Popovers

Ready to Serve!

I recently made popovers to go with some lentil soup I pulled from my freezer. It'd been several months since I last made them. They're so easy to make, and the end result is so spectacular. I should fix them more often. My husband likes the leftovers the next day heated up a bit in the toaster oven and spread with NSA peanut butter and jam.

I used a recipe from King Arthur Flour. The only changes I made were to use unsalted butter and to omit the salt altogether. The recipe ingredients are flour, milk, eggs, and butter. I'm not sure how coconut milk or other non-dairy milks would work. The sodium mainly comes from the milk and eggs. The sodium content depends on the size of popover made. I used a 6 cup jumbo muffin pan for about 76 mg sodium/popover. A 12 cup muffin pan would result in about 38 mg sodium/popover.

In the KAF "Tips..." section, there is a suggestion for adding dried herbs to boost flavor. I think you could use just about any NSA spice blend in the popover batter. Coarsely ground pepper with a bit of rosemary would be tasty. So would an Italian herb blend.

I used a jumbo muffin pan that makes 6 muffins. It works fine for me, so I'm not tempted to buy a true popover pan. It's also a non-stick pan. My only suggestion is to over-grease the pan. Popovers can stick, so this is one instance where I use Crisco.

I really like this recipe’s simplicity. No preheating of the pans required. No resting of the batter needed. Just mix, pour, and bake. And pretty much foolproof. I haven’t ever had a failure, even though for many years I was intimidated by the thought of making popovers.

Hot from the Oven!

• Popovers
• Adapted from King Arthur Flour
• (Printable Recipe)

• 
  
• 4 large eggs, warmed in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes before cracking
• 1½ cups milk (skim, low-fat, or full-fat), lukewarm
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 450. Position a rack on a lower shelf because the popovers rise quite a bit. Don’t let the rising popovers get too close to the top of the oven’s heating element and burn.

Use a standard 12-cup metal muffin tin (I use a jumbo 6 cup muffin pan). Grease the pan thoroughly, covering the area between the cups as well as the cups themselves. Make sure the oven is up to temperature before you begin to make the popover batter. (I let the oven preheat at least 20 minutes.)

Use a wire whisk (or handheld/electric mixer) to beat together the eggs and milk. Whisk till the eggs and milk are well combined, with no streaks of yolk showing.

Add the flour all at once, and beat until frothy; there shouldn't be any large lumps in the batter, but smaller lumps are OK.

Stir in the melted butter, combining quickly.

Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 to 3/4 full (I use a soup ladle).

Make absolutely certain your oven is at 450! Place the pan on a lower shelf of the oven .

Bake the popovers for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Reduce the heat to 350 without opening the door, and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until they're a deep, golden brown. If the popovers seem to be browning too quickly, position an oven rack at the very top of the oven, and put a cookie sheet on it, to shield the popover tops from direct heat.

If you plan on serving the popovers immediately, remove them from the oven, and stick the tip of a knife into the top of each, to release steam and help prevent sogginess. Slip them out of the pan, and serve.

If you want the popovers to hold their shape longer without deflating and settling quite as much, bake them for an additional 5 minutes (for a total of 40 minutes) if you can do so without them becoming too dark. This will make them a bit sturdier, and able to hold their shape a bit longer. (I usually poke a knife into them to release steam before baking the extra 5 minutes. I also leave them in the pan for about 4-5 minutes after taking them out of the oven and before trying to remove them from the pan.)

TIPS:

* For herbed popovers, stir 1½ teaspoons of your favorite dried herbs or NSA herb/spice blend into the batter along with the flour.

* To make the batter in a blender, blend eggs, and milk; add flour, blending till smooth; then add the melted butter at the end, blending till frothy.