For the last two weeks or so, my family has eaten more popovers than they probably ever wished for, so I could share with you these perfect vegan sourdough popovers. These are everything popovers should be: they are fluffy inside with that characteristic large air pocket, and they have the perfectly crispy crust that crackles and flakes under your teeth. But to get here, without milk, butter and eggs, has been an exercise in patience, motivation, and ignoring an 11-year-old going, “What, popovers! Again? Really, mom?” Despite the smartypants quips, and the not-so-subtle lessons in persistence I was hoping he would learn as a happy side-effect of all this baking, I can assure you Jay loved every bite of every experimental popover I have made these past few days. I tried them with different combinations of flour and nondairy milk. I tried them with and without vinegar, with and without baking soda and baking powder. I tried them with recently fed sourdough and sourdough discard. I tried them with aquafaba and without aquafaba. Each of these attempts produced perfectly edible results. All had great air pockets, and lovely crusts, but there were a couple of problems that were hard to beat: most simply didn’t puff out over the tops (and what’s a popover without the pop?), while others rose and then fell. Some of the popovers also seemed to have slightly gummy interiors which tasted fine but didn’t look so great. But with this recipe, which I am sharing with you today, I got those problems licked. Let me back up a bit, though, and tell you about my popover obsession. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
I loved popovers. Truly, madly, deeply, and in the days before I was vegan I made some pretty darn amazing popovers, even if I say so myself. But after going vegan, I missed sinking my teeth into those puffy clouds of dough. That’s because three of the four main ingredients in a popover are milk, butter and eggs, and they–particularly the eggs–are pretty crucial to the structure and characteristic look of a popover. I’ve tried out vegan popover recipes in the past with little to moderate success, but as I have become better at baking with sourdough, the idea of a sourdough popover intrigued me. That’s because the gases in sourdough held the promise of the pop so critical in a popver. Smitten, I set to experimenting. This popover is all that I was hoping and waiting and working for, and I couldn’t be prouder to share it with you, in case you too, like me, have missed eating a popover. It’s truly been a labor of love, and I hope you too will try it, and enjoy it.
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