Crumpets

I made this recipe as a birthday gift for my sister's boyfriend, who is inexplicably obsessed with crumpets. I brought them to Sunday dinner at my grandmother's, intending to give them to him when everyone else gave him their presents after dinner, but they were gone before I even took my coat off.

Source

All Recipes

Yield

5 crumpets, although I've heard that a serving of a crumpet is in fact a half of a crumpet, in which case I got 10 halves.

Equipment

• Medium mixing bowl
• Spoon
• 3-inch metal rings - ideally you'll want one for each crumpet you're making, so they can cook all at once, but I could only find metal rings at the expensive kitchen supply store, so I only bought 2, and just made 2 crumpets at a time.
• Flat cast-iron griddle
• Meat thermometer, to make sure your liquids are hot enough to activate the yeast, but not too hot to kill it

Ingredients

•  1/4 oz. packet of active dry Yeast
• 1/4 cup warm Water (between 105 and 115 degrees)
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• 1/3 cup warm Milk (between 110 and 115 degrees)
• 1 tbsp. melted Butter for the batter
• 3 tbsp. melted Butter for brushing the griddle and metal rings
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions

In the mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast with the warm water.

When dissolved, add the sugar, stir and let sit for 5 minutes. While it sitting, use that time to warm up the milk. After 5 minutes the mixture will have gotten a bit thick.

Add the warm milk, 1 tbsp. butter and egg, and mix well.

Now add the flour and the salt and whisk until it's a smooth batter.

Cover and let it rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until it's about doubled in size.

While it's rising, brush the griddle and the inside of the metal rings with the remainder of the melted butter.

Once the batter is risen, heat up the griddle on low, then add 3 tablespoons of the batter inside each metal ring.

Cook on low for about 7 minutes, or until the top starts to look dry. At this point, using a potholder, pick up the ring and see if the underside of the crumpet is slightly brown and toasty. If not, let it continue to cook until it is. If it is brown and toasty, again using potholders, flip the ring upside down and, using a knife, separate the crumpet from the inside of the ring.

It will fall down to the griddle so that you can remove the ring (and use it for the next crumpet if you don't have enough rings).

Continue to cook 1-2 minutes or until it's golden and toasty on the other side as well.

No need for a spatula here - if it's completely cooked you'll be able to lift the crumpet right off the griddle and onto a cooling rack.

Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Best served hot, but they can always be warmed in the toaster oven later.