These Cinnamon Sugar Popovers are a delicious treat, perfect for brunch or just about any occasion! You only need a few basic ingredients to make them, and you can use a muffin tin instead of a popover pan if you don't have one.
Popovers are essentially the Americanized version of a British Yorkshire pudding, which is traditionally made with beef drippings. Popovers became a popular side dish for English settlers, especially in Maine, where the Jordan Pond house has been serving popovers since the late 19th century.
What makes popovers so great is the simplicity of the batter: it just takes eggs, butter, milk, salt and flour. As the liquid in the batter evaporates, it creates air bubbles that cause a dramatic natural leavening, causing them to "pop over" the sides of their pan! This results in a slightly crispy exterior and a soft, custardy interior. If I could have something for breakfast every day, popovers would be my choice!
If you're looking for some other breakfasts to cook for a crowd, check out our Sheet Pan Frittata, Waffle Brunch Board or Winter Fruit Salad.
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Cinnamon Sugar Popover Ingredients
For the Popovers
- All-purpose flour: Regular all-purpose flour is all you need.
- Milk: We used whole milk, but it will also work with a lower-fat variety. Just make sure you've allowed to milk to sit out to reach room temperature. This will help the liquid in the batter evaporate faster, thus providing more "pop."
- Eggs: Like the milk, make sure these are at room temperature.
- Butter: We used unsalted - this will be melted before being added to the batter.
- Salt: A touch of salt helps balance out the flavor.
For the Cinnamon Sugar
- Granulated sugar: We used regular white sugar, but brown sugar would also be delicious.
- Cinnamon: A 1:4 ratio of cinnamon to sugar is the ideal ratio to coat these popovers.
- Butter: You'll need a bit of melted butter to coat the popovers. A little goes a long way, and too much butter will just make the sugar look soggy.
How to Make this Cinnamon Sugar Popovers Recipe
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 400˚F / 205˚C. Add flour, room temperature milk, room temperature eggs, melted butter, and salt to a blender, and blend until combined, scraping down the sides if the flour clumps to the sides of the blender.
STEP 2: Lightly grease popover pan with a high-heat oil. Place popover pan or muffin tin into the oven for 5-10 minutes so that it's preheated. Carefully remove it from the oven, then pour popover batter until it reaches the halfway point of each individual popover slot.
STEP 3: Place pan in the oven, making sure there isn't a top rack that's too close to the top of the pan, as these will expand up to 3 inches above the height of the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the tops of each popover are golden brown. Some spots where the popovers are the tallest may look a touch overdone.
STEP 4: Remove the popovers from the pan and let them cool slightly. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and melt your butter. Brush each popover with a small amount of butter, then roll in, and sprinkle over, cinnamon sugar mixture until coated.
Substitutions and Variations
- No sugar: If you don't want to add the cinnamon sugar, these are delicious plain!
- Dairy free: We haven't tested it, but these should work with a nondairy milk and butter. There's no way to substitute out the eggs, though.
- Muffin tin: If you don't have a popover pan, you can also make these in a muffin tin, just make sure to only fill the batter up halfway in each muffin slot.
What to Serve with Cinnamon Sugar Popovers
These are amazing on their own, but they're also great with a little extra butter, or a jam like this Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (No Pectin). If you have some on hand, apple butter is also an amazing accompaniment.
Equipment
If you want these popovers to be authentic, you'll need a popover pan. This is the pan we use, we've had it for years and it's still going strong.
Storage
If we're being honest, these aren't going to last longer than 15 minutes. But if you do have leftovers, store the popovers in an airtight container, and enjoy within 2-3 days.
You can also freeze these in an airtight container and enjoy within 3 to 6 months. To reheat, place them back in the popover pan and cook in a 350˚F until warmed through, about 10 minutes.
Tips and FAQ
Make sure milk and eggs are at room temperature
Since this recipe relies on steam to create the rise that creates the trademark popover shape, we want to do everything in our power to make sure the liquid in our batter turns to steam as quickly as possible. Making sure the eggs and milk are room temperature will help this process out immensely.
