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My favorite popover recipe includes matzo meal, which is easy to find during Passover. I run it through a blender to make it fine before mixing it with the other ingredients.

Can I substitute regular wheat-based flour when matzo meal isn't available? If so, what type of flour would give the most similar taste and texture?

Note that this is not a question about whether popovers made with regular flour would be kosher. This is purely a question about baking.

Edit

In response to comments, the complete ingredients are:

  • 1.5 cup cake matzoh meal
  • 1.5 cup water
  • .5 cup oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 7 extra-large eggs

The matzoh meal mixed with salt and sugar is stirred into boiling water/oil, after which the eggs are added. The popovers are cooked for 45-50 minutes at 400 degrees.

I have tried other recipes that use ordinary flour but do not like them nearly as much.

It sounds like none of the other options (using Wondra or grinding up matzoh) are easier than stockpiling matzoh meal or ordering it online.

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  • 4
    This has to be the first time I have heard of someone converting a Pesadig recipe to chametz instead of visa versa. Good luck! Also, to help the question a little, by blending the matzah meal, you are making what is sold as matzah cake meal. I will post an answer about Wondra.
    – Damila
    Jul 3, 2022 at 1:47
  • Yes, the recipe calls for matzo cake meal, but I can't always find that.
    – Ellen Spertus
    Jul 3, 2022 at 2:52
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    (a) why not just use a regular normal-flour popover recipe? there are many. (b) can you give us proportions in your current recipe?
    – FuzzyChef
    Jul 3, 2022 at 4:23
  • I would think that a closer replacement would be crumbled-up saltine crackers, rather than a "raw" flour of some kind. As with the matzo, you'd probably want to grind them up in a blender or food processor to get a sufficiently fine texture.
    – Michael Seifert
    Jul 3, 2022 at 15:11
  • One of the local supermarkets still (2+ months after Passover) has 5 lb. boxes for sale really cheap. Depending on where you are, find more post-Passover Matzah -> grind to cake meal. Non-Passover Matzah is available year-round, but the Passover stuff, after Passover is over, is cheaper.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Jul 3, 2022 at 18:27

1 Answer 1

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(OP probably knows this but for readers not familiar with matzah): Matzah meal is ground up matzah, and by further blending, the OP is making their own version of “matzah cake meal.” The base of both is matzah, flour and water quickly baked.

Used in baked goods, matzah meal will not form gluten** since it is already baked. This is why a lot of Passover cookies and cakes that are made with matzah meal* are dense and dry. I will assume that the popover recipe uses a lot of eggs to get the airiness.

So to answer the OP question,

  1. Sort of obvious- If you can get matzah in the kosher section if a store, even if it says “not for Passover,” you can grind it up in the blender and get matzah meal. cf This SA QA
  2. No idea if this will work: Try Wondra since it is a precooked and dried and will form less gluten** than AP flour. Be sure not to over mix.

*Some are not made with matzah meal at all but with things like potato flour. If you are interested look up “non-gebrokts recipes” on line.

**Neither statement should be taken as a health claim for those who need to or want to reduce or avoid gluten.

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