No Fail Popovers

To me, popovers are just about the coolest chemical reaction there is in baking. I know how nerdy that sounds, but the first time I successfully made a batch that actually "popped" up in the oven, I was thrilled! I tried several recipes that resulted in dense, eggy, deflated popovers and my baking self-esteem deflated with each failed, un-popped batch! But don't worry, you're not likely to experience failure this this recipe. It is quick, easy, and no fail! If you've never had a popover, they are the quick answer to a dinner roll, taking only 40 minutes from start to finish as opposed to the hours involved in making rolls from a yeast-based dough. Popovers are fantastically blank canvases. You can bake them plain or add some fresh herbs or cheese to the batter to spice them up. They are great with soups or stews because popovers are hollow in the middle, perfect for scooping. A giant air bubble forms on the inside of these as they bake. How does that happen? Time for a quick chemistry lesson.

The popover batter is mixed vigorously in a blender. This incorporates a lot of little air bubbles into the batter. While you prepare the popover batter, the muffin tin is getting hot in the oven. When the batter is poured into the preheated muffin tin, the batter seals on contact with the hot metal, instantly forming the bottom of the popover. The heat from the oven quickly solidifies the top of the popover, trapping all of the tiny air bubbles incorporated during the mixing process in the center of the popover. While the center slowly bakes, all the air bubbles coalesce into one giant air bubble, causing the center of the popover to expand. This is how they earned their name. The expansion of the air bubble in their center literally causes them to "popover" the top of the muffin tin. They start out as a runny batter and end up colossal and delicious.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin tin or popover tin with cooking spray. When the oven is heated, place the greased tin in the oven to preheat. It only needs to be in there for 5 minutes prior to baking.

In your microwave, melt butter and warm milk simultaneously. Stir.

Crack both eggs into the blender, blending until the eggs turn yellow and frothy.

With the blender running, pour a small, steady stream of the hot milk, butter mixture into the beaten eggs. 

Turn blender off and add flour and salt. Pulse to combine, scraping the sides of the blender and pulsing again to make sure all the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. If adding herbs or cheese, do this on this step, adding with the flour and salt.

Remove heated tin from the oven. Fill each slot 3/4 way full with batter. Return filled tin to the oven and bake for 35 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN during baking. 

If you have a window in your oven door, you can keep track of the progress of your popovers. 10 minutes into baking, they look like this. A few minutes later.......

they'll look like this! When they stop expanding, they are NOT done baking. When the outside is golden brown, they are still not done baking. Removing the popovers from the oven before the 35 minutes are up results in deflated popovers. 

Remove from the oven and let cool for a minute or two. The popovers are best served warm on the day they are baked.

No Fail Popovers 

recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

1 cup milk, warmed
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt 
1 Tbsp of parmesean cheese or chopped fresh herbs, if desired. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin or popover tin with cooking spray. Preheat tin in the heated oven while preparing popover batter (about 5 minutes).

In a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup or bowl, heat milk and melt butter. Stir. Set aside.

Mix eggs in blender until yellow and frothy. With the blender running, add the heated milk, butter mixture to the eggs in a thin, steady stream. Turn off the blender and add flour, salt, and cheese and herbs if desired. Pulse until batter is smooth, scraping the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula and pulsing a few times more to ensure the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.

Remove hot muffin or popover tin from oven and fill each compartment 3/4 way full. Return filled tin to oven and bake for 35 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR DURING BAKING. The popovers are done when golden brown and crisp on the outside. Serve warm.

Cheddar Chive Biscuits

Both sides of my family have roots in Kentucky, so biscuits were just one of those ever-present foods growing up in my house. I first fell in love with them when I was served biscuits slathered in my mom's sausage gravy for breakfast. Since then, I've had a weakness for this southern staple. I love how you can flavor a biscuit with pretty much anything-herbs, black pepper, cheese, cheese, cheese!!-and end up with a fluffy, buttery final product. Charles Schultz of Peanuts fame said "Happiness is a warm puppy." For this foodie, happiness is a warm biscuit!

Following my family's traditions, my biscuits MUST include tangy, thick buttermilk and must be baked in a cast iron pan. If you don't have a cast iron pan, these can be baked on a parchment or silpat lined sheet pan. If you don't have a cast iron pan and want the circular look of biscuits baked in a cast iron pan, a pie tin will do the trick!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly butter a cast iron pan or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sugar together. Add the COLD, cubed butter. The colder the butter, the flakier and fluffier the biscuit.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the  mixture looks like....

This! The butter is the size of peas and the mixture has a coarse sand texture.

Stir in chives and 5 Tbsp cheese. (If you don't feel like using your knife, it's very easy to snip your chives into small pieces with kitchen scissors.) Make a well in the center of the dry ingredient butter mixture. This ensures even mixing of the dry and wet ingredients.

Pour the buttermilk into the center well in the dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together. The dough should be slightly sticky. 

Turn the biscuit dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. (No need to roll out the dough! Isn't that great??)

Using a lightly floured biscuit cutter, cut the dough, gathering and re-shaping the scraps to get as many biscuits as possible.

Place biscuits in cast iron pan (or on baking sheet) and brush tops with buttermilk. Top with remaining cheese. Bake in oven for 20 minutes until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown. 

 

Serve immediately. This recipe yields 16 biscuits if using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. 

Cheddar Chive Biscuits

recipe by Sweet & Savory

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1/2 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup cheddar cheese,divided
3/4 cup buttermilk, plus extra for brushing

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter a large cast iron pan or line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sugar until combined. Cut in cold, cubed butter with a pastry blender until butter is the size of peas and mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir in 5 Tbsp cheese and chopped chives.

Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour in buttermilk and stir until the dough comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick.

Using a lightly floured biscuit cutter, cut as many biscuits as possible, gathering and re-shaping the scraps to cut more biscuits. Place biscuits into cast iron pan or baking sheet. (if you are baking them on a baking sheet, evenly space them leaving 2 inches between each biscuit.) Brush the tops with more buttermilk and top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.