Description
How to make the best Popovers from scratch that are light and airy on the inside and golden and crispy on the outside. An easy recipe that requires only 15 minutes of hands-on time! Using a popover pan makes them extra-stunning. Makes 6 extra-large popovers.
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups milk (or sub 3/4 cups half & half and 1 cup water)
- 1 1/4 cup flour spooned and leveled ( bread flour or AP flour)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme (divided)
- —-
- 1/4–1/2 cup grated parmesan, more for sprinkling (or sub pecorino, cheddar, gruyere)
- 1–2 tablespoons butter (melted, or 6 little slices)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 F (or 425F with convection on) with popover pan inside, on the middle rack with ample room for expansion. (Please see note for electric ovens).
Place eggs, milk, flour, salt, melted butter in a blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down sides to incorporate all of the flour. Stir in 1 tablespoon fresh thyme.
Place batter in a warm spot (like on the stove) so it comes to room temp. ( You could also place the blender in a bowl of warm water) while the oven gets hot.
When ready to bake, pull out the hot popover pan, and place 1/2 -1 teaspoon of butter into each tin (either melted or cold). Moving quickly, stir the batter once more, then pour batter into each tin, filling each cup 1/3 of the way up. Divide the cheese into the cups. Fill up with the remaining batter (they should be about 2/3 rds full) then sprinkle with fresh thyme and extra cheese if you like.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until fully puffed and golden. Turn heat down to 325F (or 300F with convection)and continue baking for 10-12 minutes. Cut a small 1/2 inch slit into the top (poke a paring knife straight in) to allow steam to escape, and turn off the oven, leaving them to rest in the oven for a few more minutes.
You can let them cool in the pan, or serve immediately.
Notes
All ovens are different– I find this timing works perfectly in my gas oven, producing a deeply golden, crispy popover that holds its shape after cooling. It may take one practice try to get the timing perfect for your oven.
***If you have an electric oven, when you place the popovers in the oven, lower heat to 425 F, bake 20 minutes or until fully puffed and golden, lower heat to 350F for last 10 minutes.
If making batter ahead and refrigerating, make sure to bring to room temp before using and mix well.
You can bake these in no-stick muffin tins, but may spread wide rather than tall.
Variations:
- Cheddar Jalapeno – add a couple of tablespoons of grated cheddar to each popover. Stir in finely chopped jalapeno and chopped scallions into the batter.
- Rosemary Garlic – Blend 1-2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder into the batter, sub rosemary for thyme and add parmesan or pecorino
- Gorgonzola and Sage– Add 1-2 tablespoons crumbled gorgonzola to the middle of each popover and 1 tablespoon finely chopped sage into the batter.
- Curry Spiced– add 1 1/2 teaspoon of yellow curry powder to the batter. Use parmesan, gruyere. Sprinkle the tops with whole cumin seeds.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 popover
- Calories: 233
- Sugar: 1.4 g
- Sodium: 402.5 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.8 g
- Fiber: 0.8 g
- Protein: 8.1 g
- Cholesterol: 121.3 mg