More tips
- Make-ahead: You can make the batter the day/evening before baking these. Keep it in the refrigerator, then let it come to room temperature before baking.
- Preheat the popover pan: Just like making sure the eggs and butter are at room temperature, preheating the popover pan will help create more early steam!
- Make sure there's space above the popover pan. The popover pan is pretty tall, and the popovers themselves will pop over anywhere from 1-3 inches above the pan, so make sure there isn't another rack in your oven that the popovers will rise into.
- Grease the popover pan: Most popover pans are nonstick, but we don't like taking the risk of having them get stuck. We coat a paper towel with a little bit of olive oil and run it along the inside of each popover cup before preheating the pan in the oven.
- Some recipes call for cutting a slit in the side of the popovers once they're out of the oven, we've never done this and don't think it's necessary.
The key to popovers is making sure all of your ingredients are room temperature, and that you preheat your pan! This will help to make sure your popovers get the signature "pop" that you want.
Basically, yes. Yorkshire puddings are the original, and popovers are an Americanized Yorkshire pudding that uses butter instead of beef drippings. Yorkshire puddings are typically served alongside a Sunday roast, whereas popovers are more commonly paired with sweet things, like jams and butters.
Popovers are great plain, with butter or apple butter, or alongside strawberry jam.
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📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Sugar Popovers
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 standard popovers
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These Cinnamon Sugar Popovers are a delicious treat, perfect for brunch or just about any occasion! You only need a few basic ingredients to make them, and you can use a muffin tin instead of a popover pan if you don't have one.
Ingredients
Popovers
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Equipment:
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400˚F / 205˚C. If you're using a standard popover tin, make sure the oven racks are far apart, as these will expand about 3 inches above the top of the popover tin.
- Add flour, milk, eggs, melted butter and salt to a blender, and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides if the flour clumps to the sides of the blender. Let the batter sit for 15 minutes at room temperature.
- Lightly grease your popover pan with a high-heat oil. Place popover pan or muffin tin into the oven for 5-10 minutes to preheat. Carefully remove the pan from the oven, then fill each tin halfway with batter.
- Immediately return the popovers to the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the tops of each popover are golden brown. Do NOT open the oven door while the popovers are baking.
- While the popovers are baking, mix together the cinnamon and sugar.
- Remove the popovers from the pan and let them cool slightly. Brush each popover with melted butter (you won't need much – it should be a very thin coating), then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture until coated. Enjoy warm.
Notes
If you don't have a popover pan, you can use a muffin tin instead! Just make sure not to fill past the halfway point of each muffin tin, and make sure the tin is well greased. Nonstick is best here.
Storage: store the popovers in an airtight container, and enjoy within 2-3 days.
You can also freeze these in an airtight container and enjoy within 3 to 6 months. To reheat, place them back in the popover pan and cook in a 350˚F until warmed through, about 10 minutes.
Make-ahead: You can make the batter the day/evening before baking these. Keep it in the refrigerator, then let it come to room temperature before baking.
Preheat the popover pan: Just like making sure the eggs and butter are at room temperature, preheating the popover pan will help create more early steam!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 popover
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 10.5 g
- Sodium: 145.6 mg
- Fat: 7.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.4 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 5.7 g
BERNADETTE says
Ber
Okisnoooy says
Super easy. I was a skeptical to use blender but it worked out well. I used the cupcake tins and made 9. It didn’t pop like on picture since it was smaller. However, texture and fluffiness were still there. I loved it so much! I did half cinnamon sugar and the other half with kinako sugar (soybean powder) for Asian twist!!!
Katherine KR says
This is the BEST and really TASTY popovers that i ever made. Instructions are easy to follow. I made only 6 (i still have leftover batter) as it was after 9 pm when i remembered to make them (i noticed the eggs and milk that i left on the kitchen counter for room temperature). The light coat of melter butter and cinnamon and sugar made them look so pretty and taste so delightful. They were consumed pretty much as soon as they were rolled with cinnamon sugar. I didn’t have a chance to take a photo. They are DELICIOUS! Light and fluffy!