My understanding of the use and history of Yorkshire Puddings in England is primitive, but I do know that they're generally served savory, often used to mop up gravy, and frequently made with beef drippings. All of that sounds phenomenal, and my family does eat them that way as well. But I've also discovered that popovers make for a really fun Christmas Eve breakfast option. To make them more hearty, we add the sausage and often some cheese on top. We usually make a double batch because they completely fly off the counter.
Notes
- What Kind of Cream?: Any cream will do. Heavy cream, double cream, and heavy whipping cream are all great options. You can also omit the cream and just substitute regular milk instead.
- No Sausage Please: This recipe is a great standard recipe for regular popovers as well. Serve them in place of biscuits or rolls as a side at the dinner table, and listen to the compliments roll in.
- Myths and Legends: You'll often run into a lot of frippery regarding the "right" way to make popovers. You'll see a lot of people saying things like "you must preheat the pan until it's scorching hot; you must preheat the fat in the cups of the pan as well; you must blend the batter; you can't open the oven at all while baking; the batter must be cold; etc etc." Luckily, most of these are just fine to eschew. They may affect your popovers in a small way, but not enough to where you will have a total failure on your hands. The only myth about popovers that I find to be absolutely true is that you must rest the dough. When I am in a rush and only rest the dough for 10 minutes instead of 30, or an hour, or overnight...I get lame pudds. They're fine, but they don't bake up nice and tall, and it also affects the cooking time and overall texture. So DO rest your batter for as long as you can. You'll be glad you did.
Storage
You can store these in an airtight container or ziplock in the fridge for 4-5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months for use later. Or just leave them on the counter and they'll magically disappear, no storage needed.
FAQ
No, a muffin tin works just fine as well. You'll just end up with more, but smaller popovers. However, with a muffin pan, you will want to reduce the amount of batter you put into the cups. I recommend only filling ⅓ of the way up in each cup. You will also likely need to reduce your baking time. I recommend checking on them at the 15 minute mark and checking to make sure the sides and bottoms are not cooking too quickly.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Grace Says:
A great way to cover batter, bread dough, or other things that need to rest or rise is to use a plastic shower cap. Simply stretch it over the top of your bowl. You can buy them in bulk, re-use them endlessly, and you don't have to waste plastic wrap.
📖 Recipe
Sausage Popovers/Yorkshire Puddings
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup heavy cream (can substitute regular milk)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup bacon grease, lard, or butter
- ½ lb ground breakfast sausage
- 2 Tbl flour (to coat sausage)
Instructions
- Brown the sausage, and set aside to cool.
- Whisk the milk, cream, eggs, flour, and salt together until completely smooth. You can also run it through a blender for 30 seconds-1 minute. Cover and allow the mixture to rest in the refrigerator for 1-12 hours. Overnight in the fridge is fine.
- Preheat the oven to 450℉. Add 1t lard, bacon grease, or butter to each of the cups of your popover or muffin pan. Then pour in your batter until it's about ½ full.
- Toss the sausage in the 2 Tbl flour to coat them. This keeps the sausage from sinking to the bottom. Then put 1 Tbl of the sausage on top of the batter in each cup.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until they have risen drastically and are browned to your liking. Serve hot or cooled.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!