Oh my! You will not be able to eat just one. These deliciously cheesy mini popovers are made with a combo of Parmesan and Roquefort cheese kissed with Italian parsley and of course – butter. I know I will be making these again and again! You can serve these as appetizers or as part of your main course – think lamb, beef, or chicken.
Tips:
Remember to whisk the ingredients instead of using a mixer or blender – the results are much better. The batter should be smooth and there may be air bubbles. These bubbles are your friends – they are what make the popovers rise. Its important to start the popovers in a very hot oven and to pre-heated your pan. This is what encourages them to puff.
You’ll see there are two baking segments – you first bake at a higher temperature and then you lower the heat – this helps them dry out and at the same time not overcook or burn the popovers. Without this important drying step, the popovers steam and collapse when removed from the oven. And that is exactly what happened to a few of mine. But it really didn’t matter – they still tasted so good. I can’t wait to try these again, using a popover pan and being real careful about not taking them out until fully dry and golden brown. After all, its the impressiveness of what a pop over does and how it looks that gives you that WOW! factor along with great taste.
On a last note – you can make these in a mini popover pan (they rise best) or a mini muffin pan (still delicious but smaller popovers) – ideally either pan should be non-stick. I only have a large popover pan so I used my mini muffin pan.
Mini Cheese Popovers
Ingredients
- Vegetable-oil nonstick cooking spray
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp sweet butter, melted
- 1/4 cup of roquefort cheese (or any blue cheese you like)
Directions
- Position oven rack in the lowest position (bottom third of the oven)
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and add the popover or muffin pan in the oven to warm for 5 minutes
- Remove from the oven and generously grease pop over or muffin pan
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, parsley, salt, pepper
- In a different bowl add parmesan cheese, milk, eggs and melted butter, mix together
- Pour the cheese/egg /milk mixture into the large flour bowl. Whisk all ingredients together, you will have a few lumps here and there
- Spoon the batter into the popover /muffin tins, leaving about a 1/4 inch from the rim
- Evenly distribute some of the roquefort cheese in the center of all of the popovers
- Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees F – and no peeking! Do not open the oven door during this time
- Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes
- Serve immediately – they are best when served warm
