DOES anything beat curling up on the sofa with a cuppa and a hot doughy crumpet, fresh from the toaster and lathered in melted butter?
With colder weather creeping in, Brits will be turning from summer favourites like ice cream to comforting winter warmers.
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Supermarkets across the UK sell their own brand crumpets as well as household names like Warburtons.
Now we’ve put eight supermarket brands plus Warburtons head-to-head to see which crumpet is the best.
We rated each crumpet out of five for each category of taste, texture and appearance and value for money.
To make it a fair test, each crumpet was toasted for four minutes on a low-medium setting and topped with a sweep of the same unsalted butter.
While Waitrose and M&S only offer crumpets with the luxury ingredient of sourdough, this was offset by their more expensive price so it ultimately balanced out in the final scores.
We enjoyed most of the crumpets we tried with each one boasting its own combination of good qualities.
However, some fell down on price while others lost points on being slightly charred, too tasteless or too thin or too rubbery.
Morrisons beat its rivals and bagged the top spot for the best crumpets, according to our test.
While it might not have been the cheapest option – 35p for six crumpets compared to 25p for other brands – we still thought it was a bargain.
It was also one of the more delicious crumpets and therefore struck the winning balance between taste and value for money.
Shayne Holden, crumpet buyer at Morrisons said: “We make our crumpets in our own bakery – using a secret recipe and our very own proving and baking methods.
“We have also sourced the best ingredients to make our crumpets super soft, thick and fluffy.”
On the other hand, Waitrose’s sourdough version of the breakfast favourite, which was one of the most expensive options, came joint last in our test.
With the £1.05 price tag for six sourdough crumpets, we expected their taste and texture to be much better and felt some of the cheaper options were as good, if not yummier.
Tesco’s crumpets also lost a lot of points on our taste test but for different reasons and joined Waitrose at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Despite their packet at six being among the brands with the lowest price of 25p, we found the crumpets compromised too much in the taste and appearance categories.
Below we round up the results of the taste test from best to worst.
Of course, the scores for taste, appearance and texture are purely based on our opinion and prices could vary depending on which branch you buy your crumpets from.
It’s also important to note that one batch of crumpets could be different to the next within the same brand due to inconsistencies during manufacturing.
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “Our customers love our crumpets – and the vast majority of those who’ve reviewed these have given it five stars out of five.”
Tesco has been contacted for comment.
Morrisons Crumpets
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- Price: 35p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 16/20
Morrisons was our winner with a tally of 16/20, after scoring well in most categories.
After the toaster popped, the crumpet looks quite average and definitely not as top notch as some of the others.
It had an uneven top surface and there was a little bit of singeing in some of the holes.
But the taste was wonderfully indulgently and rich – not too salty or too bland – and it offset the melted butter wonderfully with the help of deep holes.
It also scored a massive 5/5 on texture with a perfect mixture of airy, soft and fluffy interior with a good crispy exterior.
With these high scores, on top of that fact that it didn’t lose out too much on price at 35p a packet – we found that Morrisons had the best value for money.
Sainsbury’s Crumpets
- Price: 33p
- Number per pack: 8
- Total score: 14.5/20
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Sainsbury’s was our runner up with a score of 14.5/20 – 1.5 points less than our winner Morrisons.
The score was helped by the fact that the supermarket works out to have the lowest price per crumpet.
It was the only brand to sell crumpets in packets of eight rather than six.
It charged 33p, which works out to be around 4.125p per crumpet.
This is compared to other budget options which offer six crumpets for 25p – working out to be 4.17p per crumpet – 0.05p more.
As it had the cheapest price by the tiniest fraction, Sainsbury’s still tied with Aldi, Asda, Lidl and Tesco in the top spot with a score of 5/5 on price.
Sainsbury’s also scored well on taste, with the slightly salty dough complementing the creamy butter.
The crumpet came out of the toaster with a lovely consistency of colours.
But the shape was quite wonky and the texture was a touch too chewy.
Marks and Spencer Ultimate Crumpets
- Price: £1.05p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 13.5/20
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Marks and Spencer joined Waitrose as lowest on the leaderboard with a price that is more than four times higher than the cheapest crumpets.
This meant it scored 1/5 , which was a big dent in its overall tally.
