Ready for my David Letterman impression? I’ll do it if you stop staring at my gap teeth!

TOP 10 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THESE SPICED ORANGE POPOVERS:

1. They taste like donuts, yet they’re not fried!
2. They’re ridiculously easy.
3. Your house will smell like a high-end Christmas candle.
4. It’s the holidays & you’re looking for something festive for breakfast.
5. Clove, cinnamon & orange are your best friends this time of year.
6. You need an excuse to dust off your popover pan.
7. They’re light and fluffy. Means no calories, right?
8. They’re a perfect breakfast, snack or dessert. You could make dinner out of them. (I totally did)
9. Your coffee is lonely. It needs company.
10. Because I said so!

I should also note that I ate 5 popovers within an hour after I made them….I blame the delicious clove cinnamon orange sugar. Well…that and they were WARM.

It’s not like I have to wear a bathing suit anytime soon…

OH WAIT. I do. CRAP!

And we’re off!

Ingredient gathering. We’re making batter!

All of that stuff goes into a blender. BLEND.

Batter! Now the batter rests for 30 minutes. Turn on the oven! Get it to temperature.

Let’s prep the popover pan. Oil each one. No need to spread it around.

Heat the pan in the oven during the last 10 minutes of the 30 minute batter rest.

Carefully pour the batter into the hot popover pan. Who cares if it drips?

Pop it in the oven and make your spiced sugar!

Grate some orange peel.

Mix it in with your sugar.

After some time in the oven (and a shift in temperature-see recipe) they’re done!

Turn them out onto a rack.

Get your butter/sugar assembly line together.

Baste each popover with butter & ROLL IT IN SUGAR.

You don’t wanna know how much sugar is still hanging out on my camera lens.

Oh! Look at the inside of a popover.

So light! It’s kinda like a French Cruller (my second favorite donut!).

ENJOY!

Spiced Orange Popovers

makes 8

(recipe adapted from A Sweet Spoonful who adapted from Cook’s Illustrated)

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 teaspoons vegetable oil

For the orange cinnamon clove sugar top:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Blend the eggs, milk, flour, melted butter, salt and vanilla in a blender until smooth and bubbly, about one minute. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.

While the batter is resting, prepare the popover tin by placing 1/2 teaspoon of oil into each cup. After the batter has rested 20 minutes, place pan in oven to heat the oil for 10 minutes.

Remove hot pan from the oven and divide batter amongst the 8 cups. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes (don’t open the oven door). Lower heat to 350 F and continue to bake until popovers are golden brown, about 15 minutes more. After removing from the oven, gently turn them out onto a wire rack.

For the orange cinnamon clove sugar topping: mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and orange zest in a small bowl. Thoroughly brush each popover all over with the 1/4 cup of melted butter, then dredge each puff generously in the sugar mixture. Enjoy warm.

***If you don’t have a popover tin, use a regular muffin tin! Megan from A Sweet Spoonful used a muffin tin and tells you how in her directions!****