These Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets are exactly that, easy to make and even easier to eat! Serve them warm or toasted with lashings of butter.
*Non Paid and Gifted collaboration with Matthews Cotswold Flour*
A SUPER Sourdough Starter Discard Recipe
These Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets are exactly that, easy to make and even easier to eat! They really do have only three main ingredients in them, namely sourdough starter or sourdough discard, plain (all purpose) flour and baking powder. Add a smidgen of salt and some filtered water, and you have all you need to make soft, springy, chewy and utterly delicious fresh crumpets.
I have have finally perfected the recipe after many months of tweaking and baking, and I am thrilled with the results, as these crumpets are so much better than commercially made crumpets and, you can make them at home with very little equipment needed, just a large non-stick frying pan and some crumpet rings. You can make these sourdough crumpets with freshly fed and bubbly sourdough starter, as I tend to do, or with any sourdough discard.
I LOVE crumpets, and I am yet to find many people who don’t. But, I am a bit fussy about what a good crumpet should be. For me, it should have three main features, be springy (almost bouncy), be soft but with a good chewy texture and also have a sufficient amount of holes for essential “lashings of butter” retention!
If all of these criteria are met, then you have a damn good crumpet, worthy of being anointed with good butter and other luscious toppings. I am THRILLED to announce that today’s recipe for Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets has all of the above, in bucketfuls, and are utterly divine and delicious. It has been a long road to get to the “perfect” sourdough crumpet recipe, but I believe this is it.
Crumpets, Pikelets and Crempog
So, what exactly is a crumpet? And how does it differ from a pikelet, or a griddle cake? And what IS a Crempog, or to use the plural, Crempogau? A crempog is one of the oldest pancake recipes in Wales, and is exactly that, a pancake that is cooked on a griddle, or bakestone as they are called in wales. It’s similar to a Scottish pancake, or a thinner version of a crumpet as there are lots of holes on the top of it.
My Yorkshire husband insists that crumpets are actually pikelets, but for me there is a difference. And, it’s all down to size, or should I say thickness. A crumpet is substantially thicker and plumper than a pikelet, which is more like a hot cake, drop scone or Scotch pancake. And so the debate rages throughout the United Kingdom, depending on which region you come from. My maternal family all came from the North East of England, where a Welsh Cake type bake is called a Singin’ Hinnie!
Notes for Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets
These Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets are extremely easy to make, as I have mentioned before, but I have added some notes below to aid you in making them, if like me you are finding some ingredients hard to source right now. I have also added some helpful cooking tips so you can achieve perfect fluffy crumpets.
- You can help get a more “holey” surface as they are cooking by poking a toothpick in the top of the crumpets.
- You can use SR Flour, just add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder in place of 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder.
- In place of baking powder, you can use a mixture of Bicarbonate of Soda and Cream of Tartar.
- There is no need to use strong bread flour in this recipe, as the sourdough starter (discard) adds the gluten and structure.
- If there are not enough bubbles forming, make the batter thinner by adding more water.
- You can collect your sourdough starter discard for this recipe and store it in the fridge until it is needed. It is advisable not to store the discard for longer than 14 to 16 days.
Disclaimer: I was gifted a selection of flours by Matthews Cotswold Flour to make some Baking Bucket List recipes, of which today’s recipe for Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets is one.
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Step By Step Instructions
You’ll find the full and printable recipe at the end of this post.
- In a large mixing bowl or large jug with a lip, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the sourdough starter or discard and then add the water gradually until you have the desired consistency.
- The batter needs to be quite runny, similar to liquid double cream. Add the water until you have achieved this. Mix well until the batter is smooth.
- Brush inside each crumpet ring with melted butter or spray with the oil.
- Heat the frying pan over a low heat and then grease the pan with butter or spray oil.
- Place the greased crumpet rings in the frying pan.
- Spoon or pour the batter into the greased rings to just over half way up, and cook over the lowest heat possible – this is VERY important to get an even bake and to avoid the underside of the crumpets getting to brown and burnt.
