Of all the foods I fell in love with while living in Brazil, Pão de Queijo (literally translated to ‘bread of cheese’) is right up there at the top of my favorites list. If you’ve never had this type of Brazilian cheese roll, it’s not the same type of bread or roll we’re used to here in the US. It’s made with tapioca flour, as opposed to all purpose flour, so it’s almost more like the texture of a cream puff shell or popover, but with more substance and fluffy chew. The outside is slightly crisp and browned and the inside is soft and chewy. In the US, you can find them regularly served in Brazilian restaurants, and in Brazil, they’re in every corner store and bakery.
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Below, I’ll show you 2 different methods of preparing the exact same recipe:
1. The traditional method (shown above, R) where the wet ingredients are first heated and then beat together with the dry ingredients and scooped into little dough balls before baking. This results in: A traditional roll with a slightly crisp outside and a soft chewy center.
2. The shortcut version (shown above, L) where you put all ingredients in a blender and pour the ultra thin liquid batter into a muffin tin. This results in: A flavorful roll with the same chewy texture, but not as much density. These often puff up with centers that are sometimes more hollow, and can shrink after baking. The outside is a little thinner, but still so delicious.I usually make them this way simply because it’s so quick and easy!
Here in this photo below you can see the blender method roll on the right and the traditional method on the left. Both super delicious!
Ingredients Needed
- Tapioca Flour– look for tapioca flour in the specialty flour section of the grocery store, or online. I have also found it sometimes in the bulk foods area of stores like WINCO. It’s a naturally gluten free flour. If you happen to be serving these to a person who needs to avoid gluten for medical reasons, avoid purchasing from bulk bins where there can be risk of cross contamination. Another place you can check is an Asian market, they regularly carry tapioca flour.
- Egg – Egg acts as a binder and helps produce the chewy texture. I’ve never tried these with any egg substitute.
- Milk – You can use any milk in this recipe, though I prefer one with a higher fat content, like 2% of whole. If you don’t have those, use whatever is in your fridge, including a plant based option if you need to do that for dietary reasons.
- Salt – without salt, these will turn out quite bland! I use kosher salt. If subbing table salt, decrease the amount slightly.
- Cheese – feel free to vary the cheese and discover new combinations. I prefer to use medium or sharp cheddar and parmesan, but most cheeses work well. Stronger flavored cheeses will produce a more flavorful roll. You can experiment with adding more cheese than is called for in the recipe, it’s a little bit of personal preference but I usually measure generously!
Instructions
BLENDER METHOD
- Put all ingredients except cheese in the blender and blitz it up!
- Add cheese and pulse just a couple times
- Quickly pour into prepared muffin tin (I say quickly, so cheese stays distributed.)
- Optionally, you can sprinkle a little more cheese on top. If you add cheese on top they don’t rise quite as high but you get extra cheese flavor.
- Bake until puffed and just barely golden.
- They’ll be a little crispy on the outside and soft, airy, and tender on the inside. Almost a little chewy. Some of them are even kind of hollow. This version is a little less dense than the kneaded dough variety. The yield is anywhere from 16-24 mini muffin rolls, depending on how full you fill them. I fill mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18. When using a standard size muffin tin, you’ll get about 7 large rolls.
TRADITIONAL METHOD
Pay attention to the photos and my explanation here, because while I have made these a ridiculous number of times over the years, the finished dough, with the exact same ingredients and measurements (even weighed to be sure) often turns out with completely different consistencies. And it’s okay!
- First you’ll heat your milk and oil on the stove until just simmering.
- Then you’ll add this to your tapioca flour. You’ll notice in the photos below, I’m adding the flour directly to the pot, but often I put the flour in my mixer, and pour the hot liquid over it and that’s fine too.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Sometimes this mixture comes out smooth and silky like playdough. Other times it’s crumbly like wet sand. You’ll notice the smooth version in the pan below left, and the crumbly batch (with the egg on top) on the right. The lack of consistency has driven me crazy for years, but after trying other people’s recipes and encountering the same thing, I think it’s just part of the fun haha. I know that different brands of tapioca flour have different levels of absorbency, but even with the same bag of flour, I find this still happens, so now I just go with it. Bottom line- either of these outcomes is okay!
