5 from 4 votes

Perfect Popovers

Perfect Popovers | ZoeBakes photo by Zoë François   

The perfect popover is crisp on the outside, tender and airy on the inside and at its very best when served right from the oven. This is a super easy and yet very impressive recipe, that even a first time baker can master and feel like they’ve made magic.

When I was in middle school I lived in Westport, CT and would take the train into NYC to spend the weekend with my late aunt, Melissa. She worked in the film industry and seemed impossibly sophisticated in her fashion and food.

A favorite tradition was having breakfast at Sarabeth’s. We’d order perfect popovers, which were puffed to the heavens and slathered in her homemade marmalade and/or honey butter. They reminded me of the puffy pancakes my friend Sasha and I had made (when we were just tiny kids) in our commune kitchen, but so much more delicious and light.

The short video I made for these popovers is my first YouTube video in quite some time. When you go to my YouTube channel you will find some vintage Zoë, feel free to ignore those, unless you need a good laugh or want some earnest cake decorating advice. The short video was filmed by Charlie at Lilacs Media

Perfect Popovers | ZoeBakes photo by Zoë François

Perfect Popovers | ZoeBakes photo by Zoë François

Perfect Popovers | ZoeBakes photo by Zoë François

Perfect Popovers

The perfect popover is crisp on the outside, tender and airy on the inside and at its very best when served right from the oven. This is a super easy and yet very impressive recipe, that even a first time baker can master and feel like they've made magic. Recipe is from Sarabeth's Good Morning Cookbook.
5 from 4 votes
Course: bread
Cuisine: Breakfast
Servings: 6 large or 12 small popovers

Ingredients

Popovers

  • 5 eggs
  • 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups (213g) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • Pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract make homemade vanilla
  • Softened butter for pan

Honey Butter

  • 1/2 stick (57g) unsalted butter softened
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • Pinch salt

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 400° F.
  • Mix all the ingredients in a blender.
  • Brush butter in each popover cup.
  • Place pan in oven until butter melts.
  • Add popover batter to pan, filling the cups about 3/4 of the way to the top.
  • Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown and puffed.
  • Reduce heat to 350°F, continue baking 20 minutes until caramel brown and puffed. Bake longer if you are using a large popover pan.

Honey Butter

  • Mix all together and serve at room temperature.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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6 thoughts to “Perfect Popovers”

  1. 5 stars
    I made a few edits to this recipe based on ingredients I had at home. For example, I didn’t have whole milk, so I used 2% milk instead. I also didn’t have all purpose flour, so I used white whole wheat flour from Trader Joes.Finally, I ran out of butter for greasing, so I used plant based butter I had at home for this instead of regular butter. Despite these revisions, the recipe still turned out delicious! Crunchy on the outside and airy and light on the inside, just how I like it! Featured your recipe on my blog today, thanks for sharing!

  2. 5 stars
    I’m going to try these tonight! Editorial note: In your “honey butter” section, I think you mean to write “pinch salt” rather than “pinch honey.” Right?

    1. Hi Ann! Yes indeed. Thank you for catching that. It’s fixed now! Please come back and let us know what you think once you’ve tried the recipe!

  3. I love popovers and would like to make these. I don’t have a popover pan, can I use a regular muffin pan?
    Thank you !

    1. Hi Julie! You can use a regular muffin pan, but the shape of the popovers will be rounder — not the classic popover shape.

  4. Julie, FYI, Nordic Ware makes an awesome popover pan if you ever want one! Tall & thin and plenty of room between for the puffy to happen.

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