Made with a simple 5-ingredient batter, these popovers are light, airy, buttery, and delicious! Enjoy them plain or top them butter, honey, or jam.
I love pulling a pan of popovers out of the oven. In that moment, they’re beautifully puffed, almost lifting out of the pan. They have crisp, golden brown exteriors, and they smell like melted butter. Freshly baked popovers are pure delight.
I’m sharing my favorite popover recipe below. It’s super simple (just 5 ingredients!) and SO delicious. The popovers’ crisp, golden outsides give way to airy, custardy interiors. I’m happy eating them plain, but they’re also wonderful with butter, honey, or jam.
What are popovers?
Popovers are light, custardy rolls. They’re made with a simple batter of eggs, milk, flour, melted butter, and salt. When baked in a hot oven, this batter “pops,” or expands upwards, creating popovers’ characteristic puffed look and airy interiors.
If you’ve ever had Yorkshire pudding, popovers are very similar. And they have a similar eggy taste to a Dutch baby or crêpes.
They can lean savory or sweet. Serve them as a side dish with dinner (they’d be perfect for Christmas!) or enjoy them for breakfast with jam.
How to Make Popovers
I’m sharing the complete popover recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a step-by-step overview of how it goes:
Start by making the batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt until no streaks of egg yolk remain.
Add the flour and whisk to combine. The batter should be mostly smooth. But, as with pancake batter, a few small lumps are ok.
Whisk in the butter, and let the batter rest while you preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 450°F, then preheat the pan. When the oven is preheated, generously grease 1 (12-cup) or 2 (6-cup) popover pans with butter. Bake the pan(s) for 2 minutes so that they’re hot when you add the batter. This will help the popovers rise.
Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to pour the batter into the preheated pan. It won’t seem like a lot of batter in each well, but trust me—it will really expand as it bakes!
Bake the popovers for 20 minutes at 450°F. The high oven temp will help them “pop,” aka puff up a TON.
Reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake for 10 more minutes. This lower temp helps the middles cook through without the outsides over-browning.
- Important: DON’T open the oven door as the popovers bake. They could deflate!
Finally, serve. Remove the popovers from the oven. Pierce the tops with a sharp knife to vent the steam from the insides. Then, devour them warm.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Do I need a popover pan?
You can use a popover pan or a muffin tin to make this recipe.
A popover pan is similar to a muffin pan, but its wells have especially steep sides. They drive the batter upward into a high dome as it expands in the oven.
Because of this, popovers baked in a popover pan are especially tall and airy. If you make popovers often, I recommend getting one. I love this one from Chicago Metallic. (Note that it has 6 wells, so I bake this recipe in two batches.)
If you don’t have a popover pan, a muffin tin works too! Simply follow the recipe as written. The popovers won’t rise quite as high, but they’ll still taste great!
Popover Recipe Tips
- Start with room temperature ingredients. Room temperature batter will puff up higher and more quickly than cold batter will. Instead of using eggs and milk straight from the fridge, let them come to room temperature before you whisk the batter together.
- Preheat the pan. The warm pan will also help the batter “pop.” I preheat mine for just 2 minutes, enough to warm the pan without burning the butter I use to grease it.
- It won’t seem like a lot of batter. If you’re using a popover pan, the amount of batter you add to each well might seem scant. But trust me—it puffs up A LOT as it bakes. A generous 1/4 cup batter is all you need!
- Bake them on a low oven rack. If you bake these in the top of the oven, the tops could get too dark before the middles cook through. Baking them on a low rack helps them cook evenly.
- Enjoy them right away. Popovers start to deflate as soon as they come out of the oven. For the best crisp edges and airy interiors, I recommend eating them right after baking. Leftovers still taste great, but the real fun of popovers is the flaky, crispy, puffy texture they have when they’re fresh.
What to Serve with Popovers
I love this recipe for breakfast. The warm, custardy rolls pair perfectly with a cup of coffee. If you like, dress them up with a slather of butter, honey butter, or jam.
They’re also a delicious dinner side dish. Serve them in place of classic dinner rolls at your next holiday meal. They’ll be a hit!
How to Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
For longer storage, freeze them. Quickly defrost them in the microwave, or warm them in a 350°F oven or toaster oven to preserve their crisp edges.
More Baking Recipes to Try
If you love this recipe, try one of these simple baked goods next:
Popovers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1½ cups milk, at room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt until no streaks of egg white remain. Add the flour and whisk to combine, then whisk in the melted butter until smooth. Let the batter rest while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and position a rack in the lower third. Generously grease one 12-cup or two 6-cup popover pans with butter.
- When the oven is preheated, place the prepared popover pans in the oven and bake for 2 minutes.
- Remove the hot pans from the oven and use a ¼-cup measuring cup to evenly divide the batter among the wells, filling them about halfway full. Place on the low oven rack and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (do not open the oven door) and bake for 10 more minutes, or until the popovers are puffed and golden brown.
- Pierce the tops with a sharp knife to release the steam, then serve immediately. We love these with butter, honey, and/or jam.
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Baking
