Brazilian Style Cheese Bread • Pão de Queijo Brasileiro

These little puffs of cheesy heaven are a variation of the classic Brazilian cheese bread, the only difference is the cheese I used, you can kind of use any kind of cheese that melts well, so in this case I used a nice and soft Portuguese Flamengo cheese.

This was Azorean Flamengo soft cheese which tends to have a stronger flavor and a drier texture, and is a bit saltier which really helps make the cheese bread more flavorful. I also think I didn’t knead the little breads super well (the more you knead, the creamier they get), however I have to say they turned out delicious. The beauty of “pão de queijo” is its simplicity and versatility, as long as you’ve got tapioca flour and a good cheese, you’re golden.

These crispy-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside beauties are perfect for breakfast, snacks, or honestly any time of day when you need a little pick-me-up. You can eat them plain or fill them with anything you want from salty to sweets. Let’s get to the recipe!

Brazilian Style Cheese Bread • Pão de Queijo Brasileiro

Servings: 12
Time: 40mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Brazilian cheese breads are something very peculiar for my portuguese taste, but once you

Ingredients

Sweet Tapioca Starch – 250g
Flamengo Cheese – 100g
Milk – 100ml
Oil – 37ml (Sunflower)
Eggs – 2 L
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

Start by heating the milk and oil on the stove or in the microwave until just boiling.

Pour this into a bowl with the sweet tapioca starch, mix, and let cool.

Add the grated cheese, eggs, and a pinch of salt, and knead well.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC and line a baking tray with non-stick paper.

Shape the dough into small balls and place them on the baking tray. Bake for about 15 minutes until they start to brown, and that’s it, bon appétit.

Notes:Make sure the milk and oil mixture is actually boiling before adding it to the tapioca starch, this helps “cook” the starch and creates that signature chewy cheesy texture.

These are made with sweet or sour tapioca starch, most people use just sweet or a 50/50 mix of sweet and sour for a more complex flavour and slightly more puffy (the more puffy they are the more hollow they are).

Don’t rush the cooling step. If the mixture is too hot when you add the eggs, you’ll end up with scrambled eggs in your dough (trust me, not what you want).

Any good melting cheese works here – mozzarella, cheddar, Gouda, aged cheeses for more flavor, mild cheeses for a gentler taste. That’s the beauty of this recipe, really.

The dough should be soft and slightly sticky but still holdable. If it’s too dry, add a tiny splash of milk.

You can freeze these before or after baking, just pop frozen ones straight in the oven for a few extra minutes.

Fresh out of the oven is when they’re at their absolute best, all crispy outside and gooey inside. After a couple of hours they are ok, at the end of the day, not so good.

Also, once baked, you can slice them open and fill them with all sorts of good stuff, savory options like ham, butter, cream cheese, or more cheese (because why not?), or go sweet with nutella, honey, dulce de leche, or jam. 😛 Yum!

This recipe for Brazilian Style Cheese Bread • Pão de Queijo Brasileiro was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Pão de Queijo Flamengo foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.