Breakfast Popovers
I love breakfast food but, I must confess, I have never been a morning person. The last thing I want when I roll out of bed is do anything other than drink coffee – and that is where these scrumptious breakfast popovers come in. Not only are they super simple to make, but you can mix the batter the night before and store it in the fridge for easy morning popover baking. I’m especially fond of eating them with apricot butter, but they also taste great with jam, apple butter or plain old regular butter.
Popovers are light, hollow rolls made from an egg batter similar to the one used to make Yorkshire pudding. They get their name from the way the batter “pops over” the top of a muffin tin and the question I most often hear is: why do they pop? If you look at the recipe below the batter doesn’t have baking powder or soda, which are usually responsible for rising in the absence of yeast. The answer is steam. Compared to most batters there is an unusually high amount of liquid in this one. Once in the oven this liquid converts to steam, which causes the batter to rise dramatically, while protein from the eggs makes the batter stretch, then solidify into thin, crusty walls.
Popovers can be plain like the ones pictures here, or they can be made a bit more fancy by adding bran, buckwheat and even spinach or Parmesan. I’ve included instructions for a few variations.
Breakfast Popovers
Ingredients: Makes 12 popovers
Bakeware: a muffin tin, ramekins or baba molds.
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Nonstick cooking spray, butter or oil for greasing the muffin tins
In a medium sized bowl whisk the eggs , using a whisk or hand-held mixer, until foamy. Add the milk, flour, melted butter or oil, and salt. Beat until just smooth. Do not overmix. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to overnight. (If you refrigerate overnight the batter will separate slightly by the morning, just give it a few good mixes and you’re good to go.)
Generously grease 12 muffin cups, ramekins or baba molds. If using individual molds place them on a baking sheet, making sure they are not touching. Pour batter into each cup until a little over 2/3 full.
Place the pan in a cold oven and immediately set the thermostat to 375 degrees F. (Incidentally, the first time I made these I accidentally preheated the oven and that worked too. Both the Barefoot Contessa and Sara Moulton preheat.)
Bake 30 minutes without opening the oven door. (I know, that heavenly smell makes it so tempting to peak. But no! Step away from the oven!) Then: Bake 10 to 15 minutes more until the popovers are firm and golden brown, piercing the sides of each popover to allow steam to escape during this last phase of baking.
Remove from the oven and let popovers cool briefly (4-5 minutes), again piercing each to allow the steam to escape. Remove from the molds by running a knife around the rim and inverting. Serve immediately while hot and puffy. (To reheat later, space popovers evenly on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about 5 minutes.)
Variations:
Bran Popovers: Add 1/4 cup wheat, oat, or rice bran. Continue as directed.
Buckwheat Popovers: Substitute 1/3 cup light or dark brown buckwheat flour for 1/3 cup flour. Continue as directed.
Spinach Popovers: Stir 1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach leave and 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg into the batter before refrigerating the batter. Continue as directed.
Parmesan Herb Popovers: Stir 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, dill, tarragon, or thyme into the batter before refrigerating. Continue as directed.
The wonderful recipe is from the The Bread Bible, by Beth Hensperger.
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That does sound good, Ari. I have an electirc muffin maker that works really fast when loaded with batter from quick bread mixes. I usually only use it on weekends but if I follow your lead, and make the mix the night before I could do it during the week also. It’s a great way to start the day. Yum.
Michele sent me to see you! Those popovers look good!
Those look very yummy, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a popover! I’m not a morning person, either, and can hardly brush my teeth, much less eat. (I do brush them, don’t worry. I just have a very sensitive gag reflex. Heh.)
We like to eat breakfast for supper. It’s quick, satisfying and easy. We’ll have to try a savory version of these some time!
Bravo! These look too good to eat. I must admit, I’ve always considered these dinner foods. I’m obviously going to amend my thinking.
Thanks for dropping by my blog and commenting!
Oo! These look pretty darn spesh! I’ve seen recipes for popovers before but always thought you had to use one of those crazy-looking popover trays so have never tried them! Good to know that I’ll be able to make them with my muffin try!
“But no! Step away from the oven!”
LOL! I laughed when I read this – how did you know that some people (myself included) are constant oven-door openers
Ellie – I knew because I too am one of you! I always want to peak!
Those special popover trays are useful if you have them since their elongated shape helps the popovers rise even higher, but they are totally optional. Muffins trays work great and the popovers taste wonderful.
How adorable! I’ve never attempted popovers but they look delicious.
Thank you for stopping by my site earlier! I adore your site.
Baking and books?! What could be better?
So delicious! I’d love to have one for breakfast!!!
Oh, I love popovers. I can eat my weight in them.
Nice looking popovers…. very “popped”!
