
On with the recipe!
Ingredients:
- 100g plain flour
- 150g strong bread flour
- 7g instant yeast (one sachet)
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 300ml milk – use any milk, I used oat milk
- ½ tsp baking powder
- oil for greasing your frying pan
- crumpet rings
Makes 8 – 10 crumpets
Method:
Weigh the flours, yeast, sugar and salt into a large bowl and mix together.
Gently warm the milk until lukewarm. This means when you put a clean finger into the milk it should feel warm, just a little warmer than body temperature, not hot. If it’s hot, just give it a few minutes to cool down before you add it to the mix otherwise it might kill your yeast and your efforts will be wasted. We don’t want that!
Whisk your milk into the flour until you have a smooth batter. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove for 1 – 2 hours. It’s worth setting a timer for 60 minutes to check on it.
Once your crumpet batter has proved it will have doubled in size and it will be very active, bubbling away.
Next, mix your baking powder with 50ml warm water and whisk into the batter until well combined.
As you whisk the baking powder and water into the crumpet batter, you will whisk away all the lovely bubbles temporarily.
Cover the bowl with the tea towel again and leave to prove again for another 30 minutes or so – your batter will rise and become lovely and bubbly again.
Heat a frying pan and add a splash of oil, enough to cover the surface. Lightly oil your crumpet rings and add them to the frying pan to heat up too.
Ladle your batter into the crumpet rings until they are half full. Cook on a medium heat for 8 – 10 minutes.
Once the tops of your crumpets look dry, take the rings off your crumpets – I used a pair of tongs for this. Have a metal baking tray handy to drop the hot rings onto.
Flip your crumpets over and cook on the other side until they’re a lovely golden brown.
You can eat your crumpets immediately, or keep them for toasting. Enjoy within a couple of days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Enjoy!
Abi – The Brownie Lady