Lactose-free Popovers

Travis is home for a few weeks for the holidays, so we’ve shifted into lactose-isolated cooking mode. It’s easy enough to use olive oil rather than butter, or if a dish has cheese, say feta on a salad, to serve it on the side. I usually avoid baking when he’s home because so many recipes use milk and butter, but last night had a craving for popovers to go with the vegetable stew we were making.

Popovers use a simple egg-milk-butter flour, and a dairy-free version would need to substitute something for the milk. I made cornbread for Travis at Thanksgiving, substituting water for milk in the batter, and while the flavor was okay the texture was a bit tough. Milk adds something to the recipe that water does not, and my guess is that the protein and fat in milk are important in baking. I’m haven’t researched this, but in thinking about the texture of water-based baked goods like bread, as opposed to milk-based baked goods like cake, logically the composition of milk makes a difference. Credit to Aaron on the solution for the popovers; he suggested adding an extra egg to add protein and fat, and reducing the amount of water accordingly.

The substitution worked. The popovers really popped -- they were well puffed, light, crisp and delicate. The flavor was slightly more eggy than normal, but in a pleasant, subtle way.

If you need a recipe, try Mark Bittman’s version from the New York Times. To make the recipe lactose-free, substitute 1 cup milk with 1 egg and 3/4 cup water. (You’ll have three eggs total, then.) Also, substitute olive oil for butter in the recipe, and also in preparing the pan. By the way, a little oil or butter goes a long way. He suggests a teaspoon per muffin-cup, but I find this makes the popovers greasy and instead just generously oil the cups.