Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (2024)

Jump to Recipe

Using discard and a few simple ingredients, these sourdough popovers are a wonderfully comforting treat! With a soft interior and the slightest tang, all you need is a little butter on your hot popovers to make the perfect winter day snack!

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (1)

I am always on the hunt for more great recipes to utilize my discard. I’d much rather make something for my family than throw it out.

And, lately, these popovers are quickly becoming one of my go-to recipes to use up my sourdough starter discard.

These are especially enjoyable on these cloudy, cold February days here at the Farmhouse. There is seriously nothing like a baked treat fresh out of the oven to warm you right up!

This sourdough popover recipe is super simple, using ingredients you probably already have on hand. Plus, there is no kneading or proofing. Simply mix the batter, add it to the popover tin, bake, and enjoy!

What are popovers?

Popovers are similar to Yorkshire pudding, a popular side dish in Great Britain.

Made with eggs, milk, and flour, this super simple batter rises and literally pops over while baking to create a soft, airy bread.

The secret to a good popover is heat. As you will notice, there is not any baking powder or baking soda in this discard recipe. It is actually the steam created by the liquid in the batter that makes them rise.

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (2)

Why you’ll love this recipe:

Simple and quick: Made of pantry staples, these come together in no time, and there is no proofing required.

Delicious: These are so comforting and yummy!

A great way to use discard: I hate any food waste, and that includes throwing out my discard. This is a perfect way to easily use the discard up!

Tips for making the perfect sourdough popovers:

  • Don’t over mix! This can cause the final product to be tough.
  • The batter is pretty thin, similar to pancake batter
  • Don’t fill the tins all the way up with dough if using a popover pan.
  • Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature before starting the dough. Popovers rise and popover because of the steam created by the liquid. With cold ingredients, your popover may fall a bit flat.
  • I found it is helpful to have a hot pan. Preheat the popover pan before adding your ingredients. Heat is your friend. These are basically like a puff pancake in muffin form, so they deflate quickly after baking, but are still so delicious.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

FAQ:

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (3)

What makes popovers not rise?

The secret to popovers is all about the heat! Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing up your batter. It also helps to warm up your popover pan in the oven before filling it.

What is the best flour to use for popovers?

I personally use all purpose flour, and it works great!

Can I use a regular muffin pan instead of a popover pan?

Yes! You will get a bit of a different shape, but it is possible. When using a muffin tin, you’ll want to fill the batter to the top.

Can you long ferment sourdough popovers?

I tried long fermenting these, and it failed. I believe the hydrated flour makes it too dense to rise and pop over properly.

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (4)

Ingredients:

Milk: Make sure it is at room temperature. This is critical to how well your popovers will rise in the oven.

Eggs: Your eggs should also be at room temperature.

Sourdough starter: You can use a fed starter or discard for this recipe.

Salt

Flour: I use all purpose flour for this recipe.

Large Bowl

Popover Pan

Danish Dough Hook or Whisk

How to make Sourdough Popovers

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (5)

Preheat your oven and popover pan

Preheat your oven to 450°F. I found it is helpful to preheat the popover pan as well! You can stick it in the oven while it is preheating.

For this recipe, Heat is your friend. These are basically like a puff pancake in muffin form, so they deflate quickly after baking, but are still so delicious.

Mix your ingredients

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (6)

Before you mix your ingredients, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature first – this is key for a good rise.

Mix together the room temperature eggs, sourdough starter, salt, and room temperature milk.

Mix the flour in gently with a whisk or danish dough hook.

Bake!

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (7)

If you preheated your popover pan, carefully remove it from the hot oven.

You can either spray it with nonstick spray or use a little coconut oil or butter so the batter doesn’t stick.

Add the popover batter to the pan, but make sure not to fill all the way up. Leave room for them to pop up!

Place it back on the oven rack. Bake at 450°F for 20 minutes. Then, reduce heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Storage

You can keep your popovers for few days, just make sure to store them in an air-tight container. We like to reheat our leftover popovers!

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (8)

The best toppings for fresh sourdough popovers:

Sourdough popovers are best enjoyed warm – ideally fresh from the oven.

We like to enjoy popovers at the farmhouse with a little bit of honey cinnamon butter, homemade herb butter, or strawberry jam.

More sourdough discard recipes:

  • Sourdough Discard Crackers
  • Sourdough Discard Focaccia
  • The Easiest No Knead Sourdough Discard Bread
  • The Easiest Sourdough Discard Pizza Crust Recipe
  • Easy Sourdough Waffle Recipe

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars!

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (9)

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe

These sourdough popovers are a wonderfully comforting treat! Light, fluffy, and slightly tangy from the sourdough starter. It's a great way to use up extra sourdough discard.

4.48 from 23 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Author: Lisa Bass

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk room temp
  • 3 large eggs room temp
  • 1/2 cup sourdough starter, fed or discard
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all purpose flour

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 450°F. I found it is helpful to preheat the popover tin as well! You can stick it in the oven while it is preheating.

  • Before you mix your ingredients, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature first – this is key for a good rise.

  • Mix together the room temperature eggs, sourdough starter, salt, and room temperature milk.

  • Mix the flourin gently with a whisk or danish dough hook.

  • Pour batter into the popover tins, but make sure not to fill all the way up. Leave room for them to pop up!

  • Bake at 450°F for 20 minutes. Then, reduce heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Notes

  • The batter is pretty thin, similar to pancake batter.
  • Don’t over mix! It will make these tough.
  • It’s critical your ingredients are at room temperature. Heat is your friend in this recipe!

Nutrition

Calories: 155kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 439mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 201IU | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1mg

Easy Sourdough Popovers Recipe (2024)

FAQs

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.

What is the best flour to use for popovers? ›

Seeking Optimal Lift and Crispness

Not only were popovers made with bread flour about 30 percent taller than those made with all-purpose flour, but their higher walls were also thinner, making them a bit more crisp, and that crispness held up as they cooled. Bread flour was in. Next up: the milk.

Why aren t my popovers airy? ›

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.

What is the secret to sourdough? ›

The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

Should popover batter rest overnight? ›

Let the Batter Rest

3) Allow the batter to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking or, preferably. cover and refrigerate it for 24 up to 48 hours. Allow it to come to room temperature.

Is it necessary to poke the popover when it comes out of the oven? ›

Remove from oven:

Popovers lose their crunch if they linger in the pan, so turn them out on a wire rack immediately and poke a small opening in the side of each with a paring knife to let the steam escape. Serve right away.

What are the biggest causes of popover failures? ›

Preheating your oven to the correct temperature is probably the most important thing you can do to ensure popover success. The hotter your oven, the higher your popovers will rise. Which makes sense: the faster liquid in the batter turns into steam, the more chance your popover has to expand before its crust sets.

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.

Why are my popovers so 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.

Should popover pans be greased? ›

A popover pan should be greased. I prefer to use melted butter, but oil or nonstick spray would work too. Greasing the pan ensures that the finished popovers don't stick and promotes browning on the exterior of the popover. After you've greased your pan, place it into the oven while it preheats.

Should popover batter be lumpy? ›

The Key to Light, Flakey Popovers

Similar to pancakes, it's fine to see some lumps in the popover batter before pouring them into the baking pan. If you over-mix, then your popovers won't rise properly, or will fall.

Should you preheat a popover pan? ›

The oven and pan needs to be VERY hot. Be sure to preheat the popover pan when you preheat the oven. You'll need to spray the pan very generously as well. The batter should sizzle when you pour it into the pan.

What not to do with sourdough? ›

Here are the big errors to avoid when working with sourdough.
  1. You Bake Too Soon. ...
  2. You Use Unfiltered Tap Water. ...
  3. You're Impatient. ...
  4. You Don't Let Gluten Develop Properly. ...
  5. You Don't Let the Bread Proof Long Enough. ...
  6. You Don't Score the Surface of the Bread Properly. ...
  7. The Baking Time Is Too Short. ...
  8. The Bread Doesn't Rest Long Enough.
Apr 1, 2022

What is the secret to fluffy sourdough? ›

Keeping the lid on for the first part of baking allows steam to expand between the gluten fibers to rise the bread and create a fluffy loaf. Step 4: Remove the lid and bake for an additional 12-14 minutes or until the crust is crispy and golden brown. Once you take the lid off, the bread likely won't rise anymore.

How do you increase sourdough flavor? ›

Generally a more mature and well established starter will produce a more flavorful, sour loaf. Hydration of the Dough - this affects how long your dough will take to ferment. A slightly lower hydration will take longer to ferment than a higher hydration loaf, leading to a bigger depth of flavor and sourness.

What are two reasons for 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

How to prevent popover 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.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Greg O'Connell

Last Updated:

Views: 5763

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (62 voted)

Reviews: 93% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Greg O'Connell

Birthday: 1992-01-10

Address: Suite 517 2436 Jefferey Pass, Shanitaside, UT 27519

Phone: +2614651609714

Job: Education Developer

Hobby: Cooking, Gambling, Pottery, Shooting, Baseball, Singing, Snowboarding

Introduction: My name is Greg O'Connell, I am a delightful, colorful, talented, kind, lively, modern, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.