Popovers with Strawberry Butter from Neiman Marcus are amazing buttery pastries that make a perfect meal starter during the holidays or anytime.
When my friends and family come over during the holiday season, there is one dish popular that is the most requested. The dish is homemade Popovers with Strawberry Butter.
I first had these amazing buttery pastries many years ago with Mr. JOC while we were still dating. Before we had our children, Mr. JOC and I enjoyed shopping at Union Square in San Francisco on weekends and stopping by The Rotunda in Neiman Marcus for lunch.
While waiting for their famous Lobster Club Sandwich, The Rotunda served a complementary popover with strawberry butter instead of bread. As I slathered strawberry butter on airy and fluffy warm popover, I fell in love with it immediately and craved more.
What Are Popovers?
They are similar to English Yorkshire puddings. In the UK, Yorkshire puddings are usually served with roast meat and gravy and are a staple of the traditional British Sunday roast.
Neiman Marcus shares this recipe in their cookbook as well as on the last page of the children’s menu in the restaurant. When I discovered I could easily make these at home, I was overjoyed.
Making Popovers at Home
Why do I personally like them so much? A couple of reasons; first they are super easy to make and secondly, I simply can’t resist tasty pastry! As I am writing this post I could already taste them again.
The best way to enjoy them is straight out of the oven. As you rip apart the crispy outer shells, warm steam escapes from the slightly doughy and soft bread-like inside. Smear on the tasty homemade strawberry butter and see it melt on the warm popovers and blends together, then take a bite. Yummy!
Popover Pans vs. Muffin Pans
You can use muffin pans by using ever other tin instead of purchasing new popover pans. However, I’ve heard from JOC readers that the result is not as good as ones made in popover pans.
I recommend these from Amazon. I know this pan only makes popovers, but trust me you will be making these over and over again. 😉
This recipe makes 12 popovers and each pan can make 6. I have 2 of these specialized pans so I can make the second batch while the first batch is cooling down.
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Popovers with Strawberry Butter
Video
Ingredients
- 3½ cups whole milk
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 6 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature)
- cooking spray
For the Strawberry Butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter (8 Tbsp; at room temperature)
- ¼ cup strawberry jam
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. For this recipe, you will need 2 popover pans. To use muffin tins instead, use every other tin so that the popovers have plenty of room to expand OR pour only half full with batter. If you want to make just 6 popovers, hover your cursor over “12“ servings and move the slide to the left to change the servings to 6.
- Place 3½ cups whole milk in a bowl (or 4-cup measuring cup) and microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until warm to the touch.
- Sift 4 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), 1½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and 1 tsp baking powder together into a large mixing bowl.
- Add 6 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until foamy and pale in color.
- Turn down the mixer to low and add the warm milk.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Turn the machine off and let the batter rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
- When it’s almost 1 hour, preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Place each of the popover pans on a baking sheet and spray the pans with cooking spray.
- Fill the popover pans three-quarters full with the batter.
- Transfer to the oven and bake on 425ºF (220ºC) for 15 minutes. Then, turn down the oven temperature to 375ºF (190ºC) and bake for 30 minutes, or until the popovers are a deep golden brown on the outside and airy on the inside.
To Make the Strawberry Butter
- While baking the popovers, make the strawberry butter. Place ½ cup unsalted butter in the stand mixer and beat on high until light and fluffy. Add ¼ cup strawberry jam and beat until well combined. To save the strawberry butter, keep it in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 2–3 days.
To Serve
- Serve the popovers warm with strawberry butter on the side.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container (or bag) and store in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Notes
Equipment
- 2 popover pans
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on November 11, 2012. Images and contents were updated on October 19, 2014.
I love tour recipes and made a few that my family and friends loves. For some reason, the batter I made was a lot thicker than yours. The ingredients says 3 1/2 cup of milk but also in the instruction section of warm up the milk posted 4 cups. So, should it be 3.5 cup or 4cups? Is that why it didn’t work? Or was I pressed the flour flat from the measuring cup also made an impact? Would love to hear your thoughts! Thavbs!
Hi Sonia, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! The milk amount should be 3.5 cups, and the instruction is to use a 4-cup measuring cup for convenience to use in the microwave.😉 So we assume that the flour was added more than you need using a measuring cup. We strongly recommend using the scale to measure the ingredients for baking recipes. We hope this helps! P.S. If you click “US Customary – Metric” at the bottom of the ingredients list, it will show you the ingredients in grams.🙂
Can i use almond milk?
Hi Alyson,
We’ve not tested with Almond milk, so we’re not sure how the outcome will be.
Please let us know how it goes!
Thank you for sharing the recipe! I only have 2% milk in my fridge, can I use it instead of the whole milk?
Hi Jolene! Sure! 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I have a question re: your Neiman-Marcus popovers. The first 6 came out tasty but the texture inside was kind of like the King’s Hawaiian bread. I put the rest of the batter, (since I only needed 6 popovers at the time) into the refrigerator. A day later, I used the remaining batter to make 6 more popovers and they came out wonderfully hollow inside, like they should be. Any idea of why the first batch weren’t hollow? Does refrigerating the batter make a difference?
Thanks.
Hi Kay! I realized I didn’t have a picture of the inside of my popovers. (Back then I didn’t think of taking pictures of “broken” food). The popovers should be hollow inside, and it shouldn’t have be the texture of Kings Hawaiian bread (I think I’m imagining the same thing – the “bread” like texture right?). I don’t know what was wrong with the first batch. I do not put in the fridge (I set aside at room temperature as Neiman-Marcus recipe says) but mine comes out hollow every time I make.