3. The next step is beating in the egg, and then the cheese. Ideally, your mixture should look like a wet cookie dough:
4. You can then use a cookie scoop to drop it on a baking sheet and bake until puffed and golden.
SOS!
But let’s say your batter is super runny! There’s no way it will hold its shape. Guess what? Happens to me too! Sometimes it just does that. No problem! If it’s just slightly too wet, you can simply add a bit more tapioca flour and even a bit more cheese. If it’s really loose, simply spoon your batter into a muffin tin (mini OR full size) as opposed to the baking sheet, and they will bake right up and be absolutely delicious. They’ll be a little crispy on the outside and soft, tender, and chewy on the inside.
The yield is anywhere from 16-24 rolls when using a mini muffin tin, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.
Pão de Pizza!
I’ve many people tell me they’ve used this recipe for a gluten free pizza crust so I had to try it. Using the blender method, you can pour 3/4 cup of your batter into a greased pie plate. (The recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups batter it will yield two crusts). Bake until it’s golden brown on the edges- it should puff up on the outside but stay flat in the center like a dutch baby. Remove from oven and spread with a little sauce and cheese and then return to the oven to melt. Once you put toppings on, the center softens a bit but it was good! My kids really liked this.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. With the traditional method, refrigerate dough in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Chilling also helps it set up if it’s a little runny. With the blender method, assembly is seriously so quick I recommend just whipping it up when you want to make them. If you do need to prep the batter ahead of time, be aware the flour will settle after sitting. You’ll want to mix it up extremely well before pouring into your muffin tins.
I wouldn’t intentionally make them before since they’re so great fresh, but you can store baked breads in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in the air fryer. I heated at 300° for about 3-4 minutes and they were amazing. All air fryers differ so you might need to adjust.
If you use the traditional method of preparation, you can scoop the dough onto parchment and then freeze. Place frozen dough balls in an airtight container or zip top back for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding a few minutes onto baking time and they’re as great as they are fresh!
You bet- play around with different cheeses, but I find it most delicious with stronger flavored cheeses like parmesan and sharp cheddar.
You bet. I’ve used both avocado and olive oil with good results. Olive oil will however add a bit of flavor to the roll, while vegetable oil and avocado are neutral flavored oils.
Brazilian Cheese Rolls | Pão de Queijo
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 cup tapioca flour sometimes labeled tapioca starch no substitutions
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese preferably medium or sharp
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Optional: extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add. Try rosemary and or garlic powder my favorites!
Instructions
Quick Blender Version:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a mini (or about 7 wells of a regular-size) muffin tin with non-stick spray or rub with butter. Make sure the whole surface and sides of the well are coated or they will stick.
- Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and pulse just a couple times.
- Immediately pour batter into muffin tin. If you let your batter sit before filling your muffin tins, the ingredients can settle and result in uneven rolls. Fill each well about 3/4 full. If desired, sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan. Serve warm.
Traditional Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or* spray a muffin tin with non stick spray or rub wells with butter (*see note).
- Place milk and oil in a small pot and heat until just simmering and remove from heat.
- Place tapioca flour and salt in a mixing bowl and pour hot milk and oil over top. Beat to combine.
- NOTE: At this point, your mixture might look crumbly and grainy, this is okay.
- Beat in egg.
- Add cheese and beat to combine.
- Scoop dough into balls (I use a cookie scoop, you can do any size you like, I aim for golf ball size) onto parchment-lined baking sheet* and bake until puffed and set on the outside, just slightly golden. Time will vary depending on size, but usually around 15 minutes.
- *NOTE: I’ve made this recipe a million times and have found at this point, sometimes the finished dough is scoop-able like cookie dough, and other times it’s kind of runny like thick pancake batter. Tapioca flour differs in absorption levels and this isn’t unusual. If your dough is not scoopable, you can always add a little bit more flour. But what I usually do is just bake the mixture in a muffin tin as opposed to a baking sheet. They still turn out great!
Notes
- To reheat leftovers, pop in an air fryer at 325 for about 3 minutes. You an also reheat in a warm oven.
- For a gluten free pizza crust, preheat oven to 400°. Use the blender method. Grease a standard pie plate and pour 3/4 cup batter in it immediately after blending. If your batter has been sitting a few minutes, blitz it once before pouring. Bake until edges are puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven and spread a thin layer of sauce and any other toppings, return to oven to melt cheese. One recipe will yield 2 crusts.
