Crumpets are a light and fluffy stovetop bread from the UK. They are made from a yeasted batter that also contains baking soda - kind of like a cross between a quick bread and a leavened bread. The batter is loose and jiggly, and only takes an hour to rise. It is then fried on the stovetop in oil using crumpet rings (see more on crumpet rings below). Crumpets have a distinct tall, round shape, with lots of little pock marks on top caused by the bubbling baking soda reaction.
You can eat crumpets toasted, plain, or warmed. They can be slashered in jam or an allergy free butter alternative, dunked into soup, split open and filled like a sandwich. You know - however you typically eat bread. It’s quite simple, they are a British bread.
Growing up in Canada, I did not know what crumpets truly were until this past summer when I fell down a YouTube research black hole. Crumpets are not something you hear much about in Toronto. There are usually a few token packs in the bread aisle of the grocery store, but many stores do not carry them at all. It’s unusual to see crumpets on a menu, at a bakery, or at your friend’s house. We know them to be sponge-like and pale; a bread that must be toasted extensively before consumption. I’m sure they taste good straight out of the factory but perhaps they sit on the shelf for a while longer than regular old sliced bread.
It was surprising when, this past summer, I suddenly got a major craving for crumpets. The store bought brand was not allergy safe for me so I decided to make my own. I tried a few different recipes, balking each time at why I could not make them look like the real deal. These are too fluffy! Why are they so golden brown! You can see that I was clearly miseducated on the truth about crumpets.
I put out a poll on Instagram to see if my followers had any knowledge about homemade crumpets, specifically dairy free homemade crumpets. In a poll, over 40% of viewers voted that they had never even heard of them or did not know what they were. Of the 60% who voted that they were familiar with crumpets, most of those voters were from the UK. I was then bombarded by British readers (bombarded in a good way) who were appalled that crumpets were not well represented in North America. I quickly learned that they are a staple food for many overseas.
So that brings me to my research endeavors over the past few months. I watched tons of videos on YouTube about how crumpets have been made. Some videos were by popular British chefs like Gordon Ramsay, while others were home cooks. Some videos featured American reenactment actors demonstrating how colonists made them in America hundreds of years ago (twigs were involved). I learned that crumpets do not even exist in many parts of America, and that they migrated unevenly across Canada. In some parts of the country they are more common.
What a fascinating bread!
And of course I had to Mandy-fy the recipe, so there is olive oil and maple syrup involved in my version. Naturally.
I call this an “eczema friendly” baking recipe because you don’t have to work the dough with your hands, meaning less hand washing required, meaning freedom for your skin. If you do not have eczema and you are confused, just skip to the next paragraph.
How easy are crumpets to make at home?
Crumpet batter is simple and forgiving. You’ll notice in my YouTube tutorial that I was not too fussed about getting the measurements precisely accurate. It’s a bit like making pancakes; it’s a lumpy batter that hides your mistakes. They only take an hour to rise, so it’s not a huge time commitment. The cooking process takes about 15 minutes from start to finish to make all 6 crumpets in this recipe. I cook them 3 - 4 at a time.
