Popovers

Jan 20th, 2012 by Jessie

We seem to always have milk, butter and eggs in the house. Add the staples like flour and salt, and we have all the ingredients needed for popovers. This is a great alternative for me because I’m not big into breakfast, so it seems like a natural substitution for eggs and toast (although admittedly less nutritious). These are really simple to make and also great for those who don’t like to eat right upon waking (again, me). I have made these about 15 times. One Saturday winter morning a few years back, I tried substituting whole wheat flour which resulted in a puck-like hardness. Of course Peter and I couldn’t just throw them away, so obviously we opted for throwing them out the third story window of my old apartment onto the street below, trying to get them in the path of tire tracks. We definitely made it a couple of times, and I’ll say it was so satisfying hearing those little dough rocks pop under a wheel. I still remember how hard we were laughing, pointing at the bit of steam rising off of the flattened pieces after the fact.

These are really easy to make, but require some patience. The milk and eggs  have to sit out for half an hour to get closer to room temperature, and total cooking time is about 40 minutes. I believe that aside from the room-temperature liquids, the key is never opening the oven as they are cooking. I have known this from the first time I ever tried making popovers, but even still I’m tempted to take a peek in the middle of baking, almost every single time.

Ingredients:
1 cup of milk (I used nonfat and this was fine, though a lot of recipes call for at least 1%)
2 eggs
1 cup of flour
a little over 1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:
1). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2). In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and the eggs. Let this sit for half an hour (more if you can handle it).
3). In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour and the salt.
4). Because that third step only took you a few minutes, go do something. Work, read, watch terrible daytime television.
5). Grease a muffin tin (one with 9 cups, ideally) with the vegetable oil. Pop these in the oven for about 3-5 minutes. You just want to warm up the tin for a while.
6). Slowly add the flour mixture to the milk and eggs, whisking the whole time.
7). Take out the tin, add the popover batter to the cups (I fill it almost all the way to the top).
8). Bake for 30-40 minutes until they look golden brown and puffy. Remember never open the oven door!
9). Eat all of them because you can’t really save these. Eggs at room temperature = sketchy. Popovers in the refrigerator = grossss.

And of course, if you want some cheap, innocent fun, make them with whole wheat flour.

Tags: baked goods, patience, popovers, they will totally steam explode, try throwing them, whole wheat flour kinda sucks here