What's the Difference? Crumpets Versus English Muffins

Homemade English muffins are one of those things we whip out whenever we want something extra special in the morning - a birthday brunch, in-laws are in town, you name it! One guest recently asked about the difference between crumpets and English muffins, and we were honestly stumped...with good reason, it turns out!

One thing that all the blogs, websites, and cookbooks seem to agree upon is that crumpets and English muffins are two different creatures. Where they all disagree is exactly how.

After all, crumpets and English muffins are both griddle cakes - meaning they were originally made on the stove top in a cast-iron griddle pan. They're both round and generally biscuit-sized. They both have a spongy texture full of nooks and crannies for absorbing melted butter and other delicious toppings. They're also both considered to be a breakfast, brunch, or tea food, but not the kind of bread you'd serve with dinner.

But then things start to get confusing:

• Crumpets are always made with milk, but English muffins never do. (Though there are a few recipes that beg to differ.)

• Crumpet batter is just that: a loose batter. English muffins are made from a more firm dough. (Sometimes.)

• Crumpets are made only using baking soda, where as English muffins are made with yeast or sourdough (and occasionally a little baking soda to help things along).

• Crumpets are cooked only on one side, so the bottom is flat and toasted while the top is speckled with holes (delicious, butter-absorbing holes...). English muffins are more bread-like and are toasted on both sides. (This one is actually a definite!)

• Crumpets are served whole with the jam and butter are spread right on top. English muffins are split before serving. (Unless you happen to like your crumpets split.)

As long as it serves as a vehicle for melted butter and jam, we're pretty equal opportunity when it comes to breakfast baked goods! Call it a crumpet or an English muffin, we'll give it a try either way.

Any crumpet or English muffin aficionados out there? What do you have to say?!

(Image: Emma Christensen)

Comments (17)

Good information... any recipes for the above? I know I can find them online somewhere, but what do the readers like to use? Any true Englishmen(women) out there with good home recipes?

they are completely different in texture, english muffins are quite dense and bread like, whereas crumpets a bit more like eating a sponge, they have much bigger holes. when u look at the top of a crumpet it is just a surface of holes http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_JJ0HA0BHaN4/SSmqOiujRzI/AAAAAAAAB08/-Z-P07lHfT4/s400/crumpet.jpg like this! they are both yummy, but very different, a crumpet just has a kind of batter taste, and an english muffin is very bread like.
x

I just bought rings to make these, I can't wait! I want to try both kinds. Luckily the recipes for both were included in the box.

Wow, how can anyone not know the difference between these? It would be like not understanding the difference between... I don't know, rye bread and a hot dog bun. Or between puff and shortcruft pastry. You don't need to have the ingredients or methods explained to get that they are different things, they just... are.

Famed British cookbook author, Delia Smith, gives a crumpet recipe that is made with yeast and is cooked on both sides. I tried it using rings and it came out much like a yeast pancake. They were totally delicious, but plan ahead to allow time for the yeast to work. You can see the results here: http://vintagecookery.blogspot.com/2010/03/tea-and-crumpets.html

Crumpets have a much more spongy texture when toasted while English muffins get kind of crusty. Crumpets are a real favourite of mine and they hold loads more butter, so you know its good :D

Honestly!

Crumpets are an afternoon tea dish not a breakfast one and you should really try pikelets because those are the nicest of the lot.

Hugh's explanation is pretty good (although truthfully it's even more complicated when you take into account regional variations...): http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/14/crumpets-muffins-pikelets-farls

Alton Brown (Good Eats) has a show where he makes english muffins and he uses tuna cans with the tops & bottoms cut out as the rings. They look fairly easy to make and delicious.

They are two totally different things! Firstly, no-one ever splits a crumpet in two like a muffin - you toast it and put your topping (butter, jam, marmite, whatever) on the spongy, hole-covered side. Basically muffins are much more bread-like and crumpets are a bit more like a thick, dense, savory pancake.
I did a British scone recipe (a bit like an American biscuit) for my blog and got in a terrible muddle trying to explain all the terminology that's lost in translation between Brits and Americans!
http://cooklynveg.blogspot.com/2010/03/wholemeal-yogurt-scones-british-style.html

Crumpet is more fun to say.

Oh yes, I like a bit of crumpet!

I agree, crumpets really are for tea, however, Jamie makes a lovely eggy breakfast crumpet, just like eggy bread - it needs cooking longer as the crumpet is thicker than the usual bread. Very tasty though.
Pikelets are good too, just like a crumpet but far thinner, like a pancake but still with the holes and that faint bicarb taste. I love eggs benedict and as a cheat version, poached egg & ham in a split and toasted muffin for Sunday tea. We have cheese muffins and spiced fruit ones here too. Lovely

If it helps, crumpets are much closer to pancakes or pikelets than they are to english muffins. English muffins are more like North American biscuits or English scones, but more bready....

I think the question "how could you possibly get the two muddled up?!" is more to the point! Crumpets never get split, and are like a deep holey pancake - we used to toast them in front of the fire, then they would be coated in butter and golden syrup. Muffins, as everyone else notes, are so much more of a bread - and perfect for splitting (I like mine with scrambled egg on top).
For maximum amounts of butter/jam/syrup etc, then the crumpet is a winner every time - push everything into the holes, and then exclaim "but there's barely anything on it!" knowing full well that basically it's solid fat and sugar through and through - bliss!

The moist sponginess of crumpets always reminds me of injera. They're nothing alike, other than that. But I've never had another baked good with that quality.

Well, someone asked me what a crumpet was once. My definition for them was... Imagine if a pancake and an english muffin had a baby together, that is what a crumpet is.

I generally think of a crumpet as a thinned out bread dough (batter) cooked like a pancake. (the recipes I've found seem similar to soda bread, white/french bread and brioche in their contents and use of yeast or eggs. google 'crumpet recipe' and marvel at the variety...)

english muffins are an unthinned bread dough, cooked like a pancake.

the major difference between the two is that the crumpets are so thinned out that the bubbles can pierce the top and create lots of little holes to fill with butter and such, where the english muffins are so thick that the bubbles remain on the inside. (hence having to split them before adding the toppings.)

If you are ever in Seattle..Pike Place market (of course you'll go there) there is a little shop that makes the best crumpets!
http://www.thecrumpetshop.com/