I found an interesting article when I was searching about cold vs room temp batter: https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/12/food-lab-yorkshire-pudding-popover-best-method-science.html
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the helpful article. I must say that your recipe did “pop” up beautifully and were very impressive. I will continue to make them and see if the inside “hollowness” gets to be more consistent.
Hi Nami! I was planning to make the popovers this morning but completely forgot to take the eggs out last night. Will they not pop over as well with cooler eggs? Thanks!
Hi Connie! Whenever you forget to take out the eggs, you can soak in warm (not hot) water to bring back to room temperature. You have to be careful the water is not too warm though, but this will help bring back the eggs from cold to room temp. 🙂 The eggs should be room temperature so the batter gets fluffy.
[…] Adapted from Just One Cookbook […]
Hi,
They turned out fabulous. I purchased the popover pan on your website, but purchased the 12 count one. I had quite a bit of batter leftover. I think I could make 18 popovers rather than 12. I baked the first batch of 12 and then put the leftover batter in oval shaped muffin pan. The second batch came out fine even if the batter sat out while the first batch baked. Please give me any feedback you have. Also would this work on a convection setting? Would I lower the temperature or change the cooking time? Or is baking better?
Hello Gwen! I’m so glad to hear that your popovers came out well. You can use a convection oven (just reduce 25 ºF). I have both conventional and convection, but the majority of my readers use conventional, so my instructions are always based on conventional (and I test my recipes using a conventional setting). I have some leftover batter too, as I learned not to put too much in the popover pans (I tried to finish the batter, but it’s best to follow the recipe). I also leave my leftover batter while I bake my first batch. 🙂
What is the best way to warm up leftover popovers?
Hi Gwen! I usually put in the oven at 350F to reheat and warm up. 🙂
Hi,
I am making the popovers now. The batter is resting. I’m not sure about the amount of butter for the strawberry butter. On the video it says 3/4 cup but on the printed version it says 1/2 cup.
Also, can this be made with 2% lactose free milk?
Thanks!
Hi Gwen! I have updated the recipe as my original amount of strawberry butter was a bit too much and I always have leftover. This video was created when I wrote this post for the first time, which is why the amount is different.
Original: 3/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup strawberry jam
Updated: 1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup strawberry jam
You can choose whichever you like.
Yes, you can make with 2% lactose-free milk. Taste-wise, full-fat milk is better I think. 🙂
In love with all your recipes and can’t wait to try the popover But I don’t have a stand mixer or handheld mixer. Would handheld mixer would get the same outcome? Or should I invest a stand mixer ? Thank you !
Hi Alice! Your hand mixer works perfectly. It is less powerful so it may take a bit longer time, but yes it works! 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
[…] Popover with Strawberry Butter […]
Nami, thank you so much for such a wonderful popover recipe. Made them this morning and they turned out perfect. Enjoyed them with raspberry butter and my daughter had them with Nutella. Yum!!!!
Hi York! I’m so happy to hear that! Raspberry butter…. drool….. sounds so delicious. I wish I can have some right now. 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback!
My popovers came out dense, almost like a pancake popover- it didn’t rise quite as much either…. What did I do wrong?
Hi Jace! Thank you for trying this recipe. First of all, did you measure everything correctly, use all the same ingredients (without skipping or substituting) and follow the directions? Let me know if there was any changes you made. Since I wasn’t in the kitchen with you, it’s hard to know what went wrong. This is not my recipe (as I stated in Notes), but this recipe works as I and JOC readers have made it successfully (and in my case, many times). Do you think your oven temperature is optimal and correct? Sounds like it’s undercook or the batter was not made correctly. Did you use a popover pan? Sorry I have too many questions…
OMG. I grew up on these & inherited the cast iron popover pan. We always heated it in the oven before filling so that the batter would sizzle when we poured it into the pan. I love eating them with melty butter, but adding strawberry jam makes my mouth water even more. Thank you for posting. I’m going to get out my pan & make a batch!
Hi Benni! Cast iron popover pan! WOW! Your popovers must be so delicious made in the cast iron pan! Hope you enjoy them with strawberry butter. 🙂
HI, How full do you fill the pop over pans? I just made your recipe and my popovers were huge and were still doughy inside on the top side. Your directions say to the top but the picture shows something different.
Hi Sandra! I wrote “almost” to the top, but maybe I should say 1 cm (1/3 inch?) below the top. Or I should say “3/4 full” would be better. I apologize it wasn’t clear. I’ll edit the recipe now.
Thanks Nami for the prompt reply….I pressed send without thanking you in advance 🙂 3/4 full makes total sense! Last night I bought the popover pan at W&S and will have to try this recipe again.
I also bought the mini popover pan to try….by any chance, would you have an recommendations on the baking time?
Our family of 4 lived in Hong Kong for 8 years, traveling all over Asia and now settled in Palo Alto area; close to you !
Again, thanks heaps for your help. Love seeing your yummy recipes .
SL
Hi Sandra! Oh yay! We’re close! 🙂 I’ve never seen the mini version before. I’d check on some mini popover recipes online for oven temp/baking time. You want to make sure it’ll cook through yet not overcook. Thank you for following my blog!
Can I make all twelve at the same time?
Hi Ann! Sure, as long as your oven fits and give enough space for heat to circulate (not over crowded). 🙂