- As soon as the bubbles have started to form on top of the crumpets, continue to cook until the surface becomes drier and goes from shiny and glossy to dull.
- Gently ease the rings up from the crumpets and then turn over to cook on the other side until the tops are cooked and a light golden brown,
- Remove the cooked crumpets from the pan and repeat with the rest of the batter to make the remaining 4 crumpets.
- Serve warm with butter, jam, golden syrup, honey, cheese or even marmite, OR toast them later and serve as above.
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Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets Recipe
Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets
These Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets are exactly that, easy to make and even easier to eat! They really do have only three main ingredients in them, namely sourdough starter or sourdough discard, plain (all purpose) flour and baking powder. Add a smidgen of salt and some filtered water, and you have all you need to make soft, springy, chewy and utterly delicious fresh crumpets. I have have finally perfected the recipe after many months of tweaking and baking, and I am thrilled with the results, as these crumpets are so much better than commercially made crumpets and, you can make them at home with very little equipment needed, just a large non-stick frying pan and some crumpet rings. You can make these sourdough crumpets with freshly fed and bubbly sourdough starter, as I tend to do, or with any sourdough discard.
Ingredients
- 150g freshly fed and bubbly sourdough starter, or sourdough discard
- 90g plain (all purpose) white flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 150ml to 180ml tepid boiled or filtered water
- Melted butter or spray oil for greasing (I used Frylight Butter flavoured oil)
- Equipment:
- 4 x 7.5cm (3") crumpet or egg rings
- 1 large non-stick frying pan
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or large jug with a lip, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the sourdough starter or discard and then add the water gradually until you have the desired consistency.
- The batter needs to be quite runny, similar to liquid double cream. Add the water until you have achieved this. Mix well until the batter is smooth.
- Brush inside each crumpet ring with melted butter or spray with the oil.
- Heat the frying pan over a low heat and then grease the pan with butter or spray oil.
- Place the greased crumpet rings in the frying pan.
- Spoon or pour the batter into the greased rings to just over half way up, and cook over the lowest heat possible - this is VERY important to get an even bake and to avoid the underside of the crumpets getting to brown and burnt.
- As soon as the bubbles have started to form on top of the crumpets, continue to cook until the surface becomes drier and goes from shiny and glossy to dull.
- Gently ease the rings up from the crumpets and then turn over to cook on the other side until the tops are cooked and a light golden brown,
- Remove the cooked crumpets from the pan and repeat with the rest of the batter to make the remaining 4 crumpets.
- Serve warm with butter, jam, golden syrup, honey, cheese or even marmite, OR toast them later and serve as above.
Notes
You can help get a more "holey" surface as they are cooking by poking a toothpick in the top of the crumpets.
You can use SR Flour, just add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder in place of 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder.
In place of baking powder, you can use a mixture of Bicarbonate of Soda and Cream of Tartar.
There is no need to use strong bread flour in this recipe, as the sourdough starter (discard) adds the gluten and structure.
If there are not enough bubbles forming, make the batter thinner by adding more water.
You can collect your sourdough starter discard for this recipe and store it in the fridge until it is needed. It is advisable not to store the discard for longer than 14 to 16 days.
The crumpets can be frozen as soon as they are cold. You can toast them straight from the freezer using the "frozen" setting on most modern toasters.
It is ESSENTIAL you cook these over the lowest heat possible, to achieve lots of air bubbles, and to make sure they are cooked all the way through. It took me about 15 to 20 minutes for each batch of crumpets, but the time taken was worth the results.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 crumpets Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 134Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 27mgSodium 228mgCarbohydrates 20gFiber 1gSugar 0gProtein 4g
Nutrition information is an approximate calculation based on the ingredients listed and it can vary according to portion sizes and when different ingredients are used
I have added today’s recipe for Easy Three Ingredient Sourdough Crumpets to this week’s Cook Blog Share
Lorna Morley-Medd says
Hi, if I don’t have a starter can I use anything else please? We absolutley love crumpets here and would love to getthe kids cooking at present. Thsnks xxx
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Lorna
I have another crumpets recipe, that uses normal yeast, it’s here:
Crumpets
Lorna Morley says
Ta muchly xx
Karen Burns-Booth says
My pleasure
johanna @ green gourmet giraffe says
this looks like a good reason to buy some crumpet rings – what a fantastic way to use up sourdough discard.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank you Johanna,
I’m very pleased with how this recipe turned out 🙂
Karen
Karen says
Where would i find your formula for sourdough starter pleas
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Karen
I’ve not shared it here yet, I’ll see if I have some to share it here very soon.
