This is called crumpets....but it works the same....
Crumpets
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast , or one packet
1 tsp sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1. In a large bowl sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm (105ð-115ðF) water. Let stand 5 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, milk, salt and soda. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.
3. Grease several 3 inch round cookie cutters. Arrange cutters on a greased griddle over medium heat. Spoon 3 tablespoons batter into each ring. Reduce heat and cook until tops are full of holes and batter is set, about 10 minutes. Remove rings and flip to lightly brown the other side.
4. Split and toast if desiredâ¦serve with butter and jam.
Makes 16 crumpets.

I've made them several times and was always disappointed with the results. I've also made crumpets and like them even less. The recipe I used (which I don't have here) did make plenty of holes, but the texture was a bit rubbery until they were toasted. I bought crumpet rings at a restaurant supply store, and I keep them in the garage because I don't plan to use them again any time soon, except perhaps for pancakes.

What is the recipe that you used?

Lars

Martha Stewart had a recipe in the fall for whole wheat english muffins. I tried twice, but they're just not like the commercial ones!

Have you tried sourdough English muffins? The batter is very wet and a bit tricky to handle. But the crumb is usually open with large holes, like the ones you buy in the store. My family doesn't like English muffins that much. I made SD English muffins once but ended up throwing most of them out because I was the only taker and I couldn't eat them fast enough. :-( Al

I made English Muffins a couple of times and didn't think they were worth the trouble. Al, I froze them and thawed them one at a time for toasting because I was the only one eating them here too.

They were OK, not horrible, but not worth the time and trouble for me. I'll eat English muffins if I can have them toasted with peanut butter, but that's about the only way.

Annie

Awwwww Annie, now you make me want to eat SD English muffins with peanut butter and banana! Gonna LOOOOOVE it! Al

Yup, Al, put the peanut butter on while the muffin is still hot from the toaster and it all melts down into those holes.....yummy.

Annie

The King Arthur Flour site has two recipes. One is called English Muffins the other is called Breakfast Muffins. I have tried both and had my best result with the Breakfast Muffins. Temperature seems to be the tricky part with these things. The dough is so moist and sticky so they have to be fried very slowly at a low temperature. Using too high a temp gives a gummy interior.

King Arthur Flour also sells the rings. They call them crumpet rings. If I remember right, I paid about 8 or 9 dollars for the set of 8.

I make crumpets with rings, but cut English Muffins with a cookie or biscuit cutter to the size I want them. Both are baked on a griddle. Crumpets (cooked in rings) are more like a tough pancake and you need to toast them in a toaster or toaster oven to serve, after they were baked on the griddle. You don't split crumpets.

I cut English Muffins into squares using a pizza cutter to avoid second-cuts. Second-cuts are cut from the dough left after you cut the dough the first time. You gather it up and re-work it to cut another batch or rounds. This is the #1 cause of tough English Muffins (or biscuits).

The trick to English Muffins is to have a well-hydrated dough so you get the open/holey texture. Before I adapted my favorite English Muffin recipe to the bread machine, I would knead the dough with wet hands (just have a bowl of water handy to dip your hands in). Any substantial bread dough can be made into English Muffins. It doesn't require a special recipe, just special hydration, cutting and baking on a griddle.

Another tip is to bake them on a griddle where you can cover them for the baking of the first side (bake about 8-minutes), then flip, and bake UNcovered for the other side. I have a large electric griddle that can accommodate a large number of muffins, and the lid to my roaster fits over it for baking the first side of English Muffins.

Don't cut English Muffins with a knife, use a "fork" (aka English Muffin Splitter) to split them apart. Otherwise you will destroy the open crumb.

A problem people often make is not having enough griddle space to keep up with the number of muffins in the recipe, and will find the last of the batch has over-proofed from the long wait to be baked, and they get poor-quality muffins. If your recipe is large, make half a recipe or retard half the dough, or retard a portion of the cut English Muffins in the refrigerator while working with the first portion.

I made homemade yogurt yesterday just so I could make English Muffins today. LOVE the smell of them baking!!!

-Grainlady

OK, Annie, I admit... you had me at peanut butter! LOL Al

I make English muffins almost every week.

I have found in my endeavors that a wet batter gives you more "holes" in the final product.

My recipe is very simple, and subbing more than 1/2c of AP for a different grain will make very heavy muffins.

I hand form them..I went out and bought rings..but they were such a pain..You just form balls in your hand, and pat them into corn meal on both sides, then set on a sheet to rise..when you put them in the pan, they will flatten out to the right shape when you flip them over to the second side.

The recipe I use is:

English Muffins

1 c warm milk
1/4 c warm water
1/2 T of sugar or honey
2 1/4 t of yeast
1 t salt
2 T butter
3 cups of flour

I "proof" the yeast in the sugar/honey with the water..Don't have to, just do...
Then I add in the milk and butter, give the mixer a few turns, toss in the salt and 2 cups of flour. Get a good smooth batter, then add the last cup of flour..It will be sticky. Put out on a lightly floured board/counter and knead until it's not sticky, but still soft. Let rise to double plus a bit, and then hand form into 12-13 muffins.

If you use rings you can spoon the batter into a proofing bowl, and then back out into the rings...let rise and go from there..

Lars, crumpets are supposed to be rubbery untoasted :-) I can't imagine anyone eating an untoasted crumpet :-P
A memory regarding Engligh muffins and crumpets: when I visited my Mom overnight invariably she would ask if I wanted an English muffin for breakfast. I quite like them, so would say yes, only to find she actually meant a crumpet. I'm not that nuts about crumpets, so after the first couple of times I learned to decline with thanks...

Well, I guess I'll just have to try again. So many different recipes and methods! My batter was pretty darn wet, so I can't imagine cutting it into any shape or even rolling it into balls in my hands. I do wonder if maybe I didn't beat it enough. The recipe was rather vague on that score, and the batter very sticky and hard to beat with a spoon, but too darn sticky and hard to beat for an electric mixer, which the recipe suggested (at least, for mine...not having one of those counter-top, muscle man mixers.)

Anyway, as I write this, I'm munching on another...half spread with butter and half with peanie bunkle & jam, and it's a bit better than the first. Maybe aging (going a bit stale) helps, I know toast is better if the bread isn't fresh.

English muffins - another American invention that is neither English, nor a muffin. LOL!

I stick with the commercial brands - we like Orowheat's Extra Crisp. I tried the whole wheat versions from different vendors but they're too soft and never really crisp up nicely.

But crumpets - ah, that's a whole 'nother beastie! Fresh off the griddle, dripping with melted butter, spread with homemade lemon curd and Devonshire cream...bliss! There used to be a shop that made homemade crumpets, not far from us. We were crushed when it finally closed down. The commercial variety is tolerable, but never as good.

Hi, again! Something I can help with too, being English.

Crumpets have holes in the top. You DON'T split them before toasting, and you never put cream on them.

The recipe Lindac posted is great, but they're way too thick. You need ONE tbs of batter in each ring not three. Cook for 4 to 5 mins on the first side, flip then one minute on the other side. They should be lovely and crunchy with a soft middle and spread with lots of lovely dripping butter! Bye bye Weightwatchers!.

Muffins are definitely English.
1lb strong flour
1 tsp salt
8 fl oz (225ml) milk
2 fl oz (55ml) water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
a little lard for the griddle

Heat milk and water until warm add sugar and yeast. leave 10 mins until frothy.
Sift flour and salt into bowl, pour yeast mix in and mix to a soft dough. It should leave the sides of the bowl cleanly. If it seems too sticky, add a little more flour/if too dry, a little more water.
Knead for about 10 mins until very smooth and elastic.Leave to double in size (45 mins)
Roll out 1cm (1/2 inch) thick. USe 3" cutte, sprinkle with flour and leave to rise again for about 35 mins.

To cook, either bake in a very hot oven, or griddle over a medium heat for about 7 mins on each side.

To serve, split and toast. NO cream here either!

Cream is reserved for scones. If you're in Devon, you put Devonshire cream THEN jam on the scone.

If you're in Cornwall then you put jam THEN CLOTTED CREAM on top. Certainly the superior way to go!

Thank you, islay. If I ever get to England I will ask for a scone with jam and clotted cream!

Annie