Brazilian cheese bread: easy homemade pão de queijo

This Brazilian cheese bread recipe makes pão de queijo with a crisp outside and a soft center. A favorite from Minas Gerais, it works well for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Better still, making it at home is simpler than it may seem.

Ingredients for Brazilian cheese bread

Gather the ingredients before you start. For the starch, look for polvilho azedo, or sour cassava starch. This is the ingredient used in the original recipe.

• 500 g sour cassava starch (polvilho azedo)
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 300 g grated semi-cured cheese or aged Minas cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt

How to make the dough

First, heat the milk, oil and salt in a saucepan until almost boiling. Put the starch in a separate bowl. Then pour the hot mixture over it and stir well. The dough will look rough at this stage, which is normal. Let it cool slightly before adding the eggs.

Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the grated cheese. Knead with your hands until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.

Shape the dough into small balls. Place them on a greased baking tray, leaving space between them. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the outside turns golden.

Tips for better Brazilian cheese bread

Sour cassava starch gives the bread its characteristic texture. Therefore, avoid replacing it entirely with sweet cassava starch. In addition, a more mature cheese gives the dough a stronger flavor.

You can also freeze the shaped dough before baking. When you want a fresh batch, bake the balls straight from the freezer. This makes it easy to keep Brazilian cheese bread ready for another breakfast or snack.

See the original pão de queijo recipe in Portuguese.