Lisa's Food Obsession

This is my take on delicious fresh Pão de Queijo or Brazilian cheese bread. I bake it on lazy Sundays when I’m too impatient to wait for dough to rise. Fresh out of the oven, the dough is slightly crunchy on the outside and chewy and stretchy on the inside. We’re no sticklers for tradition here, go wild and add any cheese you like!

Instructions

1. Bring the milk, water, oil and salt to a boil on medium heat
2. Pour the boiling mixture over the tapioca flour
3. Mix by hand or dough mixer until it becomes a smooth paste
4. Add the egg when the mixture has cooled. Incoprorate until you have a sticky dough
5. Add the cheese to the dough
6. Make small balls (4cm in diameter), put them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Give them at least 3 cm space, they will expand a little. If your dough is too loose to form into balls, add a little more tapioca flour.
7. Bake in the oven on 180℃ for 15-20 min until golden brown

Tips

• If you run out of tapioca flour, you can still make this recipe by replacing a little or all flour volume with all purpose flour
• Traditional cheese bread is made with local Brazilian cheeses. Use whichever cheeses that are available to you. A half/half combination of mild, melty cheeses and strong cheeses gives the best result
• Put the dough in the fridge for 30 min before shaping the balls to make the dough easier to work with

If you want to try an authentic recipe, look here.