Easy Breakfast Popovers
If you’re a fan of breakfast pastries, then you’ll love this delicious and easy popovers recipe! Requiring only five ingredients and 30 minutes of cooking time, this is a seemingly fancy - yet simple - way to change up your breakfast or brunch routine without exuding too much effort. Served with a pad of butter and dollop of your favorite jam or jelly, these homemade popovers are sure to be a hit!
The Inspiration Behind My Breakfast Popovers
My grandma called me years ago asking if I had a recipe for popovers. She and my grandfather had just come back from visiting his brother in Arizona, and his wife made popovers that my grandma said were outstanding. She wanted to replicate them at home but didn’t have a recipe or a popover pan. Popovers had long been on my 100 list, so I thought it was the perfect time to tackle them myself.
I bought us both a popover pan and surprised her with the pan and a copy of the recipe. It couldn’t have been easier or more delicious!
What Are Popovers, Exactly?
Traditionally, popovers are an American deviation of the famous British Yorkshire pudding. They’re a popular light, buttery pastry made with just flour, salt, eggs, milk, and butter. (Although I like to add a little powdered sugar to make them slightly sweet.)
The British versions are typically made with beef fat, while the American versions are made with full-fat whole milk and softened butter served on top once baked, along with jam or jelly. They’re crispy and flakey on the inside while remaining soft and custardy on the inside, almost like ribbons.
I’d actually never had a popover before my grandmother asked me to create my own recipe. I always thought that they would be more of a muffin consistency, but they tasted much more like a flaky croissant, baked pancake (very similar to a Dutch baby pancake!), or even a hollow soufflé.
The recipe I modeled mine after suggested serving them fresh from the oven with butter and jam, which is exactly how I ate mine. They were amazing, and definitely better warm than when left to sit at room temperature. You could also serve them dusted with powdered sugar or with maple syrup. They’re a perfect addition to any breakfast or brunch menu, and only take minutes to mix together.
What’s your favorite way to eat a popover?
Ingredients
You only need five pantry-staple ingredients to make these homemade popovers. (And I bet you have most, if not all, of them on-hand right now!)
- Milk: Whole milk is the way to go with this popovers recipe. It needs the fat!
- Eggs: Similar to a souffle, popovers call for a lot of eggs. You’ll use six for this recipe.
- Flour: Just one and a half cups will do the trick! (Remember that this is a very wet batter.)
- Salt: This helps elevate the simple buttery flavor of the popovers, as well as the hints of sweetness from the powdered sugar.
- Powdered Sugar: These popovers needed the slightest touch of sweetness, so powdered sugar was the way to go.
How To Make Popovers
We’re usually a pancakes-on-the-weekend type of house, but since perfecting this homemade popovers recipe, these delicate, flakey, buttery morsels definitely earned a soft spot in my heart. You can make them sweet or savory depending on what you serve with them.
For example, berries and maple syrup versus crumbled bacon and softened cream cheese. They’re ideal for weekend mornings or special occasions during the week made fresh or leftover. (I’m thinking of a birthday breakfast!)
Once you have your ingredients measured, your oven preheated, and your popover pan prepped, then you’re ready to get baking!
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs.
- Make the Batter: Add the flour, salt, and powdered sugar to the wet ingredients, and whisk briefly to incorporate the dry ingredients. (Do not over-mix!)
- Did I Mention To NOT Over-Mix: Seriously! This will cause your popovers to be too dense and not rise properly. There may still be small lumps throughout the batter, which is fine. Do not over-mix! It’s OK to still see slight streaks of flour.
- Bake: Fill each cup of the popover tin with 5 tablespoons of the batter. Bake until the popovers are very puffed and rise above the top of the tin by 3 inches, about 30 minutes. Immediately turn the popovers out of the pan, and serve warm with desired toppings.
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The Key to Light, Flakey Popovers
- Do not over-mix your batter! Similar to pancakes, it’s fine to see some lumps in the popover batter before pouring them into the baking pan. If you over-mix, then your popovers won’t rise properly, or will fall.
- Generously butter your popover pan in an upward direction. This directs the batter to rise up while it cooks.
- Use high-quality ingredients. In recipes like this where there are so few, it’s important to use the best you can get. I recommend organic, free-range milk and butter, as well as organic, cage-free eggs.
- If you're using a dark, non-stick pan, be sure to reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some of my favorite ways to serve these simple homemade popovers!
- With a pad of softened butter
- A schmear of fruit jam or jelly (homemade is even better!)
- Or a savory spread like my favorite homemade bacon jam
- With a drizzle of honey or maple syrup
- Some fresh berries like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries
- A dusting of sifted powdered sugar
- Some chocolate hazelnut spread (Kids, especially, would love this Nutella twist!)
