Name: Popovers
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 3 large eggs, room temperature; 1.5 cups whole milk, room temperature; 1.5 cups all-purpose flour; 1.25 teaspoons coarse salt; Vegetable-oil nonstick cooking spray

Prep Time:

5 mins

Total Time:

45 mins

Yield:

Makes 6 large popovers or 10 small popovers

How do you transform a basic egg batter into tall, tender, airy pockets surrounded by a burnished crust? It’s not magic, but kitchen physics, sparked by the combination of a preheated pan and a hot oven. Popovers, the American version of Yorkshire pudding, are quick and easy to make, and add a sense of fun to any meal, from a holiday brunch to a simple supper.

4 Tips for Popover Success

Preheat the oven: While you'll often see this instruction in baking recipes, there are few recipes where a properly hot (preheated) oven is more vital than the popover. It's probably the most important thing you can do to ensure popover success. The hotter your oven, the higher your popovers will rise, though that doesn't mean we recommend you heat it higher than the 450 degrees Fahrenheit called for in our recipe. Why is the hot oven so vital? The faster liquid in the batter turns into steam, the more chance your popover has to expand before its crust sets.

Mix the batter by hand: We tested out a blender and an electric stand mixer when making the batter, but concluded that whisking by hand produces the most tender, airy popovers.

Use an oven thermometer: Another tip we often give and another one that is important for these delicate bakes. Using an oven thermometer makes sure the oven has reached the temperature you set it to—and means you won't be putting the popovers into an oven that is not sufficiently hot.

Serve popovers hot: While you need to wait for muffins and bread rolls to cool down before eating, popovers are more like pancakes—they should be eaten while hot. So gather you're accompaniments while they are in the oven and make sure everyone is at the table ready for when they emerge from the oven.

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Ingredients

3 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups whole milk, room temperature
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons coarse salt
Vegetable-oil nonstick cooking spray

Directions

Bring ingredients to room temperature:

Preheat oven to 450°F with a nonstick popover pan on rack in lowest position. If eggs and milk are cold from the refrigerator, submerge whole eggs in warm water 10 minutes and heat milk until just warm.

If you don't have a popover pan, see our tips for using a muffin pan below.
Whisk eggs and milk:

Combine eggs and milk in a large bowl, whisk together until very frothy. (This should only take about 1 minute.)

Ryan Liebe
Add dry ingredients:

Add flour and salt to egg mixture.

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Whisk again:

Whisk flour and salt into egg mixture just until batter is the consistency of heavy cream with some small lumps remaining.

Look for air bubbles in the batter. They are what will cause the popovers to rise.

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Remove empty pan from oven and fill with batter:

Remove popover pan from oven and coat with cooking spray. Fill popover cups about three-quarters full with batter.

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Bake:

Bake 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue to bake until golden brown and dry to the touch, about 20 minutes more.
Remove from oven:

Popovers lose their crunch if they linger in the pan, so turn them out on a wire rack immediately and poke a small opening in the side of each with a paring knife to let the steam escape. Serve right away.

Ryan Liebe

Ryan Liebe

Using a Muffin Pan Instead of a Popover Pan

Though a nonstick popover pan results in optimal height, a standard muffin tin works fine, too—but the popovers will be smaller. (Don't worry, they'll still be delicious.)

To make, only fill the outer cups of the standard muffin tin with popover batter; they will get better circulation in the oven. When baking, reduce cook time by 5 minutes.