Happy Sunday everyone! My gosh, I can’t believe that it’s been a little over 2 weeks since I’ve posted a recipe for you all. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of opening up my blog and looking at that picture of rosemary chicken. Don’t get me wrong, I love that chicken recipe and have been making it tons, but I’m tired of looking at it everyday, so I decided to get up early (I’m writing this at 5:00 on Sunday) and get a fresh post out to you all. I’m hoping that with the new time change I’ll be able to get out more recipes, as there will finally be some light to photograph with come dinner time. Fingers crossed.
So, you all know that we’re huge fans of popovers! Seriously, I think we’re as addicted to popovers as we are to kale salads and my popcorn. I make a kale salad at least 3 times a week, popcorn 4 times a week and popovers at least once a week if not more. These are all staples items in my house and have been for years. I tend to make classic popovers the most, as they pair with just about anything and my kids love to have them warmed up for breakfast with some jam or Nutella stuffed inside. Popovers are crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. They are in my eyes the perfect carb, and I never tire of eating them. Since I make popovers once a week, I like playing around and trying new versions. My kids new favorite version are my rosemary and sea salt popovers. Those are AMAZING and if you like rosemary and sea salt, then you will love them. So, I was playing around in the kitchen one day and came up with this combination using lemon zest and thyme, and I really love how they turned out. They’re very light and flavorful with a hint of sweetness from the lemon zest. I’ve been pairing these popovers with my cauliflower soup lately, and I really love the combination. Enjoy!
lemon thyme popovers:
makes 6 popovers or 12 mini popovers in a muffin tin
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon fine kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (about 1 bunch) fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon (approximately 1 1/2 lightly packed tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted – You’re going to use this to grease the pan
Note: You’re going to pre-heat the oven once the popover mix has been combined.
In a mixing bowl with a wire whisk, blend together the 2 eggs, 1 cup milk and one tablespoon melted butter until completely combined.
Add the 1 cup flour and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and blend until frothy and bubbly. You really want to give the batter a good whisk here.
Rinse the thyme, pull the leaves off of the stalk and then lightly chop up the thyme. Get out a zester and zest up your lemon. Add to the batter the chopped thyme and lemon zest, and whisk to combine.
Now it’s time to pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Let the popover mixture rest while the oven is heating up. Note: Letting the mixture rest, gives the flour time to absorb the liquid and gives the popovers a better texture.
Put the empty popover pan in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes to warm up. I usually put my pan in when the oven temp reaches 400 degrees and then take it out when it reaches 450 degrees.
While the pan is heating up, melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter.
Take the popover pan out of the oven and divide the 2 tablespoons of melted butter between the cups. Just pour the butter into the tins and let it rest at the bottom. The butter will sizzle and brown, but that’s fine.
Whisk the batter one more time to froth it up again. Give it a good whisk!
Fill popover cups halfway with batter. Make sure that you pour an even amount in all cups.
Put the pan in the oven and bake the popovers at 450 degrees for 15-17 minutes until they begin to brown and rise. You can turn on your oven’s light to see the transformation, but do not open the oven door during baking, as this will cause the popovers to deflate.
Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake the popover for another 15 minutes or until the popovers are brown and crisp. Mine always take 30-32 minutes to cook to perfection.
Note: Finished popovers will be golden-brown, feel dry to the touch, and sound hollow when tapped.
Immediately turn the popovers out onto a drying rack or plate to cool for a few minutes.
Note: Don’t leave them in the tins, as the bottoms will get all wet from the butter.
Popovers rise up and come out differently each time, so don’t be weirded out if you see a strange-looking one.
Popovers are the best when they’re fresh from the oven, but if you need to make them ahead, just warm them on a tray in a 250 degree oven until warm and crispy again, about 5 minutes.
These rosemary and sea salt popovers are my kids new favorite popover and get requested the most.
Here’s our favorite classic popover recipe. This recipe only requires 5 simple ingredients! We pair these with just about anything and my kids even love them for breakfast with some jam or Nutella inside. They also love them cold as a snack for school.
Here’s our favorite breakfast or brunch treat. These sugar-crusted popovers beat out donuts in our house and have replaced cinnamon rolls for Christmas brunch. 
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon fine kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (about 1 bunch) fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon (approximately 1½ lightly packed tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted - You’re going to use this to grease the pan
- Note: You're going to pre-heat the oven once the popover mix has been combined.
- In a mixing bowl with a wire whisk, blend together the 2 eggs, 1 cup milk and one tablespoon melted butter until completely combined.
- Add the 1 cup flour and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and blend until frothy and bubbly. You really want to give the batter a good whisk here.
- Rinse the thyme, pull the leaves off of the stalk and then lightly chop up the thyme. Get out a zester and zest up your lemon.
- Add to the batter the chopped thyme and lemon zest, and whisk to combine.
- Now it's time to pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Let the popover mixture rest while the oven is heating up. Note: Letting the mixture rest, gives the flour time to absorb the liquid and gives the popovers a better texture.
