Crumpet Recipe for Breakfast or Teatime
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This Crumpet recipe is easy to make at home for teatime, breakfast, or anytime you’re in the mood for crumpets and tea (or coffee). If you can make pancakes, you can make your own crumpets. And yes, most decidedly, serve them with tea!

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Crumpet Recipe Overview
A simple crumpet recipe that’s easy to make at home. With 5 pantry ingredients, they are delicious for breakfast or teatime and will keep for several days.
- Recipe Time: 5 minutes prep, 20-30 minutes rising time, 4-5 minutes cooking time
- What You Need: Nonstick skillet and rings
- Servings: 12 crumpets
What are crumpets, and how are they different than English muffins?
Crumpets are much like a combination of an English muffin and pancakes. They are small, yeast-leavened cakes cooked on a griddle or skillet. With a spongy texture and iconic holes, they are perfect for soaking up butter and jam. While they share similarities with English muffins, like size and shape, crumpets are softer with a more porous texture.

What I Love About Homemade Crumpets
I’ve had a love affair with crumpets for as long as I can remember.
When my son was a toddler, he was a picky eater. Strangely, he also developed a love for crumpets (but not tea), spicy pumpkin bread (I’ll never understand that one), and chocolate chip cookies. Aversions were broccoli (to which I cried when he finally ate one, silly!).
But crumpets were purchased or “ordered” at my favorite bakery. It hadn’t occurred to me to make crumpets by scratch.
Until it did, and then, there was no stopping the crumpet production in my kitchen. And delicious? Oh my, yes! Satisfying… extremely. Easy… absolutely!
You can make these crumpets in minutes. The prep is simple, much like mixing pancake batter. Let the yeast do its thing for about 20 to 30 minutes, and then a skillet will make the magic.
The iconic bubbles on the top? It’s one of the things I love most!
When tea cravings hit, or you want to invite friends for crumpets and tea, you’ll be so glad you have fresh crumpets to serve.
Enjoy!


Ingredients for Crumpets
You only need a handful of ingredients to make delicious crumpets at home. The ingredient measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s a quick list of what you will need:
- Yeast: Both active dry yeast and instant yeast work equally well. I’ve made them with both.
- Granulated sugar: Activates the yeast and gives the crumpets a hint of sweetness.
- All-purpose flour works best in this crumpet recipe. I haven’t had a lot of success with gluten-free flour.
- Salt for flavor
- Baking powder helps form the iconic holes in the top of the crumpets.
Kitchen Tools for Making Crumpets
The only equipment you need to make crumpets is a skillet, I prefer a nonstick skillet for this crumpet recipe, rings to form the crumpets, and a spatula to turn them. I’m using a 3.5-inch egg ring, but any round-shaped mold or cookie cutter can also work.

How to Make Crumpets
Step-by-step instructions are also in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s how to make these simple crumpets.
Make the crumpet batter
Dissolve yeast into warm water (about 110 degrees F) and let sit until foamy, about 4 minutes. Add flour, remaining warm water, and salt into a bowl and whisk for 2 minutes. Add the yeast mixture, sugar, and baking powder and whisk for 30 seconds more.
Cover and let sit in a warm place to rise for 20-30 minutes or until the surface is foamy. The batter won’t double; expect it to increase by about 15 percent.
Heat skillet and rings
Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to medium-low heat. Butter or spray your rings* (see notes in the recipe card on rings) and place them on the skillet.
Cook 1st side of the crumpets and watch the bubbles.
1. Fill each ring with 1/4 cup of the batter (or about halfway up) and cook for 1-2 minutes. Bubbles will begin appearing but will not be popping yet. 2. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and continue cooking until the top is set, about 3-4 minutes. At this point, the bubbles will have popped, and it will be clear there isn’t more forming or popping.
- Batter just beginning to form bubbles.
- Crumpet batter in varying stages from not quite ready to flip, to ready to flip.
Flip crumpets
Remove the rings and then flip the crumpets to the other side. Cook for 20-30 seconds to give the tops a hint of golden color, then transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat until the batter is used.
Crumpet Recipe Tips
Much like making pancakes, crumpets take a little practice. The first one or two may not turn out perfectly. Be patient with yourself and enjoy the process. Knowing when to turn the crumpet is something you learn by trial and error.
That being said, if you can make pancakes, you can definitely make crumpets. It’s one of the reasons I love this recipe. Because it makes twelve, what is one or two that didn’t turn out as expected or is a bit more brown on one side than you prefer? Enjoy your efforts with a cup of your favorite tea!
- Grease the rings so the crumpets come out easily.
- Be sure the skillet is hot when you add the batter. This helps form the bubbles on the top.
- Reduce the heat and be patient while the batter cooks through and the bubbles pop.
- Watch the underside as they cook and adjust the skillet temperature accordingly.
- When flipping the crumpets, you want just a blush of color on the top.
More Recipes You May Enjoy with Tea
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Crumpet Recipe to Make at Home
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ plus 2 tablespoons cups warm water divided, about 110℉
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
Crumpet Batter
- Dissolve yeast into 2 tablespoons of warm water in a small bowl. Let proof for 5 minutes.
- Place flour, 1 ½ cups warm water, and salt into a bowl and whisk for 2 minutes. Add the yeast mixture, sugar, and baking powder and whisk for 30 seconds more.
- Cover and let sit in a warm place to rise for 20-30 minutes or until the surface is foamy. The batter won't double; expect it to increase by about 15 percent.
Cooking the Crumpets
- Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle to medium-low heat. Butter or spray your rings* (see notes on rings) and place them on the skillet. Fill each ring with 1/4 cup of the batter (or about halfway up) and cook for 1-2 minutes. Bubbles will begin appearing but will not be popping yet.
- Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and continue cooking until the top is set, about 3-4 minutes. At this point, the bubbles will have popped, and it will be clear there isn't more forming or popping. You can help the bubbles to pop by using a toothpick if needed.
- Remove the rings and then flip the crumpets to the other side. Cook for 20-30 seconds to give the tops a hint of golden color, then transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat until the batter is used.
- Serve immediately with clotted cream and jam or with honey and butter. Store in an airtight container– they are wonderful toasted!
Video
Notes
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
I homeschool my children and on Fridays we have teatime and learn about an artist, poet and musician. Today we made the crumpets for our teatime. They were fabulous! They were like a fluffy Welsh Tea Cake. My daughter put syrup on hers and ate it like a pancake. I put a bit of fig jam on mine. So yummy! And so easy!
Do you have a recipe for Welsh tea cakes?
Hi Jennifer! Fridays are even better with a homeschool day like yours. Thank you so much for your kind words and I’m thrilled that you and your kids enjoyed the crumpets for teatime! Thank you for including us in such a lovely day. As to Welsh Teacakes, I’ve been working on a recipe for a couple of months and plan to publish it very soon. I love them too! Have a beautiful weekend.