Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread {Pao de Queijo}
Get this simple recipe for gluten-free Brazilian cheese bread, also known as Pao de Queijo! Chewy little balls of cheesy bread. Yum!
I couldn’t believe how many of you guessed correctly when I posted a picture of these babies on Facebook last week and asked if you knew what they were. I’m so proud, you little foodies, you.
A million dollars to all of you (except for those that guessed yorkshire puddings and cream puffs, no offense).
Long live pao de queijo! Or for all you other non-Portuguese speakers like me, Brazilian cheese bread. Easy Brazilian cheese bread. Gluten-free, easy Brazilian cheese bread. Delicious gluten-free, easy Brazilian cheese bread.
I wasn’t kidding in my Facebook post that Brian could polish off this entire batch if left alone.
He spent a couple years living in Brazil and doesn’t want to brag, but would like me to state, for the record, that he still considers himself (15 years later) a pao de queijo expert.
Of course Brazilians don’t necessarily make these in mini muffin tins and there are a few other differences to the authentic street food of Brian’s memories, but this quick knockoff recipe definitely fulfills the cravings and our entire family has been converted to the power and tastiness of pao de queijo.
The texture of pao de queijo is chewy. Chewy, cheesy and delicious.
This is due in part to the cheese used in the very thin batter, but it is also helped along by the tapioca flour (same thing as tapioca starch). I’m afraid there aren’t any substitutions for this ingredient but the good news is that because tapioca flour is used widely in gluten-free cooking and baking, I’ve seen it in most grocery stores these days (we’ve come so far!).
I buy mine on Amazon (the Bob’s Red Mill brand) which works great for us since we make these easy cheesy little puffs all the time.
If you’ve never had pao de queijo, methinks now is the time!
Get yourself some tapioca flour, a bit of Parmesan cheese (see the note in the recipe for other cheese options) and a mini muffin tin and you will be set.
I promise you’ll want to make these over and over again. Just remember the Official Pao De Queijo Rules:
1) They must be eaten warm. must.
2) Don’t let them get too brown on the bottom – they’ll lose their chewiness.
3) You might as well just bite the bullet and double the batch.
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Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread {Pao de Queijo}
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable or olive oil
- ⅔ cup milk
- 1 ½ cups (177 g) tapioca flour, fluff the flour before measuring
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (57 g) packed shredded cheese, like Parmesan or Asiago (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a mini muffin tin (this makes about 16-24 little breads so if you don’t have a muffin tin large enough, you can just make separate batches after the first ones come out).
- In a blender, combine the egg, oil, milk, flour and salt. Process until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender once or twice. Add the cheese and process for just a short bit, 5-10 seconds or a few short pulses, until the cheese is in small bits all throughout the batter.
- Give the batter a good stir to get any solids off the bottom and pour the mixture into the prepared muffin tin filling the cups nearly to the top.
- Bake the pao de queijo until very lightly golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Don’t let them get too brown on the bottom or they will be too crusty and not as chewy.
- Remove them from the oven and let them cool for just a minute or two. They are best eaten warm! Don’t worry if the cute little puffs fall a bit in the middle – that’s completely normal.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: tweaked this recipe thanks to Brian’s experience devouring these babies when he lived in Brazil
My favorite pao de queijo recipe! It’s so easy to make (only one mixing “bowl” – the blender) and has turned out well every time I’ve made it. I’ve experimented with the cheeses and I think my favorite I’ve tried has been half grated parmesan and half grated sharp cheddar. Without the parmesan it’s not quite as salty so I’ve added a pinch of salt on top. Either way, you can’t go wrong with this recipe. My mom and I will devour a whole batch of these perfect balls of cheesy goodness!
I make these often and my family loves them. I changed the recipe a little. In stead of 1/2 a cup of cheese I use 2 cups, and I add a little garlic powder to the blender. When they come out of the oven I brush the top with a little melted garlic butter. They come out perfect with a lot of flavor
Not sure how I liked these. I used a scale to weigh the flour and the cheese, and I think they turned out just as they should, but there was no flavor to me. My husband said the same. Also, the texture kind of threw me off. Probably won’t be making these again.
We like to use cotija cheese for this. Also, sometimes my kids like to pour small amounts of batter in the waffle iron instead of using a mini muffin pan. It’s a fun variation. The texture of these is different than normal breads/rolls etc and I wasn’t sure I liked them at first but when we tried them in the waffle iron I liked them better. Also at first we used Parmesan cheese and I like the cotija a lot better. Thanks for this recipe!
Perusing your site, saving recipes to my Prepear app (typical Wednesday night) when this recipe pops up and I happened to have some asiago needing a good use. So I got my sick pregnant buns off the couch and got to baking! Nothing sounds good to me at 7 weeks prego… Except this bread. THANK YOU! Hubs and I are enjoying a late night snack, watching a show, not having to share with the piranhas… I mean children… asleep upstairs. You’re always the best!
