Baskets filled with warm, light and buttery muffin tin popovers are the highlight of any holiday brunch or dinner. This easy 5-ingredient recipe doesn’t require a special pan and they bake up in just 30 minutes!
What are popovers?
Popovers are light rolls similar to Yorkshire puddings. They’re shaped like a muffin and made from a thin batter of eggs, flour, butter, milk and salt.
The key difference is that these popovers are baked with vegetable oil non-stick cooking spray rather than oils or roast drippings in a readily-available muffin tin. The result is a light and fluffy roll with an almost custardy interior that has a buttery, slightly eggy flavour.
Here’s everything you’ll need to make them
- 3 large eggs
- Milk
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher or fine sea salt
- Butter
- Vegetable oil non-stick cooking spray
The secret to lofty popovers? A combination of room temperature eggs and milk and a HOT oven.
Their height is produced by the steam generated by the liquid in the batter. The gluten in the flour works with the protein from the eggs to create the structure that traps the steam, propelling those crispy tops upward and creating open steam pockets for butter and jam.
Popovers are best enjoyed hot, straight from the oven. As soon as they emerge from the oven they will start to settle a bit, and over time they can become a bit tough and chewy.
But let’s be honest, even popovers that have been sitting a little longer will still be soft and chewy inside, even if they’re missing that crispy crust.
Delicious served hot with butter or gravy for dinner, these days we typically enjoy these quick and easy muffin tin popovers with honey or preserves for breakfast or served with a couple of jammy eggs, greens and our favourite Potatoes au Gratin with Gruyère for a decadent holiday brunch. So good!
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Muffin Tin Popovers
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ cups milk room temperature
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- Vegetable oil non-stick cooking spray
Instructions
- Spray non-stick muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray, including both the bottoms and the sides so they’ll pop out easily. Place pan on the middle rack with sufficient space above it to accommodate the rise and preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl or a batter bowl like this one, whisk together the eggs and milk until well combined.
- Add flour and salt and beat until frothy and no lumps remain (you can use a whisk, egg beater or even a blender — I use an egg beater). The batter should be smooth with loads of tiny bubbles throughout.
- Lastly, pour in melted butter and whisk again until smooth.
- Remove muffin tin from oven and quickly divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and turn out into a wire cooling rack, then let sit just until cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving basket and serve immediately with more butter on the side.
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