Diva: Make popovers in a muffin tin

Why are people so crazy about popovers? It could be the combination of the golden, crisp exterior and the melt-in-your-mouth tender interior. But I believe the thing that makes popovers truly irresistible is the thrill of opening the oven door to see what spectacular heights they reach as they “pop over” the top of the muffin tin.

They’re so versatile; they can be sweet or savory. Slathered with butter and jam or filled with chicken salad. Served alongside your main dish as an upgrade to your typical biscuit. Or a snack anytime you need a little something special.

The ingredients are so simple and totally cheap! Just eggs, milk and flour that makes a thin, pourable batter. What’s behind the magic? The high proportion of liquid in the batter creates steam that causes the popovers to “pop” as they bake.

You don’t need a special popover pan to make these, although a popover pan does make them rise taller. A regular old muffin or cupcake tin works beautifully.

The secret to perfect popovers is all the ingredients must be room temperature. If you forget to set your ingredients out, warm your eggs in a cup of hot tap water for 10 minutes. Warm a cup of milk in the microwave until it’s warm to the touch.

Practically Perfect Popovers

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 30 to 40 minutes Yield: 10 popovers

What You’ll Need:

Vegetable oil or cooking spray

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup whole milk, room temperature

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Here’s How:

Move the oven rack to the lowest position. Preheat oven to 400° F. Use either cooking spray or add ¼ teaspoon vegetable oil to 10 muffin cups (leave the middle two empty). Place muffin tin in the oven to heat while you make the batter.

Place all the ingredients into a blender and process for 30 seconds. No blender? No problem. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk and melted butter together. Add flour and salt; whisk until smooth.

Pour batter into a measuring cup for easy pouring. Carefully remove the now very hot tin from the oven and divide the batter evenly into the ten oiled cups. Cups should be about half full.

Bake popovers for 30 - 40 minutes, until they’re puffed, golden browned and crispy. Do not open the oven door during baking as the change in temperature can cause them to deflate and that makes no one happy. Turn popovers out onto cooling rack and pierce the bottoms with a small knife to allow steam to escape. This helps keep them puffy longer. Serve immediately. However, they will keep for up to a week sealed in a zip-top baggie.

Some variations:

Bacon and Parmesan: Add 3 strips of cooked and crumbled bacon and ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese to the batter.

Chocolate Popovers: Add 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar to the batter.

Lemon Poppy Seed: Add 1 tablespoon finely-grated lemon zest and 1 tablespoon poppy seeds to the batter.

Fabulous Food contributed by Patti Diamond from Divas On A Dime – Where Frugal, Meets Fabulous! Website and blog - www.divasonadime.com Join us on Facebook at DivasOnADimeDotCom.