Popovers
Mollie Katzen is a cookbook author and illustrator, and public speaker on the topic of linking food choices to health.
This recipe is featured in Preschoolers Serve Up Some Pleasant Surprises
The Critics Rave:
“They’re fat and puffy.” -LEE
“Yummy in my tummy! So good, I may eat it all up! That’s how good it is.” – SARA
“This is so good, I’m going to invite you to my next birthday, but I’m not done eating it yet.” -JESSICA
“When you put them in the oven, they grow up.” – SAMMY
- Servings 1 dozen
Ingredients
- About 30 ml *(2 tablespoons) butter
- 120 grams (1 cup) flour
- 2 eggs
- 1.3 ml (¼ teaspoon) salt
- 237 ml (1 cup) milk
- Extra butter, jam, or maple syrup for the popovers
Cooking Hints and Safety Tips
• The amount of butter is approximate. Let your child cut three pats of butter while you count (or vice versa). Melting it in the microwave is fast and easy. Children love to “paint” the muffin cups with melted butter and may linger over this task for a long time.
• A simple way for young kid to crack eggs is to break them on the bottom of a big bowl and let the egg run out into the bowl. It’s easier to get shells out of the egg than to get egg off the table.
• An easy way to level off flour is to use a ruler. Kids love doing this.
• To help your child measure the milk, place a 237 ml (1 cup) measure in a pie pan. Put the milk in a small pitcher and let your youngster pour it into the cup. Any spill will be contained in the pie pan.
• Use a bowl that is big enough for enthusiastic mixing. You can help by holding it steady.
• Putting anything in or taking anything out of an oven is an adult job!
• When the popovers are ready to be pricked with a fork, have your child wear an oven mitt to protect from the hot steam that may escape.
*Metric conversions by The Cook’s Cook
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F), and melt butter.
2. Brush the insides of 12 muffin cups with melted butter.
3. Break egg into the mixing bowl.
4. Add milk and beat well.
5. Add flour and salt and whisk until reasonably well blended — it doesn’t have to be perfect.
6. Use a 59 ml (¼ cup) measure with a handle to pour batter into each muffin cup. They should be one-half to two-thirds full.
7. Bake 30 minutes without opening the oven.
8. Remove muffin from the pan and prick with a fork to let the steam escape. Spread with butter and/or jam, and eat! (They all taste great dipped in maple syrup. They’re not bad plain, either.)
To the Grown-ups:
The only difficult thing for small children about making popover is waiting for them to come out of the oven. The batter is simple and light — easy for small arms to stir. Once in the oven, this wimpy-looking batter gets transformed into puffy little breads. Children are amazed by this magic! This is chemistry at its most enjoyable. They’ll want to make these again and again.
Tools: Dinner knife for slicing butter; pan or bowl for melting butter; pastry brush; muffin pan (1 dozen capacity); 237 ml (l-cup) measure; ruler; small pitcher; pie pan; mixing bowl; measuring spoons; whisk; 59 ml (1/4-cup) measure with a handle; timer; the smallest oven mitt you can find; fork; plates.
Mollie Katzen
Mollie Katzen, with over six million books in print, is an inductee of the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame. Best known as the author-illustrator of the vegetarian classics Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Ms. Katzen’s other books include the best-selling children’s trilogy Pretend Soup, Honest Pretzels, and Salad People. Ms. Katzen has co-authored Eat, Drink, & Weigh Less with Walter Willett, MD and is the author of The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2013).
Photo credit: Lisa Keating
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