Crumpets vs English Muffins - What is the difference?

Crumpets and English muffins turn up on the same breakfast table, look roughly the same on the plate, and get muddled up constantly. They are not the same thing. The batter is different, the cooking is different, and the way you eat them is different. Here is exactly what sets them apart, and how to make a proper crumpet at home.

Both are griddle cakes — cooked on the hob rather than baked in the oven — which is part of why people mix them up. Both are round, both are soft and spongy, and both are built to soak up melted butter. But once you know what to look for, you will not confuse them again.

What is a crumpet?

A crumpet is a small, round griddle cake made from a loose, pourable batter of flour, milk, warm water, a little bicarbonate of soda and yeast. It is unsweetened. The batter is wet enough that it needs holding in shape while it sets, which is where a crumpet ring comes in — it keeps the batter in a neat round on the pan until the top sets.

The hallmark of a good crumpet is the holes. As the batter cooks on one side, the yeast and bicarb push bubbles up through it, and they burst on the surface to leave that distinctive pattern of nooks and crannies. That open top is what makes a crumpet soak up butter the way it does. It is cooked on one side only, so you get a crisp, golden base and a soft, hole-filled top.

In some parts of the country you will hear crumpets called pikelets, though that name means a thinner, ringless version in some regions and something different again in others. If you want to get the rise and the holes right every time, our crumpet rings guide walks through batter consistency and pan heat in detail.

What is an English muffin?

An English muffin is also a small, round griddle cake, but it starts from a dough rather than a batter — flour, yeast, salt, a little butter and milk, kneaded and proved like a soft bread. Because it is a dough, it holds its own shape and is cooked on both sides, which gives it a pale, even crust top and bottom.

Inside, an English muffin is bready and open-crumbed rather than hole-topped. You split it horizontally — traditionally with a fork rather than a knife, to keep the rough texture that toasts up well — and eat it in two halves. It takes sweet or savoury toppings happily, from jam and honey to a poached egg and bacon, and it makes good leftovers toasted the next day.

Crumpets vs English muffins: the real differences

They share a shape and a spot on the breakfast table, but five things genuinely set them apart:

• Batter vs dough: crumpets are made from a loose, pourable batter; English muffins from a kneaded, proved dough that is closer to bread.
• One side vs two: crumpets are cooked on one side only, so the base is crisp and the top stays soft and open; muffins are cooked on both sides for an even crust all round.
• Holes vs crumb: a crumpet has that famous hole-filled top for soaking up butter; a muffin has a denser, bready crumb inside.
• Whole vs split: crumpets are served whole with toppings on top; muffins are split horizontally and filled or toasted.
• Rings: crumpets almost always need a ring to hold the wet batter; muffin dough is firm enough to hold its own shape, though a ring still gives you a tidier round.

How to make crumpets at home

Crumpets are more forgiving than they look, as long as the batter is the right consistency and the pan is at the right heat. You will need rings — either the set of six crumpet rings for full-pan batches or the made-in-England set of four — then here is the short version.

If a set of six is more than your hob needs, the Non-Stick Crumpet Rings Set of 4 (£17.99) is made in England with the same PFOA-free non-stick coating and the same 10-year guarantee — and the rings double as poachette rings for eggs.

The same rings hold English muffins, fried and poached-style eggs and small rosti, so they earn their place in the drawer well beyond crumpet season. There are more uses than you would think in our guide to using crumpet rings like a pro, and you will find them alongside the rest of our crumpet rings collection.

Which is healthier?

There is not much in it. A crumpet is usually a little lower in calories than an English muffin, while the muffin tends to have slightly less fat and no cholesterol — so on paper the muffin edges it, but the gap is small. In practice the topping makes far more difference than the base: a scrape of fruit spread over butter, or a poached egg instead of melted cheese, changes the picture more than the choice between the two.

Are crumpets good for you? In moderation, yes — they're a fairly light, low-fat base, and making either crumpets or muffins at home lets you control exactly what goes in, which is the real advantage over a shop-bought pack.

So, which should you make?

Both are small, round, deeply British griddle cakes, and neither is the wrong answer. Want crisp-bottomed, hole-topped and dripping with butter? Make crumpets. Want something bready to split, toast and pile high? Make muffins. The honest way to settle it is to make a batch of each and decide for yourself — and a set of rings means you can do exactly that on the same pan. While you are in a baking mood, our guide to making your bakeware last 10 years is worth a read, and you can browse the full range across all our bakeware.