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….
Followed the recipe to the letter! Result very doughy! Not like the real thing! Would 1/2/part Strong flour make difference! I am only making my own because I cant get the giant crumpets in Penzance town!
Great crumpet recipe and the special directions made all the difference! Thank you so much-very close to Warburton’s!
I made these over the weekend and they turned out great. Thanks for sharing your super easy to follow recipe. 🙂 The guidance on heat was great. As a side note, the chew I use to describe crumpet texture is “eggy”. It’s what I think of when biting into something like frittatas and that ilk.
I didn’t have a warm spot in my house so I used some oven heat to do the trick. It worked perfectly.
Thanks for sharing this!
Wow these are amazing and a brilliant use of my pie maker, even my husband who doesn’t eat shop crumpets can’t get enough of these precious gems. Thankyou
Delicious!!! I made them for my coworker who is from Australia, and she was jumping up and down from delight. I myself thought they were better than donuts.
How do you keep the butter from burning?
The tiniest bit of oil added to the melted butter in the pan will stop the butter from burning. Works every time!
Oh my. These are so easy and taste good. Great recipe.
I made these wonderful crumpets this morning and my family loved them. They were fluffy and soft. Thank you for this great recipe. I will make them again soon. 😊
These crumpets are so easy and tasty. My kids devoured them. Cooked them in the pie maker for 8 mins with the lid open. They will be a regular from now on.
Which pie maker do you have please?
Made this for the first time this morning, turned out brilliant, absolutely loved it, even fluffier than store bought.
Hi, love this recipe. I always double it. I’m making them in my pie maker for the first time. trial and error LOL. 8 minutes with the lid up [ or the bubbles stop popping ] then 30 seconds with lid down seems to do the trick. I put a bit of butter in each and 1/4 cup of batter.
Your recipes look so easy for the average home cook. Love crumpets and I will definitely be making this soon. Thank you.
Your recipes look so easy for the average home cook. Love crumpets and I will definitely be making thus soon. Thank you.
I have never had crumpets before. But these are the best crumpets ever lol.
I cheated and used an electric arepa maker to cook these and I think they came out perfect! I just kept the arepa maker open so that I would still get bubble on the top and it worked out great. Family loved it.
We just got back from England, and I just had to make crumpets after our visit. These are spot on, and your notes are helpful. Thank you for sharing!
just made these for lunch OMG just like we had when we were kids. i used mini cookie cutter shapes turned out great.thanks
Oh my, these are perfect. Just delicious, better than any other recipe I’ve tried. Only thing I change is the honey. Golden syrup all the way!!! It’s a kiwi thing 🇳🇿🤣
Oh my, these are perfect. Perfect texture, look, taste, everything. Only thing I totally disagree with you on is the honey. Golden syrup all the way!!! 🤣 it’s probably a kiwi thing 🇳🇿
Hi Nagi,
Want to double recipe as they were amazing. Does that meen I need to double resting time from 15-30mins to 30-60mins?
Thanks
I always make a double batch of these crumpets. We go thru them so fast! I have found that 30 min proofing time works great for me.
Thanks 🙂
Hi Nagi,
Want to double recipe as they were amazing. Does that meen I need to double resting time from 15-30mins to 30-60mins?
Thanks
A favourite topping of mine is cheese, lots of grated or sliced cheese, then pop under the grill to get lovely and melty. A friend of mine used to like poached eggs with crumpets, very messy unless you use a knife and fork.