'Puffins'

No, not the bird. I know. Puffins. What the heck kind of food is that. Well, that my friends, is what happens when you can't remember what they are called but try to remember anyway. Mike has deemed them puffins from now until the end of time. So here we are. With our "puffins." Which is a good name for them since they puff up.

This isn't the first time a food has been renamed. As a kid my brother called hamburgers, 'hammy burgers,' and I call spaghetti 'spisketti.' Then in my early teens I blurted out kibis instead of kiwis while at the store. Yes, this happens all too often. So, onward now that we have had a flashback.

Mike's parents got me a popover pan for Christmas. Which is awesome, even though I've never eaten nor made a popover in my life. Can't say it's something I ever even looked at making even when looking through a cookbook. At first I just thought it was a dessert. Ok cool, I love baking sweet treats. Well, lets talk about that.

So even after seeing a recipe and checking into what I needed I figured it was much like a puff pastry that you fill. Yeah, obviously I'm unsophisticated and thought wrong.

Lets clear things up. They are not sweet, complex, or fancy. They are just super airy rolls that "pop over" the cup of the pan.

So I used a very basic recipe that came on the packaging of the pan.

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp melted butter

Mix dry then add wet. Fill 'puffin' cups 2/3 full. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-23 minutes until puffed and golden.

Note the golden and puffed part. Also, something my recipe failed to tell me. YOU MUST POKE 'PUFFINS' WITH A FOR TO LET STEAM ESCAPE! You can do this on the side as some recipes call for (right at the level of the pan and 'puffin.' Or at the top right in the middle. If you do not do this upon your 'puffins' exiting the oven they will fall A LOT and be super soggy and chewy.

Soggy and Chewy - eww

Blech! But if you do this and not peak at them at all during the baking process they turn out pretty good looking.

Cooked longer and poked to release steam, much better.

Is this something I will make often? No, I will probably find other creative uses for this pan and make the occasional puffin. They are very plain tasting so I'm sure by adding anything from cinnamon to garlic can liven up your recipe. I'm told with jam or butter is best. I will have to make them again so I can figure them out.Also learned a lesson, if you don't know about a recipe or type of food. Research, research, research.

Now go out and make something you've never made :) and have some fun.