Questions & Reviews
I tried the quick version with the blender and it was so good. It’s cheesy but light and puffy. My friends love it.
My family love these delicious cheese breads.
So easy and quick!
I haven’t tried these yet, hpw do you tjinknit would work with arrowroot powder? O just have quite a bit of it.
I have no idea. Tapioca starch is the traditional ingredient here so I’ve never tried anything else. If you give it a shot you’ll have to let me know!
I made your ‘traditional’ recipe today.. they look just like your photos!
It made 16 balls . I used a large melon baller to make them sort of uniform. Baked them at 400º on a heavy duty textured NOT non-stick cookie sheet with light oiling and no parchment paper for 15 min. Then lowered the temp to 375º for the next 5 min.. I tested one at 15 and they seemed to need a bit more time. These are quite different than the blender method.. not quite as light but definitely more filling and equally delicious. Lightly crispy on the outside and stretchy yummy on the inside.
After 10 -15 minutes of cooling their cheesy flavor really comes through. I used a quarter cup of mixed cheddars and quarter cup of mixed fresh parm and asiago. I have 2 questions: Can they be stored for a couple of days in airtight unrefrigerated? or best to refrigerate? Are they different if you freeze the dough and bake them frozen? i’m not a serious baker but I know that sometimes freezing dough makes things really different. Thanks so much for such a great pair of recipes .. so clear with great photos! I love that you give hints and possibilities as you go along. I’ve already shared with a couple of friends.
I’m so glad these were a hit for you! These freeze really great and bake up just the same!
Could you use avocado oil instead?
I’ve never made these with avocado oil but I suspect it would work just fine. I’ll try it next time and see!
This recipe is so easy and so delicious! I made it in the blender and put it into 16 mini muffin cups. I baked it for 15 minutes. It was very tasty and so hard not to eat the whole batch in one sitting. Definitely my go-to recipe now!
Delicious and easy to make! I found these reheat beautifully in the toaster oven just heat at 350 for 5 to 6 min they are crispy outside and tasty inside
ooh this is a great tip, thanks for sharing!
I know you said that these don’t reheat well, but do they taste good once they are cold?
I think they’re best warm, but you can certainly eat them at room temp. I’ve been told they reheat well in the air fryer!
The Brazilian rolls were unusual and excellent! I would make them again again and again! My family loved them.
Made this recipe today, and I think it came out okay for my first-time attempt. Flavor was DELICIOUS, but the appearance and texture weren’t quite there yet. (I used a sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese blend, and substituted a light olive oil for canola, if you’re curious.)
My tapioca flour (my store only carried the Bob’s Red Mill brand) was definitely of the more “pancake batter” variety, and I think I added too much extra to get it to a scoopable consistency. (I had no muffin tins on hand, and I wasn’t in the mood to run to the store and buy one early in the morning.) The puffs were less “puff” and more “dense, chewy bun”. Still tasted amazing, though.
I will also need to play around with the time or temperature to make it work best for my oven. 15 minutes was definitely not enough time in the oven for me. I ultimately pulled them out at 22 minutes with what I thought was the “slightly golden” appearance, but, in hindsight, they could’ve done with a deeper color. I think I could’ve gone for longer (25 min?) or for a higher temp (425 °F?).
I definitely will make this recipe again, though!
Holy fruitcake, those are amazing!! They need to come with a warning. It is highly likely you’ll down the ENTIRE batch by yourself! 🤷🏻♀️🤣
I was so happy to find this recipe with tips and both methods of preparation. I made the traditional method and they came out great. I think I made them a little too big and only got 16 balls from the recipe. The interior of the balls were a little dense, but still tasted delicious. Next time I’ll use a smaller scoop
We would eat these every night if we could. Made these when you first put out the recipe and they are one of our favorites. Tapioca flour was very hard to find at first, but it can be found all over now. So quick and easy and addictive!!!
I’m excited to try these! When we lived in Texas we fell in love with Pao de Queijo at a Brazilian Steakhouse we frequented. I’m always searching for the best recipe to recreate them. This one has just slightly different amounts of ingredients so I’m going to try this one next (maybe tonight!). One question – whats the best way to measure the 1/4 c of cheeses? Do you go by weight? Or what fits lightly into a measuring cup?