Make it a Meal
Wanting more for your breakfast spread than just popovers? Here are a few delicious sides to serve with them:
- Scrambled eggs
- Breakfast sausage links or patties
- Oven-baked bacon
- Bourbon brown sugar bacon
- Greek Yogurt (homemade or store-bought)
- A variety of fresh fruit (or my favorite fruit tart!)
Storage, Freezing, and Reheating Instructions
Whether you have leftover popovers, want to eat them all week, or want to freeze a batch for an easy-to-grab morning meal during the week, here's how to keep these pastries fresh.
- Store any leftover popovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freeze cooled popovers in a freezer-safe container for up to a month. Don’t use a bag, as these delicate pastries are more likely to get crushed or damage that way.
- Reheat from frozen or refrigerated in a microwave or toaster oven until warmed through and crispy on the outside.
More Breakfast Pastry Recipes To Try
- Dutch Baby Pancake
- Pancake Cupcakes with Maple Bacon Buttercream Frosting
- Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe
- Morning Buns Recipe
- Danish Pastries
Popovers
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (360 ml) whole milk
- 6 eggs
- 1½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 4½ teaspoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and position the rack in the lower third of the oven.
- Generously butter a 12-cup popover tin; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs. Add the flour, salt and powdered sugar and whisk briefly to incorporate the dry ingredients. There may still be small lumps throughout the batter, which is fine; do not overmix.
- Fill each cup of the popover tin with 5 tablespoons of the batter. Bake until the popovers are very puffed and rise above the top of the tin by 3 inches, about 30 minutes. Immediately turn the popovers out of the pan and serve warm.
Notes
- Equipment: Popover Pan
- Pan Note: If you’re using a dark, non-stick pan, be sure to reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
- Serving Suggestions: Softened butter + fruit jam or jelly / bacon jam / honey or maple syrup / fresh berries / dust with powdered sugar / Nutella
- Storage: Store any leftover popovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze cooled popovers in a freezer-safe container for up to a month. Don’t use a bag, as these delicate pastries are more likely to get crushed or damage that way.
- Reheat Instructions: Reheat from frozen or refrigerated in a microwave or toaster oven until warmed through and crispy on the outside.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Thank you.
The instruction is clear.
I will try it out.
Awesome recipe! I have always wanted to make popovers, so I finally bought a pan and then searched for the perfect recipe. This was the perfect recipe! Thank you!
What exactly let this popovers rise….
There is no baking powder in
I try it and was a total disaster.
What did I do wrong….
Question
If you don’t want yet another kitchen pan could you use cupcake tins instead for popovers?
Can you use another pan instead of a popover pan?
I have recently bought 6 popover pans. I have made the popovers… served with butter and jam (Jordan’s Pond, Acadia Nat’l Park.) But I would like to come up with more uses…like making them into eclairs with custard and chocolate frosting. What do you think? Help!
Perfect! I inherited popover pans from my mom, but had never used them until I got Kitchenaid stand mixer for Christmas. One of the Kitchenaid instruction booklet recipes was for popovers and of course used the stand mixer. But it also required flouring the buttered muffin cups and starting the popovers in a cold oven. Hmmm…the result was nothing like my mom’s popovers, so I tried your recipe (since I am addicted to your soft pretzel recipe!) and voilà! Deelish! Thank you!
My mother used to make popovers. She never put a ton of butter in the bottom so I guess it was a different recipe. Yours sounds more like Yorkshire pudding. My mother always made them in a muffin tin. They were super light and delicious. She would make vanilla pudding and fill them with that, then melt a chocolate bar in a double boiler, and top them. Then ended up similar to a chocolate eclair. Yummy.
cinnamon sugar popovers- melt 4 tbs of butter and mix 2/3 cup sugar and 1tsp cinnamon ( for any cinnamon based treats i also add a pinch of cardamon, nutmeg, and allspice in witht he cinnamon) dip hot popover in melted butter than with tongs roll in sugar mixture. – eat right away! i only did this for the two i was going to eat and i’m glad i did- keep any leftover popovers to reheat and then dip after-. i love my popover pan. i bought it as a christmas gift to myself since i wanted to make yorkshire puddings for christmas dinner with my roast- i’m very glad i did. i loved these cinnamon sugar popovers and will love finding new ways ( sugar by itself will be one) to test them. i tried the ramekins one time and it wasn’t a success i have seen just a muffin tin .. i had to adjust my oven temp due to my oven burning things at 400- 375 for 35 minutes and they were gorgeous! Thank you! .
