If you have never tried Pão de Queijo then you are really missing out. It’s a Brazilian Cheese bread made with feta cheese and tapioca flour. It’s super yummy, especially for being gluten free!
One of the only down sides is that feta cheese stinks like baby throw up; so when you bake it up, your house might smell like baby throw up. That taste is worth it though.
My kids don’t like feta cheese but they LOVE this bread. If you eat too much you might get a little sick. They don’t taste good the next day either. This recipe make a lot so it’s nice that you can freeze the dough balls and bake them up later. Maybe even every day if you really want.
I lived in Brazil for 18 months serving a mission for my church. It was a great experience and one thing that I loved about Brazil, was the food. They main food is rice and beans and I’m so grateful that I love rice and beans. I never got sick of them. The area that I lived didn’t really have Pão de Queijo but I was still able to eat some while I was there. I was in a really poor area so they didn’t have luxuries like Feta Cheese. I did have some made from packages but it’s nothing like eating them made from scratch. We have a few restaurants in the area that serve Brazil Churrascos but their Pão de Quiejo isn’t nearly as good as this.
First of all, you’re going to need a big mixing bowl. I’ve done it in a KitchenAid but it just about ruined it. It fits really nicely in my Bosch which is what I recommend anyway.
No need to do anything special with the ingredients. Just dump it all in the mixer and mix.
Once it’s all mixed and looking a little smooth then you can use a 50 scoop to scoop the dough into the perfect size balls. You don’t have to use it but it’s nice having a uniform size.
Bake them at 405 degrees for 30-40 minutes. It took 30 minutes with fresh balls but a little longer with the frozen ones. They will turn a nice golden color. These have dark spots from the cheese. If you mix a litte longer then you shouldn’t have them. It did not effect the taste at all.
It kind of has a little gummy texture to it which is pure deliciousness. It’s less gummy as you let it sit and cool longer. I love to eat them warm.
Jules was a pretty big fan too, even though her hands smelled like baby throw up.
All the kids kept coming back for more.
Pão de Queijo
1 kilogram Tapioca Flour (azedo…sour) (2.2 pounds)
2.83 lbs. Feta Cheese
8 Eggs
½ Tbsp. Salt
1 cup Cold Water
6 Tbsp. Butter (cut up)
1-Make sure you have all your ingredients and clean your work area.
2-Turn your oven on to 405 degrees.
3-Add all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. I used the Bosch mixer which can handle it all. It’s important to weigh the feta cheese and the tapioca flour. Try to find the sour tapioca flour because it is better. If you can’t find it, the regular tapioca flour will be fine. You can find it cheaper at an international store but I added a link so you know what to look for.
4-Once it’s all mixed well, use a size 50 scoop and scoop the dough into balls until it’s all gone. You can fit about 20 per sheet pan.
5-Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a good golden color.
6-If you want to freeze some, put a lid on and freeze on the sheet pan until fully frozen. After frozen, place in a freezer bag and freeze up to three month. Bake frozen balls at 405 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
7-Clean up mess.
8-Eat, Share, Enjoy!!!
