Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread)

Before you start

Pão de queijo are small cheese breads from Brazil, crisp on the outside and stretchy and hollow-chewy inside. They get their texture from tapioca starch (polvilho) instead of wheat: hot milk and fat poured over the starch partly gelatinize it into a sticky, elastic paste, and eggs and grated cheese are then worked in. In the oven, steam puffs each ball while the starch sets into a springy web.

In Brazil, cooks often use polvilho azedo (sour, fermented tapioca starch), polvilho doce (sweet, unfermented) or a mix, with a semi-cured cheese such as queijo minas. Outside Brazil, plain tapioca flour plus a combination of Parmesan and low-moisture mozzarella gives a good result. The dough looks wrong at first, lumpy and crumbly, then turns smooth and sticky as you beat in the eggs. That change is the sign it is ready.

Ingredients

• 250 g (about 2 cups) tapioca flour (starch) — or half polvilho doce and half polvilho azedo
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 120 ml (½ cup) whole milk
• 60 ml (¼ cup) water
• 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil — or 55 g melted butter
• 2 large eggs — room temperature, beaten
• 60 g (⅔ cup) finely grated Parmesan — or queijo meia-cura
• 60 g (½ cup) grated low-moisture mozzarella

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
2. Whisk the tapioca flour and salt in the large heatproof bowl.
3. Bring the milk, water and oil to a full boil in the saucepan. Immediately pour it over the tapioca flour and stir hard with a wooden spoon. The mixture will look lumpy, sticky and partly translucent; keep stirring for a minute until no dry starch remains.
4. Leave the dough to cool for about 10 minutes, until it is warm but comfortable to touch.
5. Add the beaten eggs in three additions, beating vigorously after each with the spoon or paddle. At first the dough separates into slippery lumps; keep going until it comes back together as a smooth, very sticky, stretchy paste, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Beat in both cheeses until evenly distributed. The dough should be soft enough to scoop but able to hold a mound. If it seems stiff, add milk a teaspoon at a time; if runny, add tapioca flour a tablespoon at a time.
7. With oiled hands or a small scoop, form 25 g balls (about 3 cm / 1¼ in) and set them 4 cm apart on the sheets.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, switching the sheets halfway, until the balls have puffed, feel light and are pale golden with deeper gold spots. Underbaked ones collapse as they cool. Serve warm.

Tips for success

• Pour the liquid while it is still at a rolling boil. Liquid that has cooled even slightly will not scald the starch, and the breads end up dense and gritty.
• Freeze unbaked balls on a tray until solid, then bag them. Bake straight from frozen at 200°C (400°F), adding 5 to 8 minutes.
• Wet or oiled hands make rolling easy; the dough sticks to dry palms.

Substitutions

Parmesan and mozzarella

Aged cheddar, Gruyère or pecorino all work. Saltier cheeses such as pecorino call for cutting the added salt to ½ teaspoon.

Plain tapioca flour

Using some polvilho azedo (sour starch) gives a taller puff, a lighter interior and a slight tang. Up to half the starch is a good place to start.

Whole milk

Use all water and oil for a dairy-reduced dough; the breads are a little less tender and the cheese still contains dairy.

Variations

Herb and garlic pão de queijo

Beat in 1 small grated garlic clove and 2 tablespoons chopped chives or parsley with the cheese.

Blender batter version

For a looser style baked in a mini muffin tin, blend the starch, milk, oil, eggs and cheese until smooth without scalding, fill greased cups three-quarters full and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 to 20 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Breads spread flat

The dough was too loose, usually from extra-large eggs or added milk. Beat in a tablespoon or two more tapioca flour until it holds a mound.

Dense, gummy middles

The liquid was not boiling when added, or the breads were pulled early. Scald with fully boiling liquid and bake until they feel light and are golden.

Hard, crackly shells with little puff

The dough was too dry or overbaked. Add milk a teaspoon at a time until soft and sticky, and remove the breads as soon as they are golden.

Storage

Pão de queijo are best within an hour of baking. Keep leftovers in a container at room temperature for a day and reheat at 180°C (350°F) for 5 minutes. Freeze baked breads for up to 2 months, or freeze raw dough balls for up to 3 months.

Safety notes

Do not taste the raw dough, which contains raw egg. Tapioca is naturally gluten-free, but if you need strictly gluten-free food, check that the flour is certified, as some is processed alongside wheat. Contains milk and egg.