Fantastic! I got hooked on popovers a number of years ago on a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. At Jordan Pond on Mount Desert Island, they serve tea and popovers with butter and strawberry jam on the hill by the edge of the pond. The tradition is more than 100 years old. Your photos brought back some happy summer memories!
Your popovers look delicious. I’ve never made them, but I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I think I’ll try the spinach version. I’ve been on a spinach pancake kick lately and, weirdly, love to eat spinach in the morning. It makes me feel like I’m off to a healthy start!
I’d like one for dessert right now please!
I’m not a morning person either and usually have to bribe myself with a good breakfast to get out of bed…these pop overs would work a treat
Ooooh, yummy. Now I need to figure out a low-carb version. MMMMmmmm good.
Now, I’d never thought of popovers for breakfast, but now that you mention it, I think I will try – batter in the fridge – great idea.
Fantastic! K & I LOVE yorkshire puddings, so I know these would be an instant hit!
Very similar to Yorkshire puddings, which we eat not only as a savoury but also as dessert with jam or Golden Syrup, good with Maple Syrup as well but we tend to save that for waffles.
Popovers are such cute edibles, it’s like they just get too excited and explode!
Wow, popovers look easy! I had no idea. There’s a restaurant near where I live that is famous for its popovers; they have about six dinners on their menu that are designed to go into the popover, in fact (they serve the popover on the side so it doesn’t get soggy). I went there with my parents over the weekend, in fact. I think I’ll have to try making some of these this week; I’ve been looking for new foods to try at breakfast (now that my batch of pumpkin muffins is officially all gone). I’m tired of cereal and pop tarts.
Yum, these look so good! Relatively simple as well, I have to write this one down! Thanks for sharing!
Hello, Ariela!
I’ve been before, but it’s my first comment.
There look good!! I’ve never eaten popovers, I certainly feel like trying them!
Hi Ariela, thanks for the comment on my blog. My DD likes balls and twirling around in circles til she falls down too, much like your dog. These popovers look great and I like the idea of adding buckwheat flour to them. I’m adding you to my blogroll, you have such a nice blog here!
The popovers look fabulous, but even more fabulous is the Pooh quote. I love Pooh quotes…what quiet brilliance. Here’s another favorite:
It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?”
I am right now in a hotel totally salivating about this popover for breakfast. Unfortunately, I’m stuck with hotel food , specially for breakfast for the next 4 days.
Awwww, they’re sooo cute! If they got near me though there would be no survivors, cute or not.
Janice, I love that quote too! Winnie the Pooh is my favorite philosopher.
How big are these? After reading some of the comments I can’t decide whether they are minis or regular sized.
Either way they look delicious!
Allison, the ones pictures here were made in a regular sized muffin tin. But I’m sure you could also make mini popovers if you have a mini muffin tin!
Oh my goodness!! Thanks Ari, just the recipe I was looking for. They look just like these popovers from a fav tea room I would frequent in Nashville. I really miss those popovers and just seeing these pictures make my mouth water! Can’t wiat to try these this Sunday.
These look fantastic! I love popovers, and I’m glad for the reminder.
I found your site after you posted on my blog. I’m glad I checked it out. I am a sucker for cooking blogs.
I want! You must mail me these!
Made the Popovers this morning and they were a great success! I think I might try one of the variations and make them for dinner too!
I just finished a batch of these; the oven is still cooling down, in fact. They came out beautifully, until I tried to take them out of the muffin tin. Oops. Guess I didn’t oil it nearly enough, because they very quickly became Un-Popovers. They’re still yummy, though, even if their bottom halves are still sitting in pieces in the bottom of my muffin tin.
Ruth, I’m so glad you liked them! Let me know how your dinner popovers come out.
April-Lyn : Darn. Well, in the realm of things that could possible ‘go wrong’ that’s a very minor thing afterall. At least they tasted great! And on the plus side the batter is so easy to make you can easily regrease that pan and give them another go.
That happened to a few of mine, but not all, luckily. Something unexpected, though: they retained their shape (had a fairly hard outer crust). I haven’t had that happen to popovers before. Any ideas why they were so hearty and un-poppable?
Hmm, I really couldn’t say LE, mine popped both literally and out of the muffin tin when I removed them. Were I to hazard a guess, I would say that, perhaps, they weren’t allowed to cool enough before you removed them? I let mine cool for about 4 or 5 minutes. (Which I’m going to add as a detail to the instructions!)
Oh, I didn’t mind at all. They were delicious. I was just surprised that they didn’t fall over when they cooled. I did halve the recipe, though, so that could have altered the results slightly.
These look so light and fluffy. And seems easy to make too. Thxs Ariela, for sharing so many wonderful recipes. =)
You are more than welcome Jacelyn, believe me it’s my pleasure!