Hairy Bikers Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

Dave’s mam’s recipe from Mums Know Best makes this Hairy Bikers Yorkshire pudding, with flour, 2 eggs and full-fat milk poured into smoking-hot fat. And I get 12 small puddings from it at about 90 calories each, in about 1 hour 35 minutes including the batter’s hour-long rest.

“Dave learned to cook this when he was six years old and it always works”, they write, which is quite a promise. So the flour is measured by the heaped spoon, dug straight into the bag, and four of them come to roughly 150g.

Get the fat smoking hot before the batter goes in, because that first loud sizzle sets the base and sends the sides climbing. So I drip in a little batter first, and if it doesn’t sizzle at once, the tin goes back in.

Hairy Bikers Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Baking Cuisine:British Courses:Side Dish

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 10 minutesCook time: 25 minutesRest time:1 hour Total time:1 hour 35 minutesServings:12 Calories:90 Best Season:Summer

Description

Whisk eggs and milk into sifted flour for a smooth, pourable batter, then leave it an hour. After that it hits sizzling oil or goose fat and bakes until puffed, crisp and deep golden.

Ingredients

For the batter

• 150g plain flour (4 heaped tablespoons)
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 275ml full-fat milk

For the tin

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil, or a blob of goose fat

Instructions

1. Make the batter: Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Then gradually work in the beaten eggs, before whisking in the milk a little at a time until the batter looks like single cream.
2. Rest it: Leave the batter to stand for at least an hour, at room temperature.
3. Heat the fat: Preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°C fan, Gas 6. Then put about ½ teaspoon of fat in each hole of a 12-hole muffin tin, or all of it in a roasting tin. And heat the oil or goose fat in the oven for about 10 minutes until smoking hot.
4. Pour it in: Stir the batter, then pour it quickly from a jug, a scant 3 tablespoons per hole, so it sizzles as it hits the fat. Then get the tin straight back into the oven.
5. Bake: Bake 12 small puddings for about 15 minutes, or one large pudding for about 30 minutes, until puffed, deep golden and crisp at the edges. And keep the door shut for at least the first 10 minutes, since a rush of cool air can make them sink. Then serve them straight away, while they’re still crisp.

FAQs

Why do some Hairy Bikers Yorkshire pudding recipes use 4 eggs?

Because the 4-egg batter shared online with 140g of flour and 200ml of milk is BBC Good Food’s best Yorkshire puddings recipe, not theirs. But two of their own recipes do use 4 eggs: the Yorkshire pudding wraps from Route 66 and the gram flour Yorkshires in Brilliant Bakes.

For roast-dinner puddings, though, Mums Know Best, Meat Feasts and Hairy Dieters Make It Easy all stick to 2 eggs and 275ml of milk. So a 4-egg recipe baked in a muffin tin under their name isn’t Dave’s mam’s batter.

Why did my Yorkshire puddings sink?

If they rose then sank, they usually came out too early, because pale puddings still hold steam and collapse as it escapes. So I leave them until they’re deep golden and feel firm, even if the timer says they’re done.

The other culprit is fat that has cooled while you pour, so I work fast and never leave the tin sitting on the side.

Is there a lighter or sweet version, and do they freeze?

Yes, in Hairy Dieters Make It Easy the same batter uses semi-skimmed milk, and the tin gets a spritz of oil spray instead of fat. Then they bake at 230°C, 210°C fan, for about 20 minutes. And that whole roast beef dinner comes in at 324 calories a serving.

They also suggest making double, then serving half and freezing the rest, or saving it for a sweet version with apple compote. And I reheat frozen ones in a hot oven for a few minutes, until they’re crisp again.

Did the Hairy Bikers make naan Yorkshire puddings?

They ate them rather than made them, since chef Aktar Islam served them naan Yorkshire puddings on their special Coming Home for Christmas. And they came with roast beef, bone marrow and horseradish sauce on BBC Two in December 2023.

So the recipe is Aktar’s rather than theirs. But for a twist from their own books, in Brilliant Bakes they make gluten-free Yorkshires from gram and cornflour, served with a curry sauce.

What other Yorkshire pudding recipes do they have?

Their toad in the hole is built on this same batter from Dave’s mam, with sage added and sausages baked in it. And in their show Go North they simmered a sliced onion for 3 minutes before baking it into sage and onion Yorkshires.

Those sage and onion ones suit roast chicken or pork, while in One Pot Wonders they bake a batter round bacon, apple and Gouda. And if you want something to pour into them, their braised steak with gravy cooks slowly in the oven.