However, the sourdough did give it an edge over some of its rivals, with a satisfyingly thick, cushiony texture that wasn’t too heavy and was complemented by a solid crunchy base.
The crumpet also looked lovely, with small, even holes and a perfect golden-brown finish.
The taste was slightly average, scoring a 3.5/5 due to the fact that it had an excessively salty edge.
So we’d recommend sticking to unsalted butter if you pick up the M&S crumpets.
Aldi Village Bakery Crumpets
- Price: 25p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 12.5/20
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At 25p for six crumpets, we thought it was a steal.
Aldi’s crumpet topped the leaderboard for its bargain price but it did lose some points on texture, taste and appearance.
The bottom was already quite charred and crispy before it went into the toaster and we felt there could have been more holes.
Inside, the dough didn’t cook well during the allotted toaster time, so it was too raw and bland.
If you see a packet in Aldi containing crumpets with less charring on the base and then toast them at a higher heat or for longer, they may turn out better.
Lidl Rowan Hill Bakery Crumpets
- Price: 25p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 12.5/20
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Lidl was also an absolute bargain at 25p for a six-pack of its Rowan Hill crumpets.
The holes were a little bit too wide and gaping, although they were nice a deep so the butter could melt evenly through the dough.
The base was slightly charred on the bottom and the rest of the white dough didn’t end up with that desired golden-brown colour after it popped out of the toaster.
But Lidl’s crumpet really lost the most points on taste, scoring just 1/2 for its flavourlessness.
Salted butter and a longer toast time may salvage this, although the already charred base did not need more grilling.
Warburtons
- Price: 1.05p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 11.5/20
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As a popular brand, stocked in many supermarkets, Warburtons is often thought to be a leader in the market.
However, we found that it was too expensive and wasn’t even sourdough like its expensive competitors.
It’s important to note that Warbutons will likely cost different amounts at different supermarkets.
We bought our packet for 99p from a Sainsbury’s branch in south west London, so we gave it a score of 2/5 in the price category.
It had quite an indistinguishable taste and texture compared to other supermarket brands.
The crumpet itself could have had a better appearance, with quick singed and uneven holes and came out of the toaster almost too brown.
It also tasted a little too floury but it had a lovely cloudy texture that was complemented well by a golden crispy base.
Asda Crumpets
- Price: 25p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 10.5/20
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Asda also joined other supermarkets on the top of leaderboard for price, at 25p for six crumpets.
But it fell down steeply on all other areas, scoring just 1/5 for its appearance.
The crumpets did not have nearly enough holes, with some areas of the surface completely flat.
This meant the butter did not seep into the dough very well, leaving the texture quite dry and grainy, although it did have a good base-layer crunch.
While the taste was a little too starchy, it still had a moreish and comforting quality to it.
Tesco
- Price: 25p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 9/20
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Tesco came joint bottom on the leaderboard alongside Waitrose.
It did score 5/5 on price as 25p for six crumpets is an absolute bargain.
But we felt that the crumpet was a let down in all other categories.
While it did come out of the toaster with a lovely golden-brown colour, it was very charred on the bottom, meaning it dropped points on appearance and taste.
The texture was also quite rubbery, which meant it lost points in that area as well.
If you’re looking to buy crumpets in Tesco, try to find a less charred batch.
Waitrose sourdough crumpets
- Price: 1.05p
- Number per pack: 6
- Total score: 9/20
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Waitrose scored the lowest in value for money with its £1.05 price tag that we felt wasn’t justified by the texture and taste.
While it looked lovely and thick with lots of even small holes, we were surprised how thick and stodgy the crumpet was.
Not only did it fail to have a light and airy texture but the taste was also too floury.
The base was a good brown colour so maybe if it was toasted for longer, the crumpet would fare much better.
But ultimately, because it was expensive and considering the fact that it made sourdough, we expected more.
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The Sun previously put 10 frozen pizzas to the test to see which one triumphed.
Meanwhile, Lidl came top of the leaderboard in The Sun’s ice cream taste test.
We’ve also tested supermarket chicken nuggets including Aldi and M&S to see which ones are best.
We test frozen pizzas from supermarkets including Tesco, Aldi and Lidl – and the winner is a surprise
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