Originally from the Brazilian state of Minas-Gerais, pao de queijo has become a national favorite. When I last traveled to Brazil, I was surprised to discover cheese bread and American-brand pizza being sold at the airport, along with a Brazilian brand that serves as a nod to this long-standing Mineira custom. As this region of Brazil was the first to have rich mines of gold, diamonds, emeralds, and other precious stones discovered, the name Minas-Gerais implies the general mines. Additionally, one of the richest iron ore resources in the world is found there.)
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 48 |
| Yield: | 4 dozen |
Ingredients
- 4 cups tapioca starch (such as Bob’s Red Mill®)
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons salt
- 1 ¼ cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons water, or as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Pour tapioca starch into a wide bowl.
- Combine 1 cup water, vegetable oil, and salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Slowly pour over the tapioca, mixing with a spoon until evenly combined. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Stir Mexican cheese blend and eggs into the tapioca mixture. Knead dough until soft and sticky, 5 to 10 minutes. Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if dough seems dry.
- Drop spoonfuls of dough 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden, about 25 minutes.
- Substitute manioc, cassava, or yucca starch (such as Yoki(R)) for the tapioca if desired.
- You can substitute coconut oil, bacon fat, lard, or ghee for the vegetable oil, just know it can affect the flavor profile.
- You can use grated Parmesan cheese to add a little bite.
Reviews
I have a few different recipes for this bread and this one required double the flour with the same amount wet ingredients. I liked that I could knead by hand but is way too much flour. too dense and kills the flavor of the cheese. going to split the difference next time see how it goes.
Way too much salt! They were terrible. Next time I’ll use a fraction of the salt!
I made this as a gf pizza crust dough and it worked great – i used about 1/3 the salt, and used coconut flour to dry and flatten it so that i could transfer to the oven. I baked the pizzas on a pizza stone, and it worked best dusting the stone with cornmeal and pre-cooking the crust for 2-3 minutes before putting the toppings on then finishing baking the pizza.
Excellent flavor when you drastically reduce the amount of salt. I’ve never tried these rolls before, so I don’t have any real comparison. The texture of these is a bit hard on the outside but soft inside. I used a cheese similar to pepper jack so the spicy kick is really pleasurable. Everyone in the house liked them and devoured them in minutes. The fact that they are gluten free was super for us in a house of both celiacs and non! Thank you for the recipe.