Crumpets

Back when my now young adult children were flaxen-haired wee tots, I bought a box of English Muffin/Crumpet Rings at a yard sale. I used them a few times soon after buying them to make English muffins for the kids -and they were a big hit with them- but I haven't used them since. I recently have been pondering the different possible ways for making breads without an oven. On the heels of my (relative) success with cooking pita breads on a griddle, and remembering my dusty box o' rings, I decided to take a bash at making crumpets. If anyone reading this KNOWS HOW TO DO IT PROPER, if you learned to make crumpets from a mother or grandmother, I'd sincerely love to hear from you. As it was, armed only with my good intentions, a box of rings, and a crumpet recipe in James Beard's Beard on Bread, but lacking grandmotherly guidance or ANY actual experience in the crumpet arena, I forged/fumbled ahead. What does a proper crumpet really look like? Well, I actually don't know. These may or may not be real crumpets, but they were real good, and they disappeared in a flash.

James Beard's Crumpets

Mix:

1/2 c. boiling water

1/2 c. milk

Add:

1 T. yeast

1 t. sugar

Allow to get bubbly. Add:

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

1 1/2 t. salt
Beat several minutes with a spoon, then allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk -about an hour.

Mix and beat into dough:

1/4 t. baking soda

1 T. warm water

Allow again to rise until doubled.

Butter rings, place on medium hot griddle (350 degrees) and ladle in batter to 1/2 inch thickness. Cook until bubbly and dryish. Remove ring, turn and cook on second side until browned.

Lacking genuine yard sale crumpet rings, tuna cans with both ends cut out will work perfectly instead. I either did something a bit WRONG or my rings are a bit oversized, as I only got six crumpets when James' recipe said it should make 8-10. I used bread flour instead of AP (oops!), which may have changed the texture of the batter a bit and explain the difference.

Even if these weren't proper crumpets, they were pretty 'yummy little griddle cooked bread things' and next time I make them I'll be more careful about which flour jar I scoop from, and I'll double the recipe.