Best English Muffins Or Crumpets Recipes

TRADITIONAL ENGLISH CRUMPETS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Warm the milk in a saucepan. Make sure that it is warm but not boiling. Otherwise, it will kill the yeast.
• Skim any film off of the top.
• Whisk together the warmed milk, flour , sugar, and yeast in a large bowl.
• Once combined, add half the water and beat into the batter.
• Continue to add more water until the batter is thick and smooth. Stop adding water once it reaches the consistency of thick cream.
• Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size and foaming. This should take about 1 hour but can take up to 2 hours (keep an eye on it).
• Whisk the salt and baking powder into the batter.
• Heat a large heavy-duty non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.
• Moisten a paper towel with a little oil (alternatively, use cooking spray) and carefully grease the base of the pan and crumpet (or pastry) rings measuring approximately 3 inches wide by 1/2 inch tall.
• Place 1 ring on the heated pan and pour in enough batter to fill just below the top of the ring, about 1/4 cup.
• Cook for 5 minutes, until there are many tiny holes on the surface and the crumpet is setting around the edges.
• Flip the crumpet over (in the ring) and cook until the crumpet is light brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes more.
• Adjust the temperature as needed. Repeat with the remaining batter, greasing the pan in between each batch.
• Rest the crumpets on a wire rack until cool.
• To reheat, place crumpets in a toaster or directly on the center rack in a 350 F oven for about 5 minutes before serving.
• Serve with lots of butter and jam .

EASY ENGLISH MUFFINS

Steps:

• Place 1/4 cup flour, yeast, and 1/2 cup water in a mixing bowl. Whisk together and set aside for about 10 minutes to see if thin layer of foam develops to ensure yeast is active. Drizzle in vegetable oil; add salt, egg white, remaining 1 3/4 cup flour, and remaining 1/4 cup warm water. Mix together until dough is very wet and sticky. Cover. Set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
• Pull dough gently from sides of bowl, stirring slightly, and turn out onto a well-floured rolling surface. Work in just enough flour until dough is easily handled and can be cut into 6 pieces, about 1 minute. Cut dough into 6 equal portions. Form a seamless ball of dough, adding a pinch of flour to keep it from sticking. Flatten to make thick disks. Transfer dough onto a lined baking sheet sprinkled generously with cornmeal. Let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Add clarified butter to skillet over medium heat. Carefully transfer muffin disks to skillet. Cook in batches to avoid overcrowding. Brown on one side, 5 or 6 minutes. Turn, and brown the other side, 5 or 6 minutes. Continue turning to get muffins evenly browned and cooked through, 7 or 8 minutes total per side. Transfer to a cooking rack and cool completely (this is key as you can't split the muffins unless they are cooled).
• Split cooled muffins with a fork, inserting tines all the way around edges so the 2 sides can be pulled apart. Toast and serve with jam.

ENGLISH MUFFINS OR CRUMPETS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup water, sugar, and yeast. Allow to sit until mixture is foamy. Add warm milk and salt, then stir in flour. Beat mixture hard for 5 minutes, then cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 3 hours or until very bubbly. It's okay if it rises and collapses; just proceed to next step.
• Dissolve baking soda in 1/4 cup water. Gently stir into batter. Cover again and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• Grease griddle and English muffin rings (a.k.a. crumpet rings). Heat griddle over low heat for 10 minutes. Place rings on pan and spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each. For English muffin batter, spread slightly with spoon to fill ring (crumpet batter will do so on its own).
• For English muffins, allow to cook for about 5-8 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Flip and cook other side, removing rings as you do so, for another 5-8 minutes or until both sides are nicely browned. Remove from pan. Continue until all batter is used.
• For crumpets, cook for about 8 minutes without flipping, until tops are pale but dry and full of holes and bottoms are golden brown. Remove from pan and rings. Continue until all batter is used.
• Cool on wire rack.
• To serve English muffins, split and toast. To serve crumpets, toast without splitting. Serve either with plenty of butter and jam or other desired toppings.