Haha. Hear you on the piranhas. 🙂 Glad you love this bread! (Sorry you are sick!)
This time I made with the freshly grated parmesan – outstanding as always.
Mel, is this gluten free?
Yes
I used all queso fresco and they were fabulous. Even at room temp they are delicious. Love that you can prepare the batter ahead of time and refrigerate.
My kiddos love this bread!! Thank you for the recipe
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for months but never seem to have both the cheese and the flour on hand at the same time. Desperate to finally try it, I subbed in mozzarella and they were a hit. The saltiness of parm would be even better, I’m sure. But for a quick and fun side dish, they were tasty even with the substitution. Thanks for the recipe! I’m excited to try them again.
I have tried different recipes for Pao de Queijo and this is by far the best. I have family in Brazil and love these for breakfast with coffee. I just finished making my first batch and it was great.
I made one “mistake” I bought shredded Parmesan cheese in a tub, since I didn’t read all the way through the tips, but it turned out fine. I also used lactose/ fat free milk and it didn’t affect the results.
Every time I try to make Brazilian Cheese Bread, I end up with a very thick batter. Your recipe instructs to stir to get the solids off the bottom. I haven’t had it turn out thin enough to have solids on the bottom. (This has been an issue with other recipes for Brazilian Cheese Bread as well as yours.) This time I weighed tapioca and ground it into flour. It ended up being slightly more than one cup. I thought it would turn out better, but it was still very thick. I ended up adding more milk. I didn’t measure it, but it was probably about 1/2 cup. Any ideas why this is an issue for me? The bread tastes delicious, but I’m wondering why my batter is so thick.
How are you measuring the tapioca flour into the measuring cup? Do you feel like it is packed or loose? That’s the only reason I can think that your batter would be so thick – this batter when we make it is pretty runny. I fluff up the tapioca flour a bit (carefully cause it’s messy) and then scoop the cup in and level it off.
I will admit that I don’t sift, but usually I will at least fluff the flour a bit before measuring. The batter has been really thick even when I have used flour that I have just ground from tapioca, which is plenty loose. Maybe I just need to come hang out at your house for a while and watch you make some–and of course eat them with you. 🙂 Fortunately it has worked to add extra milk to the batter and they still come out delicious, but I just can’t figure out why the consistency of the batter is off. Thanks for replying.
These are so good! I made a little change the last time I made them since I was making them with Italian food. I lessened the salt in the recipe and then after I got them out of the oven spread a garlic mixture over the top (2 tablespoons melted butter and lawrys garlic salt) it was delicious! My toddlers loved it, and my husband, and our dinner guests. They were novel and delicious and SO easy to make!
Omg fantastic recipe and so easy to make!!!
I have made these so many times and they are HUGE hit! Each time i make them, I get bigger and bigger holes in the bottom though. I know a few people have commented about this issue, but wondered if you have figured out what would cause that? I made them again today, the same as i always make them and this time they puffed up so big like a little muffin and the ENTIRE thing was hollow. Any suggestions?? I’m so sad they aren’t working out!
Hey Britney – I’ve wondered the same thing! We’ve made these for years and it seems like some batches have huge holes and others do not. I’ve tried experimenting with blending times (too long vs too short), texture of the the grated cheese, and oven temperature and honestly, I’m puzzled. I haven’t figured out why the holes appear in some batches and not others. I’m sorry I’m not more help! If I have any breakthroughs I’ll update this thread, but just know you aren’t alone!
Wow this cheese bread is so good! First time i have made it.
Glad you enjoyed it, Glen! Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Mel,
Do you grease the mini cupcake trays before adding the batter in? Can’t wait to try it!
Melissa
Oops, forgot to ask.
If we make it the night before and refrigerate it overnight, do we need the batter to get to room temperature before baking it?
Thanks!
No, I use refrigerated batter all the time and it works great.
Yes, I lightly grease with cooking spray.
Easy recipe, and it turned out GREAT !
We all just loooooooooved the buns.
Thank you
Do these reheat or keep at all? My son is home from college for the summer and would love these, but his working hours are such that I’d need to make them before he could eat them. Thanks!
My kids eat the leftovers and love them – they don’t warm them up, just eat them at room temp.
Hi Mel! What do you think about subbing potato starch for tapioca flour? I’ve got some left from Passover. Thanks!
I don’t think the results will be the same, but I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know for sure.
Anybody live in high elevation? Not sure if I should add an extra 2 tbs of tapioca flour. I haven’t tried making it yet but don’t want to waste a batch.
I tried a pao recipe from Bon Appetit because I hadn’t found this yet, and mine were pancakes (but tasty pancakes). I also added more flour (almost another cup to a 4c recipe) because the dough was so wet… still kinda flat… not sure what to do here.
So I tried these tonight (for my very picky kids) and they didn’t like them! (Because they are also crazy!) Would these be less slimy with quest fresco? I think that’s what threw them- the Parmesan is slimy. I loved them though!
