When it comes to Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo), I really struggled to know where to start in describing the great love I have for this stuff. I literally sat here staring at my computer screen for a good 10 minutes before I could think of any words to adequately describe how amazing this stuff really is. I still am not sure if I have the right words, but I will have to give it my best shot.
In my opinion, You really have not experienced Brazil until you have experienced their Cheese bread (Pão de queijo). Luckily you do not have to go far to find Pão de Queijo, because it is literally in every bakery on every street corner in Brazil, and even if you do not have the privilege to visit Brazil there is no need to worry, because this recipe is as close as it gets to being the real McCoy. In fact, on several occasions I have served this cheese bread to some of my Brazilian friends, and I was pleased to find that I received nothing but compliments from them. I had worried they would be critical, but they were actually super impressed with how close this resembles the real thing and some of them even asked to get the recipe from me.
Years ago, when I first returned home from being a missionary in Brazil, I found this Brazilian Cheese bread recipe on the blog Our Best Bites. The first time I made it, I had serious doubts that it would turn out to be anything remotely close to the Pão de Queijo I had grown to love so much while in Brazil. However, I was elated to discover that it was actually super close to the real thing, and so I have been using this recipe ever since.
I’d have to say that the only difficult part about this Pão de Queijo recipe is finding tapioca flour to go in the Cheese bread. Once you have found some tapioca flour the rest of the recipe is pretty simple to follow. I will tell you right now though, do not try to take a short cut and substitute regular flour or any other kind of flour in this recipe…it will not work! It needs to be tapioca flour! I usually buy my tapioca flour from the bulk bins at Winco grocery store here in Utah. However, I have heard through the grapevine that you can find it at Latin markets, or in the Latin/Hispanic section at some grocery stores. Good Luck!
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 cups tapioca flour
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp)
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Optional: extra cheese and salt to sprinkle on top, as well as garlic powder
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheight
- In a blender mix milk, egg and canola oil
- Add Tapioca flour and kosher salt and blend
- Add cheddar and Parmesan cheeses
- Pulse in the blender 2 times after adding cheese (Do not over blend)
- If you are not using a non stick muffin pan then lightly spray your pan with non stick spray
- Immediately pour mixture into mini muffin pans filling each about ¾ full
- Lightly sprinkle extra cheese and seasoning on top if desired (I prefer it with extra cheese and a light sprinkle of kosher salt and garlic powder...be careful not to over do it)
- Place muffin pans in oven immediately (before all the cheese settles to the bottom) and cook for 15-20 minutes (15 minutes is always sufficient in my oven)
- They should be puffy and a light golden color when you take them out
- Serve immediately! (These do not save well...they taste the best fresh out of the oven)
You can experiment with other kinds of cheese as well. So far I have only tried it with Parmesan and sharp cheddar because I love it so much, so I stick to what I love
The Sugar n' Spice Gals have made it their mission to make cooking simple, delicious and fun.
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