Yes, Cheese! Pão de Queijo

Cheese_Bread_in_a_Muffin_Pan

Before the Sandman could whack me over the head with flood-sized bags of sleep sand, I heard Alex come through the door after a day on campus. Ever since he was a child, he’s been fascinated with maps and exploring new places, so I wasn’t surprised that after his classes and prepping for tests, he took off on a late adventure to a Brazilian café in a neighborhood in the opposite direction of home.

“Mom!” he said, my head springing back to attention as it started to loll to-and-fro with the promise of a nap before bedtime. “Have you ever tried pão de queijo?” Cheese bread from Brazil? No, I hadn’t. So Alex was going to tell me all about it.

He described this delicacy as if it were the last morsel of food he’d ever remember for the rest of his life. When I drifted off to sleep that night, I dreamed of cheese, ten-pound sacks of sand, and a romp through abandoned buildings filled with Dippin’ Dots, as dreams are wont to do.

And when I woke up, I was determined to try this cheese bread, so I searched for recipes online and discovered that pão de queijo is gluten free and relatively easy to make. I even had most of the ingredients on hand, except for tapioca flour, which I found in my neighborhood Safeway. The flour packaging even included a recipe, which I used.

Here’s the recipe I found on the back of “Bob’s Red Mill Finely Ground Tapioca Flour:”

1 ½ cups of tapioca flour

½ teaspoon of salt

1 egg

2/3 cup of milk

¼ cup of olive oil

½ cup of grated cheddar cheese (I used sharp cheddar cheese)

You’re supposed to put everything into a blender, but I don’t have a blender. I do have a hand-held immersion blender, which worked out just fine. The original plan was to place everything into a bowl and then whisk it.

Big mistake. I almost broke the whisk. When you pour wet ingredients on top of tapioca flour, the flour turns to cement, which I had to break up with a spoon and then finish off with the immersion blender.

The instructions also state to fill muffin pans with the batter. The batter is extremely smooth—like pancake batter. I was expecting soup by the end of the baking process, but after 20 minutes in the oven at 400° Fahrenheit, the little pools of cheesy batter puffed up and cooked to perfection.

As an added bonus, I was rewarded for greasing the muffin tins ahead of time, as the little cheese balls of goodness slid right out of the pan.

Three_Cheese_Bread_Rolls_on_a_White_Plate

And wow, did they taste good! They were smooth and packed full of yummy cheesy flavor. They were so delicious I just had to interrupt a meeting Nate was in online to deliver one to him. (Alex, I suspect ate the rest in one sitting.)

Serve these delectable delights INSTEAD of the following:

–Goldfish crackers

–Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Oh, yes. I did just say that. I’m not knocking the beloved restaurant chain favorite. I love those biscuits, but the Brazilian cheese bread is just so, so good.)

–Toast

–Dinner

—Popcorn in a Dune bucket (for so many reasons)

–Dippin’ Dots by the sandbag-full inside strange buildings

Your Turn: Have you taken any interesting side trips lately? What have you seen or eaten?

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

23 thoughts on “Yes, Cheese! Pão de Queijo”

  2. It sort of cracks me up that something so fancy and ethnic would have a recipe on Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour. That must be the primary thing tapioca flour is used for! Sounds delicious. I love trying new ethnic foods. Too bad I’m not overly fond of baking and tend to mess things up. ;/

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    1. These were practically foolproof. So easy to make–even though I made a few mistakes along the way–they still turned out well–they are best fresh from the oven, though.

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    1. They were delicious–the very little I got (LOL). Alex devoured the rest so fast–which was wonderful. He was on a study break, and I think he’ll do well on his tests!

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  5. I was so excited to see the words pão de queijo! They really are the stuff of dreams and one of the symbols of deliciousness! I just have to inform you that now that you have tried them, you’ll find yourself unable to live without those little things! 😀 Hope you’ve had a fun experience making and eating them! Cheers!

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  9. These look very tasty! I’ve made a version of them a few years ago. As much as I recall, the recipe called for using Parmesan cheese, and to knead the dough, rather than whisk it. The shape was more like a small ball. They were nice, but not to the point I’d make them again. Maybe I need to give it another try! 🙂

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  10. Thank you for the recipe! I took a short holiday to river Po and Comacchio valley (Italy) where I happened to taste eel. No, this fish is not for me! But it was very interesting to listes about the life and story of this fish

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