You could definitely experiment with cheeses (we use Parmesan 99% of the time). The texture is definitely…kind of…squishy. They take some getting used to for some people (whereas my kids will eat the whole batch – yikes!).
Thanks! I’m going to try a Parmesan/quest fresco combo tonight to feed missionaries.. I know I will eat them if no one else does! These are a great combo with your red beans and rice – DELISH! Simple,healthy comfort food (three words that don’t usually go together ha!)
Oh my goodness auto correct keeps changing my queso to quest! How annoying lol!
Wonderful.. Have tried various recipes for daughter who is GF and she loved these. We made two batches today. One with just queso fresco and one with queso fresco and parmesan. Thanks so much for such a great treat.
I finally tried these for the first time and they were such a hit! I followed the directions exactly, weighed the tapioca flour and the Parmesan cheese, and used canola oil. It made exactly 24 for me and every single one was devoured within 10 minutes of them coming out of the oven. We had them with the garden vegetable soup on your site and both recipes were delicious!
How far in advance can I prepare the dough? I am thinking of adding it to a buffett for the 50 year anniversary of my inlaws, so I naturally have already quite a bit on my hands, but IF i could prepare the dough lets says at least 3 hours in advance I should ba able to pull it off by simply leaving in it a plastic bag, cutting off one edge and fill the mini-muffinforms just before baking and serve it hot….
Yes, you can prep the batter in advance – just keep it refrigerated until serving!
These were sooooo perfect and soooo easy!!! Love love love these!!!
Ok, I’ve made these twice this week and here’s my opinion… They must be made with canola or veggie oil. I made them with canola and Parmesan cheese on the first go and they were fluffy chewy little bites of heaven even though I did get the holes in the bottom… didn’t bother me because the taste was delicious. After reading reviews I tried olive oil, parm and a teeny bit cheddar. Bleh, I just chucked them in the bin, my husband politely ate three then admitted to disliking them only after I tossed the lot of them. Yes they didn’t have the holes in the bottom but they were dense and tasted like olive oil balls. Lesson learned. Canola oil all the way!
Wow! I made these this morning to go with your Slow cooker red beans and rice with Chicken Sausage this evening. Had to make them early ’cause it’s already heating up here in NM and we haven’t got our swamp cooler going yet. I am so glad I made these, yum. I ate three for breakfast, shh, don’t tell my husband. He is going to love these.
I made them with Cojita cheese and olive oil after reading thru the comments. Worked great. Mine were really puffy, I think I may have ovver filled the cups a bit. They also do have holes in some of the bottoms (I think that’s just from the steam escaping?). But they are so good, and easy! Thank you for a great recipe.
I made these in a regular muffin tin, divided the batter between 12 cups and they turned out fine! (For all those who asked because you don’t own a mini muffin tin) 🙂
I finally made these tonight, and they were delicious and so quick to have a bread side dish for dinner! I used half sharp cheddar and half parmesan. The little cheesy bread bites are my favorite thing at Brazilian restaurants like Tucanos. My little kids loved them- “You’re the best Mom! You’re the best cook! Well, actually, we should say that MEL is the best”. So true :). Thanks for another great recipe!
I did the batter in the blender and it was very difficult. I recommend doing it by hand or in the mixer
Have made a couple different versions of this recipe and yours is by FAR the best. Turned out to perfection. So others know, I used arrowroot powder instead of tapioca and it was a perfect substitute with no issues. Thx for the awesome recipe!
I have always made these with canola oil and the tops always sunk and there were holes in the bottoms as well (still tasted great, but not as pretty to look at). Last month I tried making them with olive oil and they didn’t sink and there were no holes in the bottoms, so maybe that is the problem for some of the other commenters who have had that happen. Either way they are delicious, but I will be making mine with olive oil from now on. Thanks for the great recipe!
can you freeze these before baking or can you freeze them after baking? Thanks!
I’ve never frozen them because we eat them too quickly! But you could certainly try.
I found this recipe a couple of months ago and have made it probably at least once a week since then. I – no joke – can and will eat like 15 at once. It’s ridiculous. Also, I made quite a few of your recipes for Thanksgiving and even my brother in law who is a bit of a food snob deemed the stuffing “one of the best things he’s ever eaten.” So thank you for all you do! You are very appreciated allllllllll the way over in Nampa.
Thank you, Erica!
Hi Mel, I’ve discovered that these freeze and re-heat well. Not a problem in your house I know, but with only two in mine I try to make sure we don’t scoff an entire batch in one go!
Hiya Caroline. Did you try Microwave reheating (pbbly won’t work)? Or oven? How about in a skillet to brown a bit more? Gracias.
Wow, I made these with the summer garden vegetable soup. a great combo. Since i didn’t have any milk, I borrowed a 1/3 c of condensed milk from the soup recipe and mixed it with a 1/3 c of H2O to equal the 2/3 cup milk required for this recipe and it was easy to grate parmesan for both recipