The first time I’ve had Brazilian cheese bread (pão de queijo) was at a Brazilian bbq place (which was also my first time visiting a churrascaria). Because it was an all-you-can-eat place, I understand they want you to fill up on the bread instead of the meat. I fell for that trick. I ate probably 10 of these little suckers. I love anything that has a mochi-like texture and this one hit the spot. It was warm, soft, and chewy with a very fragrant cheesy aroma. I bet you cannot eat just one but 10 might be an overkill. That was over 15 years ago.
When the internet finally came into full swing, I tried to search for recipes for Brazilian cheese bread but they all seemed to be pretty complicated and the ingredients are hard to get. In the recent years, I’ve found a few recipes that takes a major shortcut and have Americanized the recipe so that we can find the ingredients at our local supermarkets. So now the hardest thing to find would be the tapioca starch. But you can visit any Asian supermarket and you should be able to find them. And they are cheap!
What’s amazing about this recipe is that it only takes 5 min to put together in a blender and 20 minutes in the oven. Unfortunately, I’ve heard that this type of Brazilian cheese bread does not reheat very well. Since I’ve never had leftovers so I wouldn’t know *smirk*.
Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil*
- 1 cup tapioca starch
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese**
* You can use any type of oil that doesn’t have a lot of flavor. Personally I like to use refined coconut oil which is flavorless but good for you.
** As for the cheese, you don’t need to use all Parmesan, but any sort of sharper cheese would have good results. I’ve tried sharp cheddar, Gouda, Swiss, pepper jack, and provolone with good results.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400° F while we prep the Brazilian cheese bread. Also, lightly grease your non-stick mini-muffin tin. Next, throw everything into the blender jar and blend until smooth.
I am testing out my Nutribullet Pro that I got last month. I’ve had the Magic Bullet blender for about 5 years and finally the on/off mechanism started to be unresponsive – either stays on after releasing or doesn’t turn on at all. Well, good excuse to go to the next level so I picked mine up at you-know-where Costco. The motor is definitely a lot more powerful and the container is much bigger though I wish there was a smaller container. So far I’ve only used it a few times so can’t really give a full review yet. Using the Nutribullet, it took about 10-15 seconds to be done which is super quick. Clean up was pretty easy too, just toss the container into the dishwasher and rinse the blade. I’m in love.
Pour the batter into the mini muffin tins. I was able to find these mini mini tins that is a perfect two-biter. I’ve heard you can use regular muffin tins but I think that’s just way too big to eat. Since the batter will puff as it bakes, aim for about ⅔ full should just give it a nice dome when completed.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes (depending on your oven) until golden brown. Let it cool slightly before removing – or else you will make some indentation (like a few from my picture). I was too eager to give them a try because it smelled so wonderful.
Best served warm and it’s great with any meal, not only with Brazilian BBQ.
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup tapioca starch
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Add all the ingredients into a blender
- Blend until smooth - 30 seconds to 1 minute
- Pour batter into greased mini muffin tins at about ⅔ full
- Bake in the oven at 400° F for about 15-20 minutes
- Remove cheese bread from oven and eat while warm