Easy Yorkshire Popovers Recipe

A Yorkshire popover is a bread roll made from an egg based batter. They get their name from the way they expand and pop over the tins they are cooked in. Preparations for popovers can be both sweet and savory. 

Why I’m Making Yorkshire Popovers

One of my absolute favorite foods is popovers. Popovers are simple, fast, and so versatile. In my opinion, there are few joys in cooking more than tearing into a fresh popover and dunking it into sauce or gravy. 

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients needed for Yorkshire popovers:

• Flour is used to create my dough.
• Milk enriches the dough and adds the necessary liquid to the recipe. I’m using organic low-fat milk.
• Oil or butter allows the popovers to poof up when they cook in the oven.
• Eggs give structure to the popovers and allow them to keep their shape.
• Salt enhances the overall flavor of the popovers.

Recipe Instructions for Yorkshire Popovers

Step 1: Oil the Muffin Tin

Place 1 tablespoon of oil or butter into each muffin tin compartment (a 6-cup muffin tin needs 6 tablespoons of oil). You can use butter or oil, and it’s needed for heat conduction so that the popovers can poof up in the tin.

When it comes to using oil vs butter, either works (I’ve tested this recipe with both). The oiled tin resulted in lighter, fluffier, neutral-tasting popovers. The buttered tin resulted in darker, nuttier, richer flavored popovers. 

That said, I’d recommend oil for food getting dunked, where the flavor comes from the sauce. I’d use butter when the popovers are getting dusted with ingredients like cheese, sugar, or chocolate.  

Step 2: Preheat Oven

Place the empty muffin tin into the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F. You want to have the tin in there because the hot tin will allow the popovers to poof up once you add in the batter to the tin.

Step 3: Mix Ingredients Together

In a bowl, gently mix the dry ingredients together first (flour and salt). Then, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (milk and eggs). Mix them until your batter is thick.

Step 4: Pour Batter into Tin

When the oven comes to temperature, open up the oven. Pour your batter directly into the tins while they are in the oven, leaving a little space at the top since the batter will rise as it cooks.

Heat-wise, it is critical your fat be hot and your tins be hot. Muffin tins, unlike Yorkshire pudding or Popover tins, are made of thin aluminum, meaning they don’t store heat at all. If you take a flimsy tin out and put it on your counter, it could lose hundreds of degrees before you put it back into the oven. 

Low temperatures are bad as they generate no steam or push to puff up your popovers. This is why I pour directly into the tins while still in the oven.   

Step 5: Bake

Bake the popovers in the oven for 20 minutes at 450°F.

Step 6: Open Oven Door

After 20 minutes, quickly open the oven door for 3 seconds and close it immediately. This is important to do because in the next step, you’ll be lowering the oven temperature. Since ovens cook with hot air, you need to get cooler air into the oven to lower the overall temperature.

Step 7: Reduce Temperature

Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 10 more minutes, or until the sides of the muffin tops are golden brown. This will prevent them from collapsing. 

Step 8: Remove from Tins

Remove the popovers from the oven. Then, use a knife to remove the popovers from the muffin tin.

Yorkshire Popovers Tips

Here are a few additional tips as you bake this:

• There can be few things more frustrating than a popover that will not expand. The main reasons for this challenge are either your batter consistency or the temperature of your baking vessel or fat. 
• When it comes to the batter consistency, it is very important that you stick to the given measurements. If your batter is too thin, it will not have the structure to hold itself up. If you go too thick, the steam won’t be strong enough to push the top up. 
• With your muffin tin, make sure it’s hot before placing the batter in it. If it’s cold (or even cool), this will affect the overall bake of your popovers.

Popover Pairings

On the sweet side, you are most likely to see popovers paired with ingredients like jam or cream. I personally prefer mine with cinnamon sugar (like a faux malasada or donut) and maybe a white chocolate dipping sauce. When it comes to savory preparations, it is hard to beat cheese or gravy. I topped these with cheese for this batch.

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