Yer we call them Yorkshire puddings in the UK. When a friend from Texas said he had never heard of them I was shocked. I’ve never thought of them being eaten with sweet stuff. All roast dinners need to be accompanied by a Yorkshire pudding. We just use muffin tins to make them and add no sugar, just some pepper. There excellent for cleaning up the plate afterwords. Or at festivals they will make huge ones filled with mashed potato, gravy and sausages. You should try Toad in the Hole, You make the mixture the same but bake it in a large tray with sausages in the batter. I’ll try them with jam and butter for breakfast one day. I suppose it makes sense. There just pancakes on steroids.
Popovers are one of my favorite recipes, right behind Brioche. I’m not a cook or baker at all and have always had fun and success with them. No popover pan needed – muffin pans work right if you be mindful of the batter. So glad to see you try them!
I love these with honey butter! Yum!
Mmm…I love popovers. I’ve had them at Neiman Marcus where they serve it with strawberry cream cheese. So delicious! Is it necessary to buy a popover pan? I’m hesitant to buy it as it’s so bulky.
Hi Candice, Some readers have commented above that they have made these in muffin tins, but you need to be careful about how much batter you add to each well.
I love popovers! I have had them at Neiman Marcus several times, as they are known for them. I will have to try to make my own – it couldn’t be easier.
I have to admit I’ve never had a popover either. I came across this website though, where she made a new popover recipe each week. I normally wouldn’t post another site or link, but this seems perfect with your popover recipe post :)
http://doughmesstic.com/the-popover-project/
She includes sweet and savory popovers! I just ordered my popover pan and will be giving a lot of these a try!
I make popovers for my kiddos all the time and they LOVE them. I serve them with some thin frosting (melted butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla… Just stir together until it looks right) and the kids like to “rip ’em and dip ’em”! I will try your version with powdered sugar in the popovers as my recipe doesn’t call for it. Thanks for the post!
Those popovers look amazing!
Just made these today! It was my first time so I halved the recipe and I didn’t have a popover pan so I did 5 tablespoons in a 12 count cupcake pan and i spaced the popovers ever other space. I only put them in the oven for about 20min and although i thought it was very good, the consistency was more like a hollow, soft pancake rather than a custard. I was wondering, would this be due to the fact that i did not use a popover pan? they still “popped” significantly over the rim, or maybe it was because it was in the oven for too long?
Hi Tina, They are supposed to be hollow pancake-like pastry, they will not turn out like a thick, dense custard.
Popovers are sensitive to changes in temperature and moisture levels and will not pop up just right if the oven temperature changes while they are baking…this includes cracking the door for a peek at the lil lovelies.
Oh Yay! So glad you posted this recipe. My daughter gave me a popover pan for Christmas and I have not tried it yet. I will definitely this recipe. When we lived in California we used to go to this place called Lord Charley’s and have prime rib and they would always have yorkshire pudding on the side. They also served it with roast beef.
My recipe has only 3 eggs but adds 1 tab. melted butter to the batter. ( makes 10 popovers in a muffin pan) I have found the trick is to make sure the ingredients are slightly warm and to spray the pan and put a dab of bacon drippings in each cup, heat the pan until smoking (3-4 min). Another variation that is great is to add 1/2 tea. colmans dry mustard to the batter and a couple small cubes Gruyere in each cup. Top with additional finely grated (I use the microplane) Gruyere as soon as they come out of the oven (saw this on Diner’s Drive-ins and Dives and they looked terrific!)
Yummy! I’ve never actually had one but they look and sound delish!
Quick question for you, I’m making a cake for Easter that suggests starting with a french vanilla cake base. How is that different from a regular vanilla cake?
Popovers are just like Yorkshire Pudding, except there is no sugar in them and the tins are greased with beef fat-usually from a beef roast. I make them in muffin tins, and we eat them with good homeade beef gravy! I’ve never had them on the sweetened side, but they are on my list now! I saw a show that made them with grated grueyere cheese and lots of cracked black pepper! I bet they’re great savory OR sweet!
Love popovers! My families favorites are: jam & butter, pate & cheeses, nutella, and lemon juice & pwd sugar. Yum.
I’ve never had popovers before! Can you use muffin tins for these?
Hi Ashley, I’ve seen some folks in this comment thread mention that they have, but you need to be careful of how much batter you use. Enjoy!
I’ve NEVER had a popover, but have always wanted to try it! :)
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Mind if I popover for a popover? Haha…sorry I have a very pathetic sense of humor! I love mine with jam! Love all the layers in yours! xo
I have an oven-baked pancake recipe that I think could be used for popovers as there is little difference in the recipes. I may have to try it! Thanks!
Okay. We have tried and tried to do popovers and have yet to master them. This recipe looks like a winner, so I’m going to give this one a try! Thanks!
I make our yorkshire pudding recipe in a popover pan. Delish! Great to see them in a sweeter mode!