These deliciously sourdough crumpets are a long-fermented version of the traditional English recipe, yielding a light, fluffy crumb full of holes to capture your butter and jam.
Also known as griddle cakes, crumpets are an airy and spongy cross between English muffins and pancakes.
The crumb is tender and pocketed with the melted butter that works its way down into the holes. The bottom of the crumpet is chewy and buttery from cooking in the skillet.
A hot crumpet, with sourdough flavor and slathered with plenty of homemade butter and a drizzle of raw honey, is delightful. They are also great vessels for your favorite toppings – strawberry jam, maple syrup, peanut butter. We’ve also enjoyed them with an over-hard egg, farmers cheese, and bacon to make a savory breakfast sandwich. This will surely be a new family favorite!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Delicious and unique – Crumpets are kind of like a pancake that is intentionally left too long on the griddle. They have a chewy, crisp bottom that is fried to golden brown. Plus, they have an airy crumb on top that holds your toppings in all its little air pockets. They are buttery and tasty, offering a fun and less typical breakfast.
Easy breakfast – If you have a busy morning, this recipe is a tasty, make-ahead option. Start the batter the night before and let the flour ferment while you sleep. Then, add baking soda in the morning when you’re ready to cook.
Long-fermented sourdough – The long fermentation time in this sourdough crumpets recipe breaks down the grains for better digestion and nutrient absorption.
Ingredients
Sourdough starter – Active, bubbly starter works well for a mild sourdough flavor. Discard, or unfed starter, will also work due to the addition of baking soda before cooking. New to sourdough? Learn how to make your own sourdough starter.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
Ring molds – Multiple types of metal rings will work, including English muffin rings, cookie cutters, or pastry rings.
How to Make Sourdough Crumpets
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add sourdough starter, all-purpose flour, salt, water, and sugar, and mix for 2-3 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to ferment at room temperature overnight or up to 12 hours. For best results, avoid using a towel as a cover because a hard crust may form on top of the dough from exposure to air.
Step 2: The next day, heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat and add butter. The temperature and time may be dependent on your stove and the type of skillet you use. Butter the inside of the crumpet rings and place them in the hot pan.
Step 3: Sprinkle the baking soda on top of the fermented batter and mix until a smooth batter forms.
Step 4: Pour the batter into each ring and allow to cook for 8-10 minutes. The batter should get all bubbly and rise to the top. Check to make sure the bottom of the crumpet is not burning and adjust the temperature down if needed. They should be golden brown.
Step 5: Remove the rings once the top of the crumpets are cooked through and presenting lots of holes. Remove them from the skillet and serve your batch of crumpets warm.
Tips for Sourdough Crumpets
- Cook time and temperature vary with each stove and the type of pan used. Keep a close eye to avoid burning the bottom.
- A pastry brush makes oiling the rings much easier.
- Traditionally, crumpets are only baked on one side. If you prefer a slight crust on the second side, then you can flip them over and cook for a few minutes, until golden.
- This is a thick batter. A cross between pancake batter and English muffin dough.
- Measuring the batter in each ring is helpful in securing an even bake.
- I like using active starter, but discarded sourdough starter will also work due to the added baking soda.
- Make sure your baking soda is fresh. If it is too old, your batter may not rise well.
- For a dairy-free alternative, you can substitute coconut oil for the butter when cooking.
Recipe FAQs
Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. They tend to get soft when stored in an airtight container, so I suggest toasting leftovers before serving.
English muffins have a thicker dough. Crumpets have a thin dough, making it essential to cook them in a metal ring.
A very popular breakfast or a side with afternoon tea in the UK, crumpets are round griddle cakes with lots of small holes that are typically made with commercial yeast. Their spongey texture is scattered with air pockets, perfect to slather with butter, jams, or honey.
Crumpets are best served warm or toasted with sweet or savory toppings. They can be topped as simply or as layered as you prefer. Try them with butter and jam, honey or syrup, topped with homemade cream cheese and fresh fruit, goat cheese and honey, peanut butter or nut butter, or make them into breakfast sandwiches with fried egg, cheese, and bacon or sausage.
I think anything sourdough is better, given the benefits of fermentation, as well as the pleasant tanginess sourdough provides.
More Sourdough Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Sourdough Beignets
- Sourdough Brioche Cinnamon Rolls
- Sourdough Blueberry Pancakes
- Sourdough Granola
- Whole Wheat Biscuits
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Crumpets
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter, active and bubbly, 100 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, 280 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt, 5 grams
- 1 3/4 cups water, 413 grams
- 1 teaspoon sugar, 4 grams
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, for cooking, 57 grams
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add sourdough starter, all-purpose flour, salt, water, and sugar, and mix for 2-3 minutes.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to ferment at room temperature overnight or up to 12 hours. For best results, avoid using a towel as a cover because a hard crust may form on top of the dough from exposure to air.
- The next day, heat the skillet over medium heat and add butter. The temperature and time may be dependent on your stove and the type of skillet you use.
- Butter the rings and place them in the skillet.
- Sprinkle the baking soda on top of the fermented batter and mix until a smooth batter forms.
- Pour the batter into each ring and allow to cook for 8-10 minutes. The batter should get all bubbly and rise to the top. Check to make sure the bottom of the crumpet is not burning and adjust the temperature down if needed. They should be golden brown.
- The rings can be removed once the top of the crumpets are cooked through and presenting lots of holes. Remove them from the skillet and serve warm.
Notes
- Cook time and temperature vary with each stove and the type of pan used, so keep a close eye to avoid burning the bottom.
- A pastry brush makes buttering the rings much easier.
- Traditionally, crumpets are only baked on one side. If you prefer a slight crust on the second side, then you can flip them over and cook for a few minutes, until golden.
- This is a thick batter. A cross between pancake batter and English muffin dough.
- I like using active starter, but discarded sourdough starter will also work due to the added baking soda.
- Make sure your baking soda is fresh. If it is too old, your batter may not rise well.
- For a dairy-free alternative, you can substitute coconut oil for the butter when cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Would you change the recipe at all if you used freshly milled flour instead of AP flour?
No, my recommendation though is to weigh out your flour when adding. It should be 140 grams per cup.
My family loves these. So easy and just as good as the English muffins, so they are now in our weekly rotation 🙂
The sourdough crumpet recipe is very easy to follow. The crumpets were delicious & they had the little holes just like the crumpets we had in Australia. Thank you for this recipe, it is a keeper!
Delicious and fun!
I’m loving these! I love bread too, so I might be slightly biased. I’m planning on toasting them again for dinner, and making an egg and cheese sandwich for the hubby.
Excellent! These virtually disappear as soon as they’re taken off the stove. For extra moisture and a fluffy texture, I swap the water with yogurt whey. Delicious! They freeze very well and are perfect for egg and cheese “biscuit” sandwiches. I run them through the defrost setting on our toaster twice and they come out nicely toasted.
Those crumpets look pretty good but not very holey. Your recipe is fine, I tried it yesterday with one minor change. Instead of a half teaspoon of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) I used 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder. It worked. I also used a trick I picked up and stood over the crumpets with a toothpick and, as they started to solidify on top, poked the bubbles to help them burst. I’d share a photo but your comment section doesn’t seem to have that facility. I usually make a double batch and freeze them. When thawed they go into the toaster. As a kid we used to toast them on a BBQ fork in front of the open fire. Another tip (from an Englishman in England): You can get away without crumpet rings (as rare as hen’s teeth in the USA) or egg rings by making freeform crumpets like American dollar pancakes. They work well and cook a little faster.
Not authentic British crumpets at all
As long as you don’t flip them they are. Fantastic recipe! Love from Cambridge, England.
I don’t personally know anyone else in England who makes sourdough crumpets. Some of the supermarkets sell faux sourdough crumpets but they’re not authentic either. The recipe matches UK recipes pretty closely ( except for medieval volume measurements instead of metric weights) and by switching to baking powder instead of bicarb (baking soda) makes a pretty decent crumpet. I made a batch yesterday.
How much batter do you pour in the ring?
About a quarter cup.
What might cause mine to not cook on top unless I flip?
I’m English in England and I flip mine. Also, pop them into the toaster before serving, they’re best served hot. …And they freeze well (it’s hard when you don’t know what you’re aiming at).