Sweet Potato Popovers {Paleo, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Nut Free, Coconut Free}

Pretty Please, with Sweet Potato on Top?

“Honey, can you make sweet potato popovers tonight?” It seems like an innocent request, but trust me, every time I hear it I groan. Fair warning, if you continue to read this post, you too may be stuck in a similar predicament. I started playing around with a recipe for sweet potato popovers a few years ago, and have gone through several iterations to come up with the balance we like the best. The only problem is, we REALLY like these popovers. They rarely last beyond the evening. Honestly, they rarely last until dinner is served.

Popovers

Traditional popovers consist of flour, eggs, milk, butter, sugar and salt. They come out as deliciously hot puffs, and must be consumed immediately. Popovers are also called Yorkshire Pudding, but the only difference I can tell between the two is that Yorkshire Pudding is traditionally cooked in beef drippings instead of butter. Either way, it is delicious.

Making them Paleo

There are several really good recipes out there for sweet potato popovers, and all of them are fairly similar in proportions and method. Eggs, flour substitute, milk substitute, fat substitute, sweet potato, and flavoring. Many of the recipes call for almond milk, or coconut oil, both of which are problems in our house. I’ve tried using several types of milk substitute that work for our family. Hemp milk is a good product, if you can find one that isn’t loaded with too many “extras”. I’ve also made my own tigernut milk, and used that. The result were great. Unfortunately, hemp milk and tigernut milk are both expensive, and not staples in my pantry. When my husband requests popovers, part of that groan is “I really don’t want to schlep to whole foods right now and stand in line for 20 minutes just for milk substitute”.

Using What You Have

Desperate to find a way to make this recipe more accessible, I started playing around with different ingredients I had in my pantry all the time. After a few tries, I was able to completely replace the milk with a combination of water and grass-fed butter. If you cannot tolerate the small amount of dairy in this recipe, you can always replace it with the milk substitute of your choice. Given how much butter I cook with on holidays, I try to use hemp milk or tigernut milk for the popovers on those occasions. Though grass-fed butter does have great health benefits, everything in moderation.

In spite of Sur La Table’s amazing marketing campaign, you don’t need to buy any special equipment. All you really need are [amazon_textlink asin=’B000F5K3J8′ text=’metal muffin pans’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’urbancavew-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’bc4c4030-c95b-11e7-b0b8-4fe36390435b’] (silicone just doesn’t work as well), and a [amazon_textlink asin=’B00NGV4506′ text=’blender’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’urbancavew-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c88beed2-c95b-11e7-93ee-b1b1748d586a’]. If you want to get fancy, you can always spring for the specialty [amazon_textlink asin=’B003YL3DWO’ text=’popover pans’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’urbancavew-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f6194e9c-c95b-11e7-b914-9f6dfc50e34c’], but they are by no means required. Personally, I’ve even used disposable muffin tins to make these babies, and they work just fine.

Get Creative

Depending on the season, or the occasion, I like to change up the type of flavorings I add to the batter. The sweet potatoes pair very well with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and even maple sugar. If you want to go a more savory route, I like using rosemary or sage. Once you have gotten the hang of the base of this recipe, swapping out the flavoring is really quite easy. Be creative! 

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