I got excited when I read Dorie’s description of Cheese Puffers: “a cross between a muffin and a popover”. So much so that I planned Christmas dinner around them. Popovers are often paired with prime rib, so this year we would have prime rib with Cheese Puffers. The rest of the menu, braised leeks and carrots; celery root, potato and apple purée; and garlic green beans (courtesy of my sister-in-law), flowed from there. Ah yes, that is until our numbers dwindled from ten to six (thank you pandemic!) and I decided I really didn’t want a recipe I had to prepare at the last minute.

So instead, I made the Puffers the day after Christmas, when I was rested and had nothing else to cook. My brother lended a hand by grating the Gruyère. I whisked the dry ingredients together, sliced the scallions and portioned out the butter in the muffin tin ahead of time.

When we were ready for our dinner of leftovers, all I had to do was whisk together the milk and eggs, mix them into the dry ingredients, then add the cheese and sliced scallions. After placing the muffin tin in the oven to melt the butter and brushing the butter around the inside of the muffin cups, I added the batter to the tins. The Puffers baked for about twenty-nine minutes. We ate a dinner of cold leftovers with hot-from-the-oven Cheese Puffers. A little crispy on the outside and cheesy in the middle, they were delicious. They reheated nicely in the toaster oven at lunchtime the next day.