Sourdough crumpets using leftover sourdough starter

Making sourdough crumpets (or by flipping them over, English Muffins) is surprisingly easy. Using this recipe published by The Washington Post as a base, Susan and I have tried several variations. We have even made some from 100% whole wheat starter.

The object of a crumpet is to make it crisp on the bottom side and have lots of holes on the top. When it is eaten still warm from the griddle or direct from a toaster all those holes fill with melting butter and jam.

A crisp bottom prevents a mess from pouring through.

The recipe is simple enough:

1 cup of mature sourdough starter

2 tsp of sugar (although that makes for an awfully sweet crumpet. 1 - 1.5 tsp of sugar suffices)

1/2 tsp of kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking soda (increasing toward 3/4 tsp of baking soda for a really acid starter created a lot more bubbling action resulting in a crumpet with more holes)

Having well oiled crumpet rings are essential for achieving a round shape.

Whisk all the ingredients.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter into each ring and cook slowly over a low heat until the bottom is browned and the top no longer has uncooked batter on top. In some of my trials, if the crumpet was too thick to comfortably cook all the way through before the bottom burned, I flipped the crumpet, creating a beautifully formed, slightly sweet English muffin.