Julia Child's Popovers A Classic Recipe Made Easy (2024)

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Popovers are a delightful treat, crispy on the outside and filled with air on the inside. Learn to make them at home. Julia Child recipe | classic cooking | popovers

Homemade Popovers based on Julia Child's classic recipe.

Julia Child's Popovers A Classic Recipe Made Easy (1)

I still remember the first time I had a popover at my mother's suggestion. The waiter brought me this giant muffin looking thing that was almost empty inside with a crust that was both crunchy and custard-y at the same time.

I was hooked.

I checked out a copy of Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers (affiliate link) from the library and saw at least 10 recipes I wanted to make. But, I started with this one because the popover pan my mother had given me was buried in the back of the cabinet crying from neglect.

Yes, I have popover pan.

No, you do not need one.

Custard cups or muffin pans will work fine if you follow the directions below.

Tips for Making Julia Child's Popovers

There is no denying popovers can be tricky, I have failed more than once, especially when I haven't made them in awhile.

But, here are a few tips to help you achieve that beautiful pop with the empty middle:

  • have the eggs and milk at room temperature
  • do not overfill the cups
  • if using a muffin pan leave every other one empty
  • oven rack must be on the lowest possible position
  • slice with a sharp knife immediately after removing from the oven (Julia doesn't mention this, but....)

And remember, even if they aren't perfect, they are still delicious.

Julia Child's Popovers A Classic Recipe Made Easy (2)

Recipe

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole or 2% milk (room temperature)
  • 3 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Move the oven rack to the lowest possible position. Preheat oven to 425° F. Liberally grease the popover pan, custard cups or every other cup of a muffin pan with butter or cooking spray.

  • Be sure to have milk and eggs at room temperature before proceeding. Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. No lumps!

  • For the popover pan or custard cups: pour ⅓ cup batter in each.

  • For the muffin pan: pour ¼ cup of batter into every other cup.

  • Bake for 25 minutes WITHOUT OPENING THE DOOR!

  • Lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 15-20 minutes (FYI, mine were done in 10 minutes, but I'm telling you what the recipe says).

  • Remove from oven and cut a slit in the top to allow the steam to escape. Serve immediately.

Notes

The right pan is critical for these. If you do not have apopover pan(affiliate link) you can use every other cup of a 12 muffin pan (you'll want two) or ¾ cup capacity custard cups on a rimmed baking sheet with plenty of room in between

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Suzy Godfrey

    I don't believe I've ever had a popover! Thanks for hosting and have a great week!

    Reply

    • Audrey

      They used to be pretty popular, hopefully they will make a comeback.

    • Audrey

      It is exciting when they turn out the way they are supposed to.

  2. Treat and Trick

    Those popovers sound easy and yummy. I want to give this a try. Thanks for hosting too...

    Reply

  3. Ellen

    I make popovers every Christmas! Putting this recipe in my holiday folder.

    Reply

  4. Amy (Savory Moments)

    I've never made or eaten popovers! They've always intrigued me though and this is a great tutorial!

    Reply

  5. Erin Vasicek

    Even though I have a popover pan I have yet to make them!

    Reply

  6. Sydney Roussel

    The Neiman Marcus store is famous for their Popovers, their recipe
    has baking powder and says to let batter rest at room temperature
    for one hour. I am going to try this recipe," for the sake of argument".
    Julia Child is seldom wrong.

    Reply

  7. Elizabeth Brett

    Thank you! I lost my Julia Child books in a move and I've been desperate for this amazing recipe!

    Reply

    • Audrey

      oh no! THE HORROR! haha! I am glad I could fill the gap somewhat.

  8. Judy Wiest

    Help.....I love popovers but for the life of me they don't rise nice and high.
    Eggs and milk are room temperature, Have tried popover pan they just get too hard with no rise. I have baked them a little slower no luck there. I have used my muffin tins every other cup still no luck. Why o why are these soo hard to make?

    Reply

    • SuperBoy

      Hello Judy. They really are not difficult. It's so few ingredients you can almost NOT go wrong.
      It's important to grease the pan you use very well (can use a spray, too)
      Maybe you want to put your pan in the oven 10 minutes before puting batter in
      Be sure you start out with 450°oven & watch them rise -/+10-15, then DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN & cut the oven temp to 350-375° for another 10-15 minutes (usually it doesn't take very long, but you will see them Browning. YOU CAN DEFINITELY DO THESE🥳

    • Audrae

      All the recipes instructions are correct. To help myself even more, I’ve picked up the following tips—I preheat the greased pan and put a drop of cold butter right before I add the batter. I also let the batter sit out at room temp for at least 15 minutes, but no longer than 1 hour. They rise nice and high! Don’t forget to immediately put them on a cooling rack and cut them open with a sharp knife. This lets steam out so they stay crisp on the outside. Try again! It is so satisfying when you finally get them right!

  9. Thomas Gould

    How many popovers does this recipe make?

    Reply

    • Audrey

      It depends on what pan you use and how much batter you put in. There should be about 2 cups of batter overall, so that's 6 in a popover pan and about 8 in a muffin pan.

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Julia Child's Popovers A Classic Recipe Made Easy (2024)

FAQs

Why aren t my popovers airy? ›

The gluten in flour (and protein from the eggs) create the structure that traps steam in rising popovers. Without this structure, steam will escape like air from a punctured balloon, and your popovers will puddle, not pop.

What makes popovers puff up? ›

The container forms the steam released in the oven heat into one giant bubble. This steam is contained with gluten from flour proteins, starch, and protein from eggs. So the popover literally 'pops' with steam, but the steam doesn't escape because the stretchy protein holds it inside the batter.

What is the English version of popovers? ›

Yorkshire Pudding/ Popovers

Yorkshire Puddings are a staple in England with a Roast Dinner. Here in the US we know them as Popovers which are the same thing as the modern Yorkshire Pudding, except using a different pan.

What is the secret to good popovers? ›

My biggest tip for creating perfect popovers is to use warm milk and room-temperature eggs with absolutely no chill on them. Do not take the milk and eggs from the fridge and use them. Cold ingredients will give you dense popovers. Warm ingredients will give you light, airy, and perfect popovers.

Should you let popover batter rest? ›

For maximum puff, we needed as thin and wet a batter as possible. We started by using low-fat milk instead of whole. We also let the batter rest for 25 minutes to give the flour time to fully hydrate.

What are two reasons for the failure of popovers to pop? ›

Until last night…
  • Preheat your popover pan.
  • NEVER open the oven door while baking.
  • Use room temperature ingredients.
  • Use the freshest eggs possible.
Jun 22, 2016

Should popover batter be cold or room temperature? ›

Make the batter in a blender; make it with a whisk. Beat till smooth and frothy; leave some lumps. Everything should be at room temperature.

What happens to an underbaked popover? ›

If your popovers lose volume when they come out of the oven, they are probably underbaked. When these airy baked goods aren't cooked enough, too much steam stays trapped inside. That moisture condenses once they're removed from the oven, causing them to collapse.

Why do popovers fail? ›

Too cold and you won't get the popovers to steam internally quickly enough. But be aware that you shouldn't make it too hot. If your milk and/or butter is hot enough to cook the eggs while mixing, the batter won't rise. Best to use all warm ingredients in the 40-50 degrees celsius (100-120 fahrenheit) range.

Is popover batter runny? ›

Popover Batter

It's a mix of flour, salt, eggs, milk and butter. You mix these ingredients together and whisk until it is well combined. You want the batter to be relatively thin and pourable.

When popovers don't pop? ›

Possible culprits:
  1. Oven is not hot enough.
  2. Tin were filled over full.
  3. The oven door was opened halfway through baking.
  4. a blender was used to mix ingredients (http://www.kingarthurflour...)
Nov 23, 2013

What country invented popovers? ›

Popovers -- being traditionally an American invention in contrast to the French crepes and British Yorkshire pudding, which is again from essentially the same batter -- have traditionally been baked in heavy cast-iron pans.

What do you eat with popovers? ›

What to Serve With Popovers. Popovers are great to have with soup, salad, or alongside roast chicken, roast beef, or just about anything you would serve with rolls. They're also fantastic as a breakfast treat, sprinkled with confectioner's sugar and served with butter and jam.

What do Americans eat popovers with? ›

(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.

Why were my popovers dense? ›

Secondly, you must make sure to preheat your oven because the hotter the oven, the higher the popovers. The most important rule, however, is the consistency of the batter. To avoid your New England-style popovers becoming dense, your batter needs to be thin.

Why were my popovers so dense? ›

Why are my popovers dense? Dense popovers (either from not rising or not getting nice hollows inside) can result from a couple things but usually it is by either not starting with room temperature eggs and milk, not preheating the popover pan, not using a quality popover tin, and/or making too thick of a batter.

How to prevent popovers from deflating? ›

But if you want the popovers to hold their shape longer without deflating and settling quite as much, bake them for an additional 5 minutes (for a total of 40 minutes) IF you can do so without them becoming too dark. This will make them a bit sturdier, and able to hold their “popped” shape a bit longer.

Why are popovers hollow inside? ›

The tall narrow cups of the popover pan force the popovers up and up, and the steam comes together to make one big bubble which remains after they've baked, giving them their characteristic hollow center.

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