30-minute sourdough crumpets

I am firmly of the belief that a hot crumpet, slathered with butter, perhaps with some excellent quality jam, is one of life’s greatest foodie pleasures.

Wholemeal sourdough crumpets: hot, buttery, delicious!

These are very simple crumpets, that are also relatively quick to make if you have an active/bubbly sourdough starter ie) one that had been fed several hours earlier or the day before. In which case, a batch of these can be made in about half an hour or so.

If you do not have a sourdough starter, I have given notes on using commercial yeast at the bottom of this post.

My other sourdough crumpet post, that needs the batter to ferment slowly, uses ale, cheese and onions for a rarebit-style treat. The recipe is here.

cheese & onion sourdough crumpets: bouncy, aerated interior

cheese & onion sourdough crumpets with cream cheese & chives

Wholemeal crumpets

I have gone for a wholemeal version here purely because for last couple of feedings that I gave my sourdough starter, I used a mixture of wholemeal flour and strong white flour. However, these crumpets work just as well if the starter is fed with white flour or even a touch of rye flour.

wholemeal sourdough crumpets

Despite these crumpets containing a fair proportion of wholemeal flour, they are very light, with the characteristic bounce you want in a crumpet, and are most certainly moreish!

I have also included a few pictures of sourdough crumpets I have made using a starter that has been fed mostly with strong white flour rather than wholemeal.

Sourdough crumpets

Feeding the starter

You need to use an active starter for best results here ie) one that has been fed with water and flour about a day earlier, rather than a starter that has not been fed for some time.

For feeding I use an equal weight of flour and water, keeping it at 100% hydration. I tend to use 150g water and 150ml flour each time, with the flour component often being half wholemeal or rye flour and half strong white plain flour.

The starter is then very bubbly and raring to go for making a sourdough loaf or any variation, such as these crumpets.

sourdough starter: fed several hours earlier

Cooking slowly over a low heat

For perfect crumpets you need to cook the batter over a low heat, in a pan that has been preheated before you add the batter. Using a low heat, there is little chance of the bases burning before the batter has had a chance to cook fully.

Try to not disturb the rings or knock the pan until the tops have set. If you do, you might deflate the batter, resulting in doughy rather than airy crumpets.

sourdough crumpets

The cooking rings

Any metal cooking rings will do but they do need to be generously buttered to prevent the crumpets sticking. I use 7cm diameter rings but you can of course use larger rings.

If you do not have metal rings, just drop a tablespoon of the batter onto the hot frying pan or griddle pan and cook them free-form, essentially making pikelets.

sourdough pikelets

Recipe: easy sourdough crumpets – makes 8-10

• 100g active, bubbly sourdough starter, having been fed up to the day before with some wholemeal flour as part of the feed (see Feeding the starter, above)
• 100g strong plain flour (or wholemeal or a mix)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• cold milk (or even water) to mix
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• oil or butter for the pan and rings

(1) Beat the starter, flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Add enough milk or water to give a thick batter – think the consistency of unwhipped double cream.

NB: to be honest, I often don’t measure at all – just mix it all up as it is, as long as it is a thickish batter!

(2) Add the bicarbonate of soda and beat in well. Cover with clingfilm and leave for about 10-15 minutes, after which time the batter will be very bubbly, owing to the bicarbonate of soda.

NB: because the starter is very active, having been fed the day before, you do not need additional fermentation time here. The active starter will have bags of flavour, which is what you want with the crumpets.

bicarbonate of soda added & left for about 30 minutes: now ready to use

(3) Rub a little butter or oil over a solid frying pan or flat griddle pan and heat gently for a few minutes. Butter or oil metal cooking rings generously and place in the pan. Spoon about a tablespoon of the batter into each ring, coming to no more than about half full.

cooking over a low heat: note the myriad of bubbles

(4) Cook over a low heat for about 12-15 minutes until the surface has almost completely dried out. NB: after about 6 minutes, the batter will have risen somewhat and be very aerated, with several bubbles having popped, leaving the characteristic holes.

(5) You can now either turn the rings over for 3-4 minutes or pop a lid on and continue cooking for 3-4 more minutes: the heat will be enough to make sure they are fully cooked through.  You can remove them from the rings and lightly brown off the tops in the pan if you prefer.

wholemeal sourdough crumpets cooked through with lightly browned tops

(6) Serve either straight from the pan or, if eating them later, toasted – either way, you need plenty of butter and jam.

wholemeal sourdough crumpets straight out of the pan: buttered & ready to eat

A non-sourdough version

If you don’t have any sourdough starter, you can make these crumpets by instead using 150g strong plain flour, 150g standard plain flour and 7g easy-blend dried yeast mixed with the flours, salt and sugar.

In which case, the batter only needs a couple of hours to rest and ferment initially before you add the bicarbonate of soda.