Have you ever made Yorkshire pudding? I hadn't even heard of it until I was watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on Food Network a few weeks ago. A Yorkshire pudding is a savory bread-like dish that is simultaneously crispy, chewy, and all around delicious!
I decided to make a sweet, breakfast version so here is my recipe for Breakfast Puffs! They are a cross between a muffin, doughnut, and a pancake.
They are so easy that my son (who calls them "Hush Puppies"…go figure?) asked me to make them on a school morning and I easily agreed (granted, school starts at 8:35 for us so…we had a bit of time).
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
3 eggs
dash of salt
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
Vegetable oil
Sliced strawberries
powdered sugar
Make it!
Preheat oven to 425 (key step!).
Warm milk in microwave for 60 seconds. This helps bring all the ingredients (including the cold eggs) to room temperature for optimum PUFF while baking.
In a blender, add milk, eggs, salt, sugar, vanilla, and then flour on top. Blend until smooth. Scrape down sides to incorporate all the flour and blend again if necessary.
Carefully pour one teaspoon of oil into 10 cups of a regular muffin tin. Put the muffin on a sheet pan (to catch any overflow while the puffs cook) and put the tin in the oven while it is preheating. You want the oil to get nice and hot (but not smoke! so keep an eye on it. I usually put the tin in when the oven is half way heated and the oil does just fine).
Slice the strawberries and add a little sugar so they will make their own syrup. Set aside.
When the oven is preheated, pull the muffin tin out and carefully pour the batter into the cups, filling 2/3 of the way full. This recipe makes 10 puffs.
Put the tin back in the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes.
This recipe is very entertaining to watch bake! The puffs start out as a really thin, unimpressive batter and then they quickly puff up as they cook. It is really exciting. (if you get excited about food. I do!) I have actually put a chair in front of my oven and watched them bake the entire time! (can you say "food nerd"?) This morning, though, I took a shower while they baked. Hey, it was a school morning, after all.
When they are done, the puffs should be huge, (3+ inches above the tin) and golden brown. Loosen the puffs with a small knife and place them on a paper towel lined plate upside down to drain off some of the oil.
Note: The ONLY downside to these puffs is that they are hard to get out of the pan. I have tired cooking spray + oil, butter, more oil, etc. and every method sticks. So…just be prepared. But they are worth it, I promise!
Sprinkle puffs with powdered sugar and top with strawberries. Serve to your hungry kiddos!
Serves 4-6.
Yum! They are filling and delicious: crispy, chewy, and slightly sweet. Mmmm!
Enjoy!
