As corporate greed is making more and more of our standard
foodstuffs unpalatable, I have been forced to make more and more things from
scratch. If you eat it all the time, your palate can adjust to the changes, but
if you don’t, be prepared for the occasional nasty surprise. The other day the toasted, lovingly buttered
English muffin my darling prepared for me tasted metallic and
distinctively bitter. Never fear I said we are going to make crumpets. After a
few trials and errors, here is the fast version, leavened with just baking
powder and buttermilk. So simple to make, I never would have thought crumpets could taste
so good.
BAKING POWDER CRUMPETS
1 cup flour
1⁄8 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup 3.25% buttermilk
1 Tbsp melted butter
oil for the pan
- Combine everything, leaving the melted butter for last.
- Heat up a non-stick skillet on medium heat.
- Lightly oil the griddle.
- Pour 3 small mounds of batter onto griddle. Leave a half an inch between the crumpets, they will spread out a bit. I kind of helped the batter into a circle with my fingers. You can do that because the batter is thick.
- Turn down the heat a notch and cook until the tops are shiny and bubbles break on surface.
- Turn the crumpets over with a spatula. They will be ready when the underside matches the top.
- The tendency is to make the next batch a little bigger; the eye gets used to the finished size and overcompensates. There should be enough batter for seven good-sized crumpets.
- Serve the crumpets with butter and jam.
