4Tablespoonspan drippings, or 4 tablespoons of vegetable oilreserved from the beef roast
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Place a sheet pan below the rack you're using for the Yorkies to catch any overflow. Place the eggs, milk, flour, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend on high until the mixture is combined and resembles heavy cream.
4 large eggs, 3¼ cups whole milk, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Pour a bit of beef drippings or vegetable oil into each popover cup, just enough to cover the bottom. Heat in oven for 2 minutes. Then, quickly and carefully pour the batter into the preheated cups, filling each about halfway.
4 Tablespoons pan drippings, or 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Put directly in the oven and do not open the door; keep the light on to watch what's going on in there! If you open the door, the puddings will deflate. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 30 minutes (the Yorkies will puff to the highest height, but not until the last 10 minutes of cooking time). Serve immediately.
Notes
I double the batter (which can be made several hours in advance) and get ready to stick a second batch in the oven just as we sit down to dinner with the first batch!
Use a muffin tin. If you don't have a popover tin, you can use a muffin tin to bake this recipe.
Use vegetable oil. If you don't have pan drippings from beef, you can use vegetable oil or another fat of your choice to fill the puddings with. But, pan drippings are the best!
Room temperature batter is best. The highest, puffiest popovers will come from room temperature batter. Trust me!
Preheat the greased pan. The reason you preheat the pan before adding the filling is that when the batter hits, it immediately begins to rise, even though it isn't visible. This will make the popovers super fluffy.
Double the batter to make more. Trust me, you'll want to. They're that good!
Make one large Yorkshire pudding by baking in a 9 by 13-inch pan. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, add 2 Tablespoons beef fat or vegetable oil to the bottom of the pan, then pour in the batter. Bake according to directions.