Thanks so much!
It doesn’t need to be exact, so I just use a measuring cup!
Gotta try this! After trying these for the first time at a restaurant (didn’t know what they were).
THEY ARE AMAZING! Your recipe looks to be the easiest to make these wonderful puffy cheese bread babies! ????
I do have a recipe question: Does the oil need to be Canola or can a alternative be used?
you can definitely experiment with other oils, I think most would work just fine!
I’ve made these pretty much like you do, but with almost twice as much of the same cheeses- – they turn out a little like popovers. I’m going to try adding a bit of garlic next time. And since I make a lot at a time , when they’re cold putting them in the microwave for a few seconds works just fine. Try them dunked in soup— Sue
I love these cheesy ‘gems’. If there are any left the next day slice them in half horizontally and toast them using a toaster or toaster oven. They taste almost as good as freshly baked. Enjoy!
I tried these cheese rolls at a Brazilian restaurant and I’m so glad I found this recipe! It tastes exactly like the one I tried for the first time! It’s easy to make and always a hit. Thank you!
Due to having numerous food intolerances, I had to make this dairy free. Thankfully it was already gluten and soy free. In case anyone else is interested, I substitute non-dairy milk (almond, cashew or coconut) for the milk, olive oil for the canola oil, and daiya vegan cheese for the cheddar. I’ve even added some nutritional yeast in place of parmesan. I still think they are delicious, as does the rest of the family. Thanks for the recipe!
I am so mad that I found this recipe, and that it was so easy and delicious!
Now I’ll probably be making this weekly…damnit!
And I already made them again… They were eaten within seconds…I think I’m going to attempt to make them in a full sized cupcake pan next to see if I can make bigger ones, maybe like popovers for Thanksgiving! I only have one mini pan with 12 muffins, and this recipe makes 2 1/2 trays. I just don’t have the patience to wait for all to be made before eating them…
I’ve had the frozen version of this dozens of times. I masde this tonight and will never buy them frozen again. I freaked out a bit because it was liquidy from the blender, but puffed up beautifully! My boyfriend who prefers food “with gluten” as he says, LOVED these! I’ll defiantly make again! Thanks!
Thank you! They are a wonderful treat for a gluten-free person! Yummy!!!
I don’t usually comment on these threads, but just had to say thank you for this recipe! I had tried the Brazi Bites brand and thought they were just ok but way overpriced, and I searched for a easy homemade version and found this. I have since made it over 10 times at least. And no matter how accurate my measuring has been or (more likely) not been, the end result turns out pretty great. I haven’t tried adding the herbs yet, but have tried all sorts of cheese combinations, using whatever I have on hand. Today’s version featured a bagged shredded Mexican blend…tastes great as usual. I love that you can experiment with all sorts of flavor combinations with this easy recipe! I should add I’m not much of a cook, but this one turns out great for me. I have never been to Brazil, so I have no idea how “authentic” these are, but I don’t care about that. I will say not everyone in my family cares for these, might be more from the texture than taste (I describe these as having a mochi-like consistency/chew…but they are also really airy too), but that just means more for me! 🙂 It’s embarrassing to admit it, but I can easily eat half a batch of these all by myself! Anyways, long story short, thanks for a great, yummy, easy recipe!!!
Um, not embarrassing at ALL – I can totally eat an entire batch! I’m so glad you loved these!
I am going to try this recipe, but the one I got from my Daughter-in-Law (born and raised in Brazil) is delicious and easy. It is a thicker dough, and I can roll it in my hand and bake on a cookie sheet or freeze them to bake later. They are just as good frozen, then baked, but like you said, are best warm out of the oven.
The recipe is:
1 cup of Tapioka flour
1 egg (beaten)
12-18 oz of Queso Fresco (white Mexican cheese) shredded or broken into sm pieces
Mix all together, knead, roll into balls (size of quarter)
Bake @ 350, 10-15 minutes,
or freeze for baking later.
I made these for a Brazilian Carnaval celebration. I’ve never had them before, but I was told by several native Brazilians the recipe is spot on! Thank you for sharing a delightful new tradition!
So I just made these, and the flavor is just fantastic!!! These are totally on point but I’m afraid I’m going to eat them ALL!!! LOVE THIS RECIPE!!!!!