Popovers

Light and airy breakfast rolls

Mmmm popovers. Confession: I had four in one sitting during our recent up north weekend. No shame — I was on vacation. Popovers are light, hollow rolls consisting of equal parts flour, milk, and some eggs. They're practically a health food, amiright? It's when you smear them with delicious toppings that things get dangerous. Popovers themselves are neutral, so you can eat them with sweet honey, preserves, Nutella, straight-up butter, or savory sauces and it all works! 

Anyway, I have my friend Rachel to thank once again for these babies (just like I have her to thank for bringing Shakshuka into my life). She turned to Ina Garten for her recipe, and I have to say that Rachel's up north popovers turned out much larger and impressive. But mine, though small, were plenty tasty for a first try. Rachel says popovers are very finicky, so you never really know what's going to happen. I'm definitely going to try again — if the results are even as good at my first attempt, I'll be a happy camper.

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POPOVERS
*Recipe yields 12+ popovers, depending on the pan you use

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
1 and 1/2 TBS butter, melted + softened butter for greasing the pan
1 and 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs or 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 
1 and 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature 

WHAT YOU'LL DO
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Take the eggs and milk out of the fridge so they come to room temperature. Generously grease a popover pan or muffin pan with butter. 

2. Whisk together flour, salt, eggs, milk and melted butter until smooth. Place greased popover or muffin pan in the preheated oven for exactly 2 minutes (yes, before you add the batter!). 

3. After 2 minutes, remove heated pan from oven. Fill the cups of the pan less than half full and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Do not peek – just watch through the window with the oven light on. 

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Ina Garten says there are three keys to great popovers: Making sure the pan is hot before you pour in the batter, filing each cup no more than halfway full, and not peeking while the popovers are in the oven. Rachel, who has made these many times, emphasized the "no more than half-full" bit to me. She also said a lot can depend on the freshness of your ingredients. So much to think about! But so, so worth it.