Bake

Chocolate Popovers

by:
July 24, 2017
4
5 Ratings
Chocolate Popovers
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Makes 12
Author Notes

Lofty, crispy-custardy, and just-barely sweet, these popovers work just as well as a last-minute dessert as they do an anytime treat. For Mexican chocolate popovers that would be very delicious served with a scoop of ice cream, add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a big pinch of chili powder to the dry ingredients. For plain popovers, swap the cocoa powder for all-purpose flour and omit the sugar. —Caroline Lange

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and separated
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
Directions
  1. Whisk together dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another, reserving 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine thoroughly. Try to get any lumps out! Set the batter aside and let it come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 425° F.
  2. Grease the cups of a popover pan or muffin tin with the reserved butter, and when the batter is almost at room-temp, set the greased pan on a baking sheet and place in the oven to heat up for 5 or so minutes. You will hear the butter sizzling in the pan!
  3. Carefully fill up the cups of the hot pan 2/3 of the way, then bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375° F and bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until the popovers are well puffed and very fragrant. Trust your nose; it may be hard to tell visually if they are burning because of the chocolate. Do not open the oven at all during the baking (or else you risk collapse!).
  4. Remove the pan from the oven and use a small, thin knife to pull the hot popovers out. Prick the bases of the popovers with the knife to help steam escape. Serve warm.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Mindy Denlinger
    Mindy Denlinger
  • Marie Rose Javier
    Marie Rose Javier
  • Natalia Woolhouse
    Natalia Woolhouse
  • RayRayPea
    RayRayPea
Caroline Lange
Writing and cooking in Brooklyn.

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6 Reviews

Marie R.
Marie R. February 18, 2024
I agree with other reviewers that these are not sweet enough. But I would make it again, adding more sugar. Everything else about the flavor and texture of the popovers is great. The other quibble I have is that the recipe doesn’t specify which popover pan size to use. I used the standard (larger) size, which yielded 7, not 12. Also would recommend sifting the cocoa to avoid the lumps it forms and mixing in a blender, which also helps with lumpiness and convenient for pouring the batter into the pan.
 
Mindy D.
Mindy D. December 9, 2020
This came out yummy. Added a couple chocolate chips in each and used the Mexican recipe.
 
Natalia W.
Natalia W. May 15, 2020
This recipe is really more for the popover pan than a muffin tin, and is a little bitter - not enough sugar to even balance the cocoa, never mind "just-barely sweet". I use a muffin tin and had extra batter and they were done (a little over) by the time I was supposed to reduce the temperature. I would make it again with more sugar, reducing the recipe by 1/4 for the smaller tin, and reducing the baking time by a lot. The butter also solidified in the cold milk when i added it, so I would warm the milk too.
 
RayRayPea
RayRayPea June 27, 2018
Baking them now! They smell AMAZING, I added ground roasted cinnamon and chili powder to the dry ingredeants for a Mexican chocolate popover, whipped up a quick Earl Grey simple syrup to drizzle on top, and if they’re as lackluster as the previous comments state I’ll top the rest with carmalized plantains! Such a simple recipe with SUCH versatility!!
 
ghainskom
ghainskom November 27, 2017
This is an adult snack, barely sweet, to be had with coffee or whipped cream, or irish coffee.
 
Danielle
Danielle September 17, 2017
Made this today, and the recipe worked fine, but I'm super not a fan of the taste. There are barely any flavoring agents, so it basically tastes like a weird egg bite. Womp womp.