Vintage popovers recipe from 1900’s recipe box

I opened the old recipe box again and was so excited to find a popover recipe. I have always heard how difficult making popovers was, but my Great Grandmother’s recipe did not fit into that category.  I believe I may have found The Best Popover Recipe. I have made these babies several times and not only are they incredibly easy, they turn out every single time.

So what is a popover? In case you are curious, a popover is a light hollow roll made from a thin egg batter.  They remind me of German pancakes. They are crispy on the outside, but soft and dense in the inside. They have a buttery flavor and are best served hot from the oven. I like to spread a little jam on mine but the flavoring options are endless.

This recipe uses simple ingredients that are always in my kitchen. Eggs, milk, flour, salt and butter. The only thing that I didn’t have and had to borrow was a popover pan. They look like this.

We had to return the pan after having it for 3 weeks, and I am missing it already. These pans have deep, tapered cups set apart to promote proper air circulation and efficient baking.  I bet they have these pans at places like Walmart.  I heard you can try making them in muffin tins and that it will work, just not as good, but I haven’t actually tried doing it that way myself.

Okay, enough chit chat, you ready to find out how to make the best popover recipe in your life?

1900’s Vintage Popovers Recipe

First you will want to place your popover pan on the oven rack on the lowest position. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees with popover pan in oven.

Next you will make the popover batter. Mix 2 eggs, 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, dash of salt, and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Beat with hand mixer or whisk, and mix until the batter is smooth and has little air bubbles on the surface.

Once oven is preheated, pull out popover pan and coat with cooking spray. Add the batter into the hot pan about 3/4 full. Put pan back  in oven and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes. Take pan out of oven, and take a second or two to swoon over the beauty of these popovers. They are so pretty!

Popovers lose that crunchy outer shell if they sit in the pan too long so stop staring at the beauty and make sure to dump them out onto a cooling rack right away. Then poke a hole in the bottom or side of each popover with a small knife to let the steam escape. Serve immediately. They are best right out of the oven. Like I said earlier, I like it best with jam. Mmmmm… so good!

This recipe only made 4 popovers…. super annoying since a popover pan has 6 cups. I fixed this problem by tripling the recipe and making 2 batches and it worked out perfectly. Tripling the batter made the perfect amount for 12 popovers. Problem solved.

I hope you try to make a batch of my Great Grandmother’s popovers, especially if you have never tried a popover before.  I have added the recipe below. Happy baking!

Vintage popovers recipe from 1900's recipe box

1900’s Vintage Popovers have simple ingredients and easy to make!

Print Pin Rate

Course: bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy Popover recipe, Popover Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 208kcal

Author: Karrie

Equipment

• Popover Pan

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp melted butter

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees with popover pan in oven.
• Beat eggs, add milk together. Add in melted butter.
• Sift flour and salt together and add it to the wet ingredients. Beat until smooth.
• Once oven is pre-heated, remove hot pan from oven, grease popover pan or muffin tins with cooking spray, and fill 2/3 full.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Notes

Everything needs to be room temperature - eggs and milk! Our reader Heather says that it is actually best to leave eggs out overnight to come to room temp then use them.

Use muffin tins if you don't have a popover pan. Julia shares that she bakes popovers in small pyrex glass dishes coated with shortening and hot from the oven before adding the popover mixture.  Miarta tells us that she uses small flower pots that have been cleaned and greased.

Reader Karen suggests to check after 20 minutes because some bake quicker than others.

Optional ingredients to add to the batter: chopped meat, Dijon mustard, cheese, fresh ground pepper.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 208kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 229mg | Potassium: 144mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 306IU | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @happymoneysaver or tag #happymoneysaver!