Daft baker here

Could anyone help me out? I admit to being lazy and relying on Aunt Bessie far too much. Does anyone have a simple no-fail recipe for yorkshire puds? Im doing a dinner for the DH & DSS and friends of DH. Thanks in advance

I'm not sure there is a "no fail" recipe for Yorkshire pudds!  I've tried a few different recipes, but have yet to make a perfect batch of them. The best recipe I have tried by far, though, is the Jamie Oliver recipe:

1/2 pint (285 millilitres) milk
4 ounces (115 grams) all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
3 eggs
Vegetable oil

Turn the oven all the way up and preheat until hot, hot, hot.
Mix the batter ingredients together. Let rest for 10 minutes
Preheat a Yorkshire pudding tray or muffin tin with 1/2-inch (1 centimetre) of oil in each section.
After the 10 minutes divide the batter into the tray. Cook for around 15 to 20 minutes until crisp and puffy, don't open the oven door before then or they won't rise.

However, they are kind of squidgy sometimes (for me, some people like them that way, so it depends on what you like). If you want them crunchier, then turn the heat down a bit and cook for another 10 minutes. Also, last time, I put them on the top shelf of the oven, but I had the shelf too close to the top and they stuck to the top of the oven.  These rise big time, so make sure you leave plenty of room overhead! I use an Texas-sized muffin pan for mine, but you can use whatever pan you have, depending on what size you want.

The key is a very, very hot oven and the oil has to be smoking before you put the batter in.
Also...allow the batter to rest for about 30 mins before you use it.

My favourite Yorkshires are the one my mum used to make in a large, rectangular baking tray and then they'd be cut into quarters! She used to make about 3 of those for the 4 of us!

Oh yeah, somehow that got left out of my post. You should heat the pan first, then pour in the oil and put the pan into the oven for 5 - 10 minutes or until the oil is smoking hot. Then pour the batter in quickly and put the pan back in, and don't open the oven door AT ALL for 20 minutes.  I wouldn't use olive oil - I would go for groundnut oil, vegetable, or sunflower oil.

Thank you

Oh yeah, somehow that got left out of my post. You should heat the pan first, then pour in the oil and put the pan into the oven for 5 - 10 minutes or until the oil is smoking hot. Then pour the batter in quickly and put the pan back in, and don't open the oven door AT ALL for 20 minutes.  I wouldn't use olive oil - I would go for groundnut oil, vegetable, or sunflower oil.

Oh, def not olive oil,,,,need something that will take a high temp. My mum used to swear by lard but not something I've ever bought!

Lard is actually very cool to work with (and very very clean), but a lot of the stuff that is sold is part hydrogenated oil.  Many supermarkets sell goose fat with the butter and marg, and it really does a great job with oven roasting things.  Both have a very high smoke point, so work well with baking or high temp frying.

EDIT: I've not used either in making Yorkshire puddings.  In fact, I've never made them, although I make a mean popover.  This has made me wonder what animal fats would do to popovers though.

With popovers I always reduced the oven part way through the cooking time (without opening the oven).  I take it this isn't done with Yorkshire Puddings?

With popovers I always reduced the oven part way through the cooking time (without opening the oven).  I take it this isn't done with Yorkshire Puddings?

I think you can do, it just depends on whether you like them really squidgy in the centre or crispy all the way through. The Jamie Oliver recipe I use from the Ministry of Food says to bake them at the highest temp for 15 - 20 min, but if you want them crisp all the way through, reduce the heat and cook for a further 10 - 15 min.

I use goose fat.  it works really well.

Another tip I got from my English great-grandmother's recipe that has been handed down over the generations, is to beat the eggs a good long while. I beat mine for about 5 minutes.  I heat the pan, then heat the fat in the pan, then pour in the batter.  That method seems to work the best for me. I have never let the batter rest though.