Once I was served warm popovers at a brunch I was obsessed. I had to have more. I had to be able to bake my own. These small baked treats are great with soups, stews, quiches, roasts, and so much more. They are surprisingly easy to throw together and throw into the oven. And they only require 6 ingredients: flour, eggs, salt, butter, milk, and eggs. There is a good chance you've heard of popovers. But just in case you haven't I want to make sure to spread the word.
Earlier this year I was invited to a neighbors home for brunch. She served quiche and popovers. I had no idea what popovers were and when she shared what was on the menu I had a brief thought of "did she say PopTarts?". It turns out that she did not say PopTarts. She was serving the most delicious quiche with these funny-looking biscuits called popovers.
It is easiest for me to say that popovers are biscuits. They can be served in place of biscuits with breakfasts, roasts, soups, and stews. But for some reason, I want to call them a pastry. I don't know if baking experts would call them a pastry. But they are crispy on the outside while light and flaky on the inside. In fact, if you bake them on the shorter end of the recommended time, they are a bit like custard on the inside.
The 6 Popover Ingredients
Popover recipes are all over the internet. They are basically equal (or almost equal) amounts of flour and milk. Added to 3 - 4 eggs, 2-3 tablespoons of butter, and a pinch of salt. The recipe I use is:
- 1 c flour
- 1 c milk
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp butter
Beat the ingredients until smooth. The batter is similar to pancake batter. You may think you've made a mistake and added too many wet ingredients. You haven't.
Martha Stewart uses 1 1/2 cup flour and 1 1/2 cup milk in her recipe. She also gives step-by-step instructions. Her recipe is here if you'd like to use that recipe.
Popover Tips for Better Results
The same neighbor who served the popovers at the brunch also gave me a popovers pan. Popovers can be made in muffin tins but they do much better in a specific popover pan.
Spray just a small bit of cooking spray in the bottoms of the cups.
Fill the popover pan cups only 1/2 full. They will rise and pop over the tops of the pans. If you are prone to overfill things, place the popover pan on a cookie sheet to catch any spillage.
Hot oven. Popovers like 400 degrees or more. Some recipes call for a hotter over to begin with and lowering the temperature part way through. I don't mess with that. I do 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove the popovers from the pan as soon as they come out of the oven.
The recipe I use makes almost 12 popovers. I tend to fill my popover cups slightly more than half. If I only filled them halfway the recipe would make 12 popovers. I also found that it makes it much easier to fill the cups using a glass measuring cup with a spout.
On the popover episode on America's Test Kitchen, they recommend bread flour and warming the milk and butter for better results. I agree. When I remember to use bread flour and warm both the butter and milk (with the eggs at room temperature) I do have slightly better results. However, the recipe is forgiving. My neighbor sometimes uses almond milk and uses all purpose flour. I prefer whole milk and bread flour.
Popovers are an excellent part of your daily menu and a wonderful item to serve to guests.
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