- Put the empty popover pan in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes to warm up. I usually put my pan in when the oven temp reaches 400 degrees and then take it out when it reaches 450 degrees.
- While the pan is heating up, melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Take the popover pan out of the oven and divide the 2 tablespoons of melted butter between the cups. Just pour the butter into the tins and let it rest at the bottom. The butter will sizzle and brown, but that's fine.
- Whisk the batter one more time to froth it up again. Give it a good whisk!
- Fill popover cups halfway with batter. Make sure that you pour an even amount in all cups.
- Put the pan in the oven and bake the popovers at 450 degrees for 15-17 minutes until they begin to brown and rise. You can turn on your oven's light to see the transformation, but do not open the oven door during baking, as this will cause the popovers to deflate.
- Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake the popover for another 15 minutes or until the popovers are brown and crisp. Mine always take 30-32 minutes to cook to perfection.
- Note: Finished popovers will be golden-brown, feel dry to the touch, and sound hollow when tapped.
- Immediately turn the popovers out onto a drying rack or plate to cool for a few minutes.
- Note: Don't leave them in the tins, as the bottoms will get all wet from the butter.
- Popovers rise up and come out differently each time, so don't be weirded out if you see a strange-looking one.
- Popovers are the best when they’re fresh from the oven, but if you need to make them ahead, just warm them on a tray in a 250 degree oven until warm and crispy again, about 5 minutes.
quick question – do i need to use unsalted butter? just being lazy here, and don’t want to run out and buy it if i can get away with the salted stuff.
thanks
Hi Anet. I’m just getting this now, so sorry for the late reply. Yes, you can use unsalted butter, the popovers might be a bit on the saltier side, but I’m sure they will taste awesome! I mean we throw sea salt in the rosemary sea salt popovers and they are yummy! Let me know how they turn out! xoxo, Jackie
Um… YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took me forever to try these because my kiddos love the plain popovers with dinner and then with Nutella for dessert or snacking. I warned everyone tonight that the popovers would not be good with Nutella in them. These lemony-yummy popovers were such a hit, my daughter declared she liked them better than the plain ones. Everyone in the family raved about them, they were so delish!!! Thank you for yet another winning recipe! You’re awesome!!!
Awesome Kyla! Wow, so awesome to hear that your kids love these popovers. My kids like them but prefer the rosemary ones and of course the plain ones because they love having them slathered with Nutella as well 🙂 You’re awesome to keep trying and trusting me on the recipes I post. You rock girl and I can’t wait to hear what you make up next 🙂 xoxo, Jackie
Update! I’ve made these a few times now, and a couple of times I just add the lemon zest and leave out the thyme (I often don’t have fresh thyme on hand). Super yum with that hint of lemon, and then if you want to go the Nutella route, it doesn’t clash with the herb flavor.
Awesome Kyla. I was thinking these would taste good with just the lemon and maybe even adding powdered sugar when the come out of the oven? Sounds strangely good, right? I’m going to try some today without the thyme and see how they turn out. Thanks for the tip sweetie 🙂 I’m glad you’re enjoying the popovers. I’m also thinking I need to experiement with a new version as well. Got any ideas? xoxo, Jackie
Your photo on Tastespotting stopped me dead in my tracks. These popovers look sooooo good!! I am definitely getting a popover pan, like now.
Yaay! Popovers are the best and you will totally become addicted, and that popover pan will be a worthwhile investment! Try my rosemary and sea salt ones as well, those are our FAVE! xoxo, Jackie
Hi Jackie,
Oh my word, I was super excited to read this post when I saw these on Instagram. I’ve gotten lemon thyme at the downtown farmers market on Nicollet mall for the last couple of years and it is by far my favorite herb. It makes the BEST lemon vinigarette so I can just imagine how awesome the combo is for these popovers. Good combo to try, thanks for sharing!
wow my friend! You seriously took these up a notch with the lemon and thyme throughout the popovers and not just as a sprinkling on top, which is what I have done before! they look divine but even more importantly you sound happy:) Love you
after making (plain) popovers for the rosemary chicken recipe, i am a new convert. i love how they go with everything! i especially liked the leftover ones for breakfast with some marmalade. so of course, now i want to try every popover recipe of yours 🙂
So essentially these are lemon & thyme yorkshire puddings.
awesome 😀
Love these Jackie! They would go great with any meal at dinner. We love all the ingredients in them, thanks for sharing!
Jackie! I love seeing a blog post from you show up in my inbox! I love your popover recipes and every time I see one, my mouth starts to water. What a great combination with the lemon and thyme. Hope things are going well for you. Thinking of you! xoxo, Sharon
Will a muffin tin sub for a popover pan? Thanks for these gorgeous recipes!
Hi Robin! Yes, a muffin tin will work! Jackie 🙂
OMG! I totally want to make these. Beautiful. I’m right there with you too as I finally posted after a 2 week hiatus. Despite my best of intentions of course.. but life has been crazy lately! Great to hear from you!
Can’t wait till I get a popover pan because you’re recipes always look so delicious!