Light-as-air Crumpets

Makes 16

• 70g (¾ cup) strong white bread flour
• 70g (¾ cup) plain flour
• 7g fast-action dried yeast
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 275ml (½ pint) warm almond milk
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100ml (½ cup) warm water
• Melted coconut oil, for greasing and cooking

1. Mix together the flours, yeast and salt in a bowl. Add the sugar and warm almond milk and beat together until you have a smooth batter. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
2. Mix the bicarbonate of soda into the water, then leave for a couple of minutes before adding it to the batter. Cover again and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
3. Heat your pan (or griddle) over a medium-high heat. You want it quite hot, but not so hot that the crumpets burn on the outside before they are cooked on the inside. Arrange a little pot of melted coconut oil, the pastry brush and the batter with a small ladle or tablespoon next to the hob.
4. You’ll need to cook your crumpets in batches. Add a little oil to the pan and grease the insides of the metal rings (or cutters) using the pastry brush. Allow the rings to heat up in the pan and then, using the small ladle (or tablespoon), fill each ring to a depth of no more than 2cm (don’t overfill them or they will take too long to cook and the holes won’t have enough time to form).
5. Now wait. Be patient. Only turn your crumpets over once the surface is set and lots of holes have appeared through the top of the batter. Then, using tongs or the corner of a tea towel, lift away the rings, flip over the crumpets using a palette knife and continue cooking briefly for a minute or so on the other side. This way you can get a rolling system going, using the empty hot metal rings for the next batch, greasing them with oil as you go (be careful, as the rings will be hot!) and ladling in more batter, while the first batch, having set their shape in the rings, continues to cook. Cook the remaining crumpets in the same way until they are all done.
6. Transfer the cooked crumpets to a wire rack. To keep them hot, lay them one by one in a large ‘envelope’ of foil and keep them in the oven on its lowest setting.