Quick and Easy Popovers

I just love fall. The air starts to get crisp and the nights get shorter, I crave afternoon chai tea, comfort food, a fire in the fireplace and my big soft blanket to nestle in.  One of my family’s favorite comfort foods is popovers.  When you come by my house and start smelling these in the oven, then you know fall is here. Popovers are a bit funny! I mean look at them, they each have their own unique appearance. It’s like they’re having a competition to see who can rise the highest or popover the most. Get it, popover?  I seriously crack myself up sometimes!

Popovers seem like they would be difficult to make, but let me tell you, they’re one of the easiest things to whip up, and you most likely have all the ingredients on hand at home. I’ve been making popovers for at least 10 years, and I make them at least 2 times a week, if not more, so I feel like I have popover making down to a science! I know there are those of you that are still intimidated by making popovers, and I totally get it! I recently filmed a video just to show you how easy it is to make the perfect batch of popovers. You can follow the recipe below or you can follow along and watch the video, or just do both!

Popovers require 5 simple pantry ingredients!  Yes, just 5, can you believe it?
Flour, unsalted butter, kosher salt, whole milk and eggs.

Quick and easy popovers:

Note:  Popovers are best when served warm.
makes 6 popovers or 12 mini popovers in a muffin tin

• 2 large or 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 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 medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and 1 tablespoon melted butter until completely combined.

Add in the 1 cup flour and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and whisk the batter until its frothy and bubbly.

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.

I love this grand popover pan from Nordic Ware.  It may cost more than the normal popover pan, but it makes the perfect popover and they don’t stick to the pan. The pan is made of cast  iron, so it cooks up the popovers evenly.  I’ve had mine for 3 years now and I use it at least once a week, if not more, and it’s still looks brand new.   If you find yourself making popovers quite often, then I would invest in a good quality popover pan.  For  those of you that are local, Sur La Table carries this brand.

Put the pan in the oven and bake the popovers at 450 degrees for 15-16 minutes until they begin to brown and rise. I usually set my timer for 16 minutes, as that seems to be the prefect time in my oven.

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.

Note: Finished popovers will be golden-brown, feel dry to the touch, and sound hollow when tapped.  Turn the popovers out onto a drying rack or plate to cool for a few minutes.

Note: Don’t leave the popovers 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 some strange looking ones.

We love pairing them with a salad, like my kid friendly caesar salad.

Popovers are the best when they’re fresh from the oven, but if you need to make them ahead, just warm them up in a pre-heated 250 degree oven until warm and crispy again, about 5 minutes.

Here’s a photo of what popovers look like when baked in a muffin tin.  They still come out beautiful.

My kids love these for snack, or lunch the next day at school.

If I’m serving them up as leftovers for breakfast, I will place them in a warm pre-heated 250 degree oven to warm up.  My kids absolutely love these for breakfast warmed up with some jelly or Nutella inside.

You can serve these up with just about any dish.  We love to pair them with soup, steak and chicken dishes.

I wish computers had a smell button so you could smell how amazing these are.

Now, if you want a sweeter version of this popover, try some sugar-crusted popovers. They’re a cross between cinnamon toast, a sugar and cinnamon donut and a popover.

Make these for breakfast, your family will thank you!

Try these rosemary and sea salt popovers. These are my kid’s new favorite!

I also love these lemon thyme popovers.