Popovers (Homemade)

These homemade popovers are crispy, puffy, light, airy, and custardy all at the same time. They're pretty magical and a baker's dream. 

If you've never made popovers before, you need to give these a try. You don't even need a special pan to make them! 

I had never baked popovers until the first time I tried this recipe about ten years ago. In fact, I had never tasted popovers before. What was I thinking? These are a revelation. 

I made these in the morning for breakfast with butter and jam, but they would also make excellent dinner rolls with just butter along with beef tenderloin or even a bowl of soup for dipping. They are crisp on the outside and hollow and airy on the inside.

Ingredient Tips for Making Popovers:

Amazingly, there is no leavening in these popovers. All of the structure is provided by the flour and eggs. 

Flour: Be sure to use unbleached all purpose flour such as King Arthur. This is my AP flour of choice. It has the right amount of protein. In addition, I seriously recommend using a kitchen scale for measuring the flour so that the batter is at the right hydration (more later). 

Eggs and Milk: Both the eggs and milk should be at room temperature. 

Melted Butter and Salt: For traditional popovers, that's all you need. If you'd like to make Yorkshire pudding, just substitute beef pan drippings for the butter. 

As I mentioned, you don't need a special popover pan to make these. In fact, I've been resisting buying one for years. 

I mixed the ingredients in a blender and then baked them in buttered and then sprayed (I heard sticking is a big problem so I overcompensated - they did not stick) Pyrex custard cups I've had forever. You can use muffin pans as well.

Tips for Making Popovers:

Popovers may seem scary to make, but they are crazy easy. Plus, it's fun to see about an inch of batter turn into a big airy puff of crispiness. 

First, the batter needs to be thin, even thinner than pancake batter. The hydration level is 250 percent liquid to flour. 

Make sure your milk and eggs are room temperature, and start with a very hot oven and don't open the door while the popovers are baking. Thank goodness for oven windows! For a while I was pretty sure they would not rise. But then poof! Success! Magic. 

If you make them in a muffin tin, be sure to space them out, using every other cavity, so that they have room to puff up. 

Some recipes recommend preheating your pan as well, but I did not preheat my custard cups. I just placed them on a sheet pan before baking. 

True confession time... right after putting this batch in the oven I realized I'd forgotten to add the melted butter to the batter. I dumped everything back into the blender along with the missing butter, resprayed the custard cups, and put the batter (with the butter blended in) back into the cups. They still turned out perfectly!

Leftovers:

Serve these popovers right away while they are still warm for maximum puffiness. If you have leftovers, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to thirty days. 

Reheat frozen (do not thaw) popovers in a 350 degree F oven for ten minutes. 

I've tried them fresh out of the oven, and then frozen and reheated, all in the interest of "science." They are still pretty darn wonderful reheated. I enjoyed mine with butter and preserves. Amazing. 

Popover Recipe Variations:

For a savory popover, you can add some herbs, black pepper, and/or some Parmesan cheese, kind of like gougères (French cheese puffs). 

For sweet popovers, you can sprinkle them with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar once they emerge from the oven. 

This week the From Our Dinner Table Group is sharing baking recipes. 

All About Baking:

• Candied Ginger Orange Scones from Blogghetti
• Chocolate Pecan Banana Bread from That Recipe
• Chunky Oatmeal Date Cookies from Palatable Pastime
• Key Lemon Pie from Art of Natural Living
• Orange Poppy Seed Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Pizza Burger Bomb from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Popovers from Karen's Kitchen Stories

We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you're at it, join our Pinterest board, too!

Homemade Popovers

Yield: 8 popovers

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min

These homemade popovers are crispy, puffy, light, airy, and custardy all at the same time. They're pretty magical and a baker's dream.

Ingredients

• 5 ounces (1 cup) unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole or 2% milk, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Butter and non-stick spray for the custard cups or pan

Instructions

1. Position a rack on the lowest rung of the oven and preheat the oven to 425ºF.
2. Butter or spray eight ¾ cup glass custard cups or ten ½ cup muffin cups. For the custard cups, place them on a half-sheet pan. For the muffin pans, use two to give the popovers room in between for air circulation.
3. Pour al the ingredients into the container of a blender, food processor, or with a hand mixer and mix until smooth. Strain if lumpy.
4. For the custard cups, pour a scant 1/3 cup of batter into each cup, dividing any extra batter among the cups. For the muffin cups, use ¼ cup of batter for each cup, filling alternate cups in each tin.
5. Bake, without opening door, for 25 minutes, until the popovers are puffed, browned, and crisp on the outside. Turn the oven down to 350ºF and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, to help dry out the interior, which will still be a little custardy.
6. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

135.69

Fat (grams)

5.87 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

3.01 g

Carbs (grams)

15.1 g

Fiber (grams)

0.48 g

Net carbs

14.63 g

Sugar (grams)

1.59 g

Protein (grams)

5.22 g

Cholesterol (grams)

80.94 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2012/08/popovers-tuesdays-with-dorie.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

popovers

baking, breakfast

American

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @karenskitchenstories.com on instagram and hashtag it # karenskitchenstories

Adapted from Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers - In Classic Julia Style, by Dorie Greenspan, published in 1996. 

This is an updated post, first published in August, 2012, when this site was new (see photo below). Updated May, 2023.