Karen
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
They look so good! I’ve never made crumpets but I’ve been thinking about trying them recently
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Kat, I’ve really enjoyed developing this recipe. Karen
Carol Monaghan says
Thanks for the recipe.. however, I can’t find the quantities required!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Carol
The recipe with all the quantities are listed AT THE END of this post at the bottom!
Karen
Shirley Millican says
Really enjoyed this crumpet recipe and good use of sourdough discard. By the way I have yet to master sourdough bread!!
Karen Burns-Booth says
That’s brilliant Shirley – it’s a lovely and easy recipe I think! I’m sure you’ll master the classic bread recipe. Karen
Michelle Rolfe says
They look delicious Karen! I am always trying to find ways to use my sourdough starter without always making a loaf and I hate to waste it. Will give these a go. Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare. Michelle
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Michelle 🙂 I love creating new recipes with my starter, even though I bake so regularly with it, there’s really never any discard! Karen
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hello Hetti, I’m racking my brain to think what could have gone wrong, as to date everyone who has made them has had 100% success.
As you can see by my photos which are honest visuals of the recipe process.
All I can think is that there wasn’t sufficient rising agents in the batter, as soon as that batter hits the hot plate or frying pan/skillet it starts to cook and bubbles appear quite quickly.
An hour is way too long for cooking them and maybe the pan wasn’t hot enough initially?
Check the date of your raising agents as well as the strength of your sourdough starter too…..a recently fed starter should be very lively, well risen and bubbly.
I am sorry but this is an unknown to me, I hope these suggestions help.
Karen
Randy Carlson says
These are so easy to make and are great tasting. Made a batch using whole wheat flour. A dash more baking powder and they turned out equally as good. My wife is a diabetic and the whole wheat seemed better on her blood levels.
Many thanks.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Randy, I’m so pleased this recipe turned out so well for you, Karen
Alison M says
I have not succeeded with this recipe. I usually make sourdough crumpets just with sourdough discard and a little bicarbonate. I thought this recipe sounded interesting but after ages (45 mins) on the griddle, the bottoms are very pale and the tops still very liquid. I must have done something wrong! The starter was lively after a feed several hours before. Oh well, try again!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hello Alison,
I’m racking my brains to think what could have gone wrong, as to date nearly everyone who has made them has had 100% success. And, I have had numerous people share their results on Instagram who have made them successfully too. As you can see by my photos which are honest visuals of the recipe process.
All I can think is that there wasn’t sufficient rising agents in the batter, as soon as that batter hits the hot plate or frying pan/skillet it starts to cook and bubbles appear quite quickly.
45 minutes is way too long for cooking them and maybe the pan wasn’t hot enough initially?
Check the date of your raising agents as well as the strength of your sourdough starter too…..a recently fed starter should be very lively, well risen and bubbly.
I am sorry but this is an unknown to me, I hope these suggestions help.
Karen
Kimberley says
I would think you may have gotten pale bottoms because you are not using enough butter or fat to cook the base. You need fat and heat to turn it golden brown. Crumpets are not a health food, so just add more butter as needed. I normally add a little bit of vegetable oil to help prevent the butter from burning.
I also find cooking the crumpets in a large heavy bottomed stainless steel frying pan and using a fitted lid during the first stages of cooking helps to retain the heat and moisture that you need to cook through to the tops. I have no experience of a griddle but think you just need higher temps and perhaps a cover.
Regarding your bicarb raising agent, consider adding more bicarb because “a little” doesn’t sound like enough – you need at least as much as the baking powder as you would add, in my opinion but I have not tried this yet. You could also consider adding cream of tartar (weak acid) with the bicarb (alkaline) to help activate it (I think about 2:1 tartar:soda), as I would guess the starter may not be acidic enough alone to activate it (my starter I used was only two weeks old or so, so not very sour, aka not very acidic). Water is generally alkaline. In other recipes I use for pikelets, you can add milk/buttermilk which provides a weak acid, and I believe yeast produces lactic acid, and which these together activates the bicarb. If using only bicarb, your starter must be acidic enough to carry the show, or just use baking powder.
Just some ideas to post on this old thread.
Jeanne Kinley Deller says
Oh, Karen, after many covid-months devoted to perfecting crumpets from a variety of recipes – you’ve given me the PERFECT recipe! I mean, really! Can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have finally discovered a recipe that results in light, airy, fluffy, full-of-holes crumpets that beg for ooodles of butter and yummy homemade peach/lavender jam. I thank you, my family thanks you, and my friends thank you.
Now to find those 4 inch crumpet rings in the U.S. – where were they when I searched endlessly for rings larger than 3 1/8 inch? Ever so pleased to have discovered your recipes, your blog, and now looking forward to reading of your travel adventures. On the outskirts of Seattle, more than ready for a return to Wales, fondest memories of our stay with a lovely family on a gorgeous, peace-filled farm.
Wishing you and yours a healthy, joyful Christmas and New Year!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank YOU so much Jeanne for this fabulous feedback! Wishing you the best of Christmases and a very happy and healthy New Year! Karen xx
maz ford says
Thank you for this recipe! I made some for the first time, I used the Lakeland crumpet rings and they are superb, perfect size etc… I doubled up the ingredients and got a bakers dozen! This is great to use up starter or even just make up a big batch of starter specifically for crumpets! Love them!!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much Maz – I’m delighted these crumpets turned out well for you.
Karen
Clion says
Any tips and tricks for not having the batter spill out the rings?….
Karen Burns-Booth says
It should be thick enough to stay within the rings
Lisa says
Hello from South Florida, USA, Celebrating the Jubilee by making your sourdough crumpets and the Queen’s favorite cake. Thanks for sharing your recipes. You have created a lovely cook bake share blog. Your step by step with photos is a perfect guide. I grab my tea and lo o k anxiously for your newsletter with new recipes. I have collected recipes from travels as well. Your And your blog are great companions and take me places when I am not jaunting around myself.
Thanks,
Storybakerlisa
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Lisa
Thanks for your LOVELY comments and also for letting me know that you appreciate my step-by-step photos too!
Karen
Wren Loveday says
I only recently found upper crumpet recipe this week and my 13yo and I love them! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks for your lovely comment – Happy New Year too, Karen
Kimberley says
This recipe makes a very, very, very legitimate crumpet. I am originally from the East Midlands in the UK, and eating these were like a little visit to childhood. The texture I got was light crispy outsides and a slick soft holey middle, like a real crumpet should be. I used a wholewheat starter, white flour, and a lot more water to compensate for the wholewheat flour. Previous recipes I have tried for crumpets and pikelets (not yours, and using fresh yeast) have generally turned out more bready than crumpet-y. The wholewheat starter I used was discard from breadmaking, and I fed it the night before I used it to make sure it was very active. I think part of the trick here is also to make the batter very runny, and this batter was a lot runnier those other recipes I have tried, as I followed your instruction on the consistency. Starter is also very good agent. Yeast in my experience becomes less bubbly as time goes on while batch cooking, whereas here the starter was continuing to bubble while waiting for its turn, and generally starter just tastes better than yeast. I also generally prefer using the lift and taste you can get from using soda, so will try that next instead of baking powder. Thank you for this recipe, really very enjoyable and easy to follow, with some super useful tips.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank you so much for your hugely helpful notes on how you made these – I’m really pleased that you loved this recipe of mine, I make them regularly and my family love them. Karen
Kimberley says
I will be following in your tradition and will make these regularly myself! I am also sure the more attempts I make, the better the final crumpet will become, so I look forward to it! Many thanks!