Brazilian Cheesy Bread

Has a special occasion ever brought you to a Brazilian steak house? (Let’s be honest—for busy suburbanites on a budget, the occasion would have to be REALLY special to prompt that kind of spending).  If you’ve been to one, you’ve probably tried this famous puffy appetizer: cheesy bread, or pão de queijo.  But did you know that this delicious bread is gluten-free and super easy to make at home?  Today, I’m going to share with you the recipe I’ve discovered for amazing, homemade pão de queijo.

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The list of ingredients is super simple: oil, eggs, milk, cheese, starch, and salt.  That’s about it.  Of course, there are all sorts of variations and ways to spice it up.  For example, I added garlic to mine.  Some people add herbs like rosemary and pair them with toasted garlic and parmesan. 

Unlike most breads, the floofiness (yes, that’s a scientific term) isn’t generated by a leavening agent.  Instead, Brazilian pão de queijo—much like British Yorkshire pudding—is puffed up by steam.  The “dough” is very liquidy, more like a pudding than an actual dough.  When baked, the heat of the oven generates steam from the liquid within the dough, causing pockets of air to rise and give it that signature “poof” top. 

Now, my first try at making pão de queijo turned out great, but my measurements and ingredients were a little wonky.  First, I don’t have any regular cow’s milk on hand; my family goes through milk too slowly to justify buying it (only to have it spoil in the fridge).  Instead, I used coconut milk with a little bit of heavy whipping cream, since I had both on hand for my morning coffees.  Second, I don’t have the correct type of starch (more on that in a moment), and when I substituted the starch I did have, I was short by about an eighth of a cup.  Third, I took someone else’s recipe and cut it by a third... but I forgot to cut the amount of cheese by a third.  The end result was still delicious, but the centers were a bit goopy (though not unpleasantly so!) and the bread didn’t rise as much as it probably should have.  It could have been any one of those factors—or a combination thereof—that affected the outcome.  However, I was pleased enough with the results that I wanted to share them with you.  Even with a wonky recipe, this dish still turned out amazing!

For authentic pão de queijo, one ingredient is a bit difficult to find: tapioca flour—or, more accurately, tapioca starch.  This isn’t an ingredient you’ll typically find on your Walmart shelves, so you might need to special-order it.  Because of the way this bread cooks, it needs a pure starch—not a true flour, even a gluten-free flour—to bake up properly.

However, as I considered how to make pão de queijo, I wondered if the starch needed to be tapioca starch specifically.  What if I tried cornstarch?  I should have had enough of that on hand (as it turned out, I had almost enough).  So… I used it.

The result?  Still delicious.  Probably not as fluffy and chewy as the authentic version, but in my (admittedly limited) experience, cornstarch can work as a substitute for tapioca starch.

The cheese I used was a combination of sharp cheddar and powdered parmesan. Some recipes call for gouda, while others call for queso fresco.  Personally, I figure whatever cheese you have on hand should work, as long as it’s relatively solid.  For example, cream cheese or cottage cheese would change the texture of the dough too much, making it unstable. 

To mix the dough, I used my Ninja blender instead of a regular food processor.  It worked pretty well, but it would have worked better if I’d taken the time to scrape the built-up starch off the sides and given it another whirl. 

For baking the bread, I used a silicone mini muffin tray.  If you haven’t already, check out my post on why silicone trays beat metal every time (in my humble opinion, at least).  The original recipe I (sort of) followed called for a baking time of 25 minutes at 400° F.  However, since I used a mini muffin tray instead of regular, I started out with 15 minutes and ended up bumping it up to 18.  That was the perfect amount of time to let the tops poof and the sides slightly brown. I also used a Pyrex dish full of plain water to fill the oven with steam; that may have also helped the bread stay moist and fluffy.

Other pão de queijo recipes state that the bread stays good in the fridge for about a week… if any make it to the fridge, that is.  I ate like a third of the batch as soon as they came out of the oven (the proof is in the the picture below).  They’re super addictive!  Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as I have. 

Recipe: Pão de Queijo

Ingredients:

⅓ cup olive oil

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 egg

⅓ cup milk

1 cup tapioca starch (cornstarch works)

1 Tbsp salt

1 cup sharp cheddar *

½ cup parmesan *

Water (in an oven-safe dish)

* Remember, my measurements for the cheese are three times the normal ratio because I forgot to scale it down with the rest of the recipe

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400° F. Pre-grease a mini muffin pan.

• Mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth.  The starch may stick to the side; scrape it down and continue blending.

• Pour into the mini muffin pan, filling each muffin about halfway.

• Place the muffin tray and the water dish in the oven.  Bake for 18 minutes, or until the tops are poofy and the sides are lightly browned.

• Enjoy fresh out of the oven, or store in the fridge for up to a week.

What do you think of the recipe?  Have you ever tried authentic pão de queijo?  How does my recipe compare?  Let me know in the comments!