One of my favorite Netflix shows from across the pond is called An Idiot Abroad. Essentially, it’s a travel show (think No Reservations) except instead of a well-traveled, well-spoken guy, it’s just a normal dude from England. I made these Homemade Crumpets with Raspberry Ricotta Spread to try to bring a little bit of England to my kitchen.
I knew that crumpets are similar to what we call English muffins here in the states, but they end up being a bit sturdier and have a slightly different texture. I started with Jamie Oliver’s crumpet recipe and I knew these Homemade Crumpets would be the perfect breakfast or afternoon snack.
To top the Homemade Crumpets I mashed up some ricotta cheese with fresh raspberries and honey. Yes please!
Homemade Crumpets
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ⅛ ounce active dry yeast
- Pinch of baking powder
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ cup warm water
Ricotta Topping:
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup fresh raspberries, mashed
Instructions
- For crumpets, stir together dry ingredients in a medium bowl (this recipe is easily doubled by the way). Add in water and stir to combine. The dough will be very wet.
- Let dough sit for 10-15 minutes to bubble a bit and activate the yeast.
- Meanwhile, mash fresh raspberries lightly with a fork and stir them into the ricotta mixture with honey and zest. Set aside for later.
- To cook crumpets, lightly grease and heat a large, sturdy skillet over medium heat. Once hot, drop in crumpet dough into about 1/2 inch thick circles. You can use a metal ring if you want perfect circles but I just eyeballed it. You should get 4-5 large crumpets from your dough.
- Once the crumpets are in the pan, turn the pan heat down to low and let the crumpets cook slowly for 15 minutes.
- Flip the crumpets and cook for 15-20 minutes on the second side until they are lightly browned, crunchy on the exterior, and cooked through.
- Let crumpets cool slightly and then serve smeared with ricotta topping.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Homemade Crumpet Dough
Sometimes it’s really hard to translate recipes even if it’s technically in your language. If you check out Jamie’s recipe, for example, there are ingredients like easy-action yeast, bicarbonate of soda, and instructions like “blitz.”
I tried to take a stab at translating this to American ingredients and directions and ended up with very excellent Homemade Crumpets. I’ll call it a win!
Of course, the Brits (and the world) are much more exacting, especially when it comes to measurements so while we would say 2 cups of bread flour, they say 250 grams.
As always, if you want to guarantee recipe success, weighing your ingredients is the best idea.
Then add in the yeast, cinnamon, salt, and sugar. There’s a lot of yeast in these guys which means they don’t need a lot of rise time and also give the Homemade Crumpets a distinct flavor.
Stir this all together with the warm water and it’ll form a very loose dough. It’s almost a batter and reminded me a lot of no knead bread.
Unlike no knead bread (which has a very small amount of yeast) this has a lot of yeast so you only need to let it sit for about 15 minutes and it will get stretchy and perfect.
Cooking the Crumpets
Cooking these guys in a large, sturdy skillet is the classic way to go. When you are ready to make the crumpets lightly oil your pan and heat it over medium heat. Then just drop in your crumpet dough in loose pieces.
If you are a perfectionist, you can use a metal ring to help shape the crumpets but that’s kind of unnecessary in my opinion.
Once the crumpets are in the pan, reduce the heat to LOW and cook the crumpets for about 15 minutes. So they get a quick sear from the heat and then cook slowly. This lets the yeast continue to do its thing and the crumpets puff up beautifully.
Give these Homemade Crumpets a flip and continue to cook them on low heat for another 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown and cooked through. They will have a bit of a crunch to the outside which is nice and be really tender on the inside.
The Crumpet Topping
At some point while the crumpets are cooking or rising, mix together the topping. This is an easy topping, but is the perfect amount of sweetness for me.
Just stir together some ricotta cheese with lemon and honey.
Then mash up some fresh raspberries and gently fold them into the cheese. You want pink streaks if that makes sense.
When your Homemade Crumpets are done, let them cool briefly and then cut them open and serve them with a big smear of the ricotta spread.
If you happen to see this when you slice open a crumpet it means your crumpets need MORE TIME.
When they are done, the inside should be completely set. I let mine cook over low heat for a few more minutes and then they looked great.
There you have it Mate!
These Homemade Crumpets are bloody brilliant and you should make them. They are especially good while watching Karl Pilkington wonder around the world.
Here are a few other great Breakfast Breads:
- Bacon Cornbread
- Guinness Banana Bread
- Cinnamon Sticky Buns
- Cinnamon Roll Bread from Center Cut Cook
Felicity
Hee hee, love it! Just remember that us Aussies love crumpets too :-)
Rachel
These look great! If you can get your hands on some clotted cream, you’ll really raise the bar on an authentic British tea! Also, “bollocks”, not “bullocks” :) Thanks for another great recipe!
Nick
Ha! Right. “bollocks”. :) Thanks Rachel!
Jadzia
Those look good, though a touch more like english muffins than crumpets.
And as an FYI, bicarbonate of soda (aka bi-carb) is baking soda. And blitzing would be mixing it at high speed in a food processor, or blender.
Always love translating terms from those that are more Brittish/Australian into more American ones. (Just like I love confussing my co-workers by using Aussie slang at times, heh)
Alina
I started watching An Idiot Abroad after seeing it on your site, today. BTW, love your recipes! Longtime reader and just had to share :)
Susan
The crumpets look delicious….and you swear you made them at 5280 feet? I’m always wary of bready type projects, even after 45+ years of high altitude living!
Nick
Yep! Made them in Denver. :)
Kim
Well done Nick! These are deffo superior to the crumpets we can buy at the supermarket here in Blighty. I think they are nicer when lightly toasted under the grill after splitting. Also if you are in peach (as opposed to raspberry) season, try the ricotta with mashed very ripe peaches – heavenly! Karl Pilkington is such a sport, a true star and thankfully he gets sent the places we wouldn’t dream of going! Love it! Ummmm just for your information ‘bollocks’ is pretty rude, like okay in a group of blokes or when you have a major personal disaster but you wouldn’t say it in front of your mum. Keep up the good work, cheery bye!
Nick
Ha! Thanks for the comment Kim. I’ll keep my bollocks usages to myself. :)
sara
Crumpets! YUM! :)
Sarah O.
I have been wanting to make crumpets ever since I got back from abroad and realized with a jolt of horror that my crumpet-eating days were coming to a close! This is the first recipe I’ve found that doesn’t require “crumpet rings” (ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat) so I will definitely be giving it a try!
Kevin Michael East
Sadly, whatever those little things were in the picture, they don’t resemble crumpets at all. The crumpets I’ve eaten since childhood look much more like pancakes than those biscuits. Crumpets have a springy, rubbery texture, a translucent dough with thousands of holes through to the bottom when they are cooked. They leak butter and marmalade because of the holes, they’re about 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch thick so you don’t slice them in half and are commonly made to finish in the toaster.
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