Classic Popovers – A Simple 4 Ingredient Recipe

Classic popovers are crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and are so easy to make. They’re delicious warm and slathered with honey butter.

Several years ago, my husband and I frequented a wonderful restaurant by our home that served the best popovers – and they were free! No matter what you ordered, you were each provided a hot popover with a delicious maple honey butter. And, these weren’t little mini popovers, these were the real-deal.

At the time, I thought popovers were pretty fancy and likely difficult to make. I could make a mean dinner roll, but I thought homemade popovers might be a bit ambitious. I was so wrong!

4 Ingredient Popovers

After a little research, I found out I could make the perfect popovers with just four simple ingredients. I mean combining milk, eggs, flour and salt makes for a pretty easy popover recipe in my mind.

Start preheating the oven, mix up the batter, pour into your popover tin and “pop” them in the oven! In a little over 30 minutes you will have fresh, hot popovers.

Do I Have to Use a Popover Pan?

There is a special pan for making popovers. Known as a popover pan (also called a popover tin), it has deep wells and steep, straight sides which help force the popover batter upwards to create that puffy top and crispy sides.

If you don’t have a popover pan, you can use regular muffin tins. The only difference is that you won’t get large, fluffy popovers. They will be smaller due to the fact that a standard muffin tin isn’t as deep, nor are the sides as steep as a regular popover pan.

 

Fun Fact About Popovers and Yorkshire Pudding

While I was doing my classic popover recipe research, I kept coming across mentions of Yorkshire pudding. I thought this was a little odd until I learned that popovers are just an American version of Yorkshire pudding. 

They basically use the same simple ingredients, but how you prepare the popover pan is where you see a difference. For popovers, you prepare the pan using a non-stick cooking spray or melted butter. For Yorkshire pudding, you use beef drippings or beef fat to prepare your pan.

Yorkshire pudding is typically served with dishes such as roast beef, pot roast or prime rib. If you plan on having a meal highlighting beef, Yorkshire pudding would be a fun addition.

Bake Your Popovers Today!

These easy popovers are great for a breakfast treat with a little blueberry or apricot jam. They are also a great replacement for the classic dinner roll at your dinner parties or as part of a holiday meal. Serve them with some honey butter (or try this awesome Pumpkin Pie Spice Butter) and they will surely be a hit at your dinner table!

Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Classic Popovers

• If you don’t have a 6-cup popover pan you can use a muffin pan. But, instead of making 6 popovers, you’ll divide the batter between 8 muffin cups. Once you reduce the temperature, watch them closely, they will probably be finished a couple minutes earlier.
• Leftover popovers can be reheated in a 300 degree oven for about 5 minutes.
• I use whole milk for this recipe, but any milk you have on hand will work just fine. However, I would not recommend using half and half or heavy cream.
• Do not open the oven door while baking. This could cause the popovers to deflate. Just have patience!
• Use room temperature ingredients to ensure the best popovers.

Ingredients Needed to Make Classic Popovers

Full instructions are found below in the printable recipe card

• Milk
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Eggs

How to Make Classic Popovers

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Spray a 6-cup popover pan with cooking spray.
• Pour milk in a large bowl.
• Add flour and salt.
• Whisk together, just until flour is incorporated, do not overmix.
• Whisk in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Again, don’t overmix or scrape the side of the bowl.
• Divide popover batter equally between the popover cups. This will make six popovers.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until a deep golden brown.
• Serve immediately.

More Quick Bread Recipes 

• Beer Cheese Bread
• Parmesan Puffs
• Lemon Zucchini Bread
• Glazed Strawberry Bread
• Cherry Quick Bread

 

 

 

This recipe was originally posted on 04/20/15. It was updated to improve user experience and reposted on 05/13/20.