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–+ servings
Three crumpets stacked on a white cake stand surrounded by strawberries.

Sourdough Discard Crumpets

By Tammy Spencer
Sourdough crumpets are at the intersection of pancakes and English muffins. The batter is easy to make, requiring only four ingredients. Best of all, you can use your weekly unfed sourdough starter discard straight from the refrigerator. Perfect for breakfast or snack with butter and jam, crumpets are a great use for discard and are delicious to boot!
5 from 21 votes
Prep Time3 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Total Time11 minutes
Servings: 5 crumpets
Calories: 66kcal

Special Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 to 2 tablespoons (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, or butter substitute, divided, see Recipe Notes
  • 1 cup (227 grams) sourdough starter discard, unfed, cold or room temperature, see Recipe Notes
  • 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) granulated sugar
  • ⅜ teaspoon (⅜ teaspoon) baking soda, see Recipe Notes
  • ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) kosher salt, see Recipe Notes

Instructions

  • Use a paper towel, a napkin, or your finger to grease the insides of 4 or 5 english muffin rings with some butter. Make sure that the butter is spread evenly, but not too heavily. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter discard, sugar, baking soda, and salt. The batter will rise and bubble a bit, becoming almost billowy.
  • Heat an electric skillet or griddle over medium-low heat (around 300 °F if measuring with an infrared temperature gun). Spray the surface with a bit of canola oil spray, then add a pat of butter to melt and sizzle.

  • Place 2 to 4 English muffin rings on the griddle close to the heat source. Use an extra large cookie scoop to portion out about ¼ cup of the batter. Don’t overfill the rings. Cook the crumpets until the tops look dry and pockmarked with small bubbles, about 5 minutes.
  • Carefully flip the crumpets over, then remove. Be careful - the rings are hot if you use your fingers. The rings should slide right off, but you might have to poke at the crumpets a bit to loosen them.
  • Cook the crumpets until the bottoms are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the crumpets to a plate.
  • Repeat with any remaining batter, re-greasing the rings and adding another pat of butter to the griddle if needed.
  • Serve the crumpets warm with butter and jam, or toast them to get even more crunch.
  • Storage instructions: Crumpets can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for several days, or frozen in an airtight bag for longer storage. Since they freeze well, you can make extra crumpets to have anytime!

Recipe Notes

Butter is used just to grease the english muffin rings and the griddle, so you can use a butter substitute to make this a dairy-free and vegan recipe.
No discard? No problem! Just substitute in ½ cup flour (60 grams) and ½ cup water (114 grams) for the sourdough discard. The difference might be that the crumpets may not have a subtle sourdough tang.
The nature of your sourdough starter will determine how much baking soda and salt to use. Increase the salt to ½ teaspoon if the discard is weak, and increase the baking soda to ½ teaspoon if the starter is very sour. If you’re unsure, use the lesser amount - too much baking soda will make the crumpets will have a metallic taste, and too much salt will make them bitter.
You don’t have to use English muffin rings to make crumpets. You can also use wide mouth canning jar bands, making sure you grease the inside very well. And if you don’t have either, you can use the dough to make a free-form toaster pancake called spikelets. They won’t be as high or pocked with holes as crumpets, but they’re just as tasty!

Nutrition

Serving: 1crumpet | Calories: 66kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 199mg | Potassium: 1mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 70IU | Calcium: 1mg