Sourdough Popovers Recipe

These quick and easy sourdough popovers can be made using sourdough discard or active starter. They are a hearty, warm snack served with butter or can be used as side dish alongside roast meats, casseroles and soups.

Course Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American, English

Keyword Sourdough Discard

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings Popovers

Calories 111kcal

Equipment

Muffin Tin or Popover Tin (see notes for details)

Ingredients

50 g Vegetable Oil (olive oil, grape seed oil etc)
3 Eggs
200 g Milk (37C - slightly warm)
60 g All Purpose Flour
150 g Sourdough Starter (or discard but not old discard)
2 g Salt (a good pinch)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450F/230C (I'm using a fan forced oven for these sourdough popovers).
Add a little vegetable oil to each muffin hole or popover cup. Make sure the bottom of each hole is covered in oil. Place the pan into the oven. The oil in the ingredient list is only for the muffin holes - none of the oil goes in the actual popover batter.
I like to sit my muffin tin in a roasting pan because it makes it easier to remove it from the oven.
See recipe notes for alternatives to using oil.
Add all of the ingredients (except the oil) to large mixing bowl and whisk until everything is well combined. It's fine if there are a few lumps. It should be the consistency of a thin pancake batter.
When the oven is at temperature and the oil in the muffin pans is hot, remove the pan from the oven (be really careful as the oil is super hot). Carefully pour some of the mixture into each muffin hole until they're all ¾ full.
Return the muffin pan to the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes at 446F/230C.
After 15 minutes, turn the oven down to 410F/210C and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the sourdough popovers are sufficiently browned.

Notes

Which Pan to Use?

I always make my popovers in a basic 6 cup muffin pan. You can use a purpose made popover tin in you prefer. I have never had an issue using a muffin tin, only that they are a little wider than a traditional popover tin.

Tips for the Best Sourdough Popovers

This is such a simple recipe, with so few ingredients, that everything needs to be done well to get the best result. Here are my best tips for getting light, fluffy sourdough popovers every single time!

Make sure all the ingredients aren't cold. You want room temperature eggs and slightly warm milk (I measure the milk and leave it sitting on the counter for a bit before I make these. If it's still cold, a few seconds in the microwave does the trick or you could warm it through in a small saucepan).

Use all purpose flour rather than bread flour to ensure you get the best rise.

Don't worry if your sourdough popover batter has small lumps in it. You don't want to mix it too much or you will get flat popovers.

Don't open the oven door while the popovers are cooking. This will cause them to deflate.

If you'd prefer not to use liquid oil in the oven - or you're baking these sourdough discard popovers with kids, it's fine to pop the popover pans into the oven to heat up and then carefully spray the hot pan with non-stick pan spray or brush with melted butter right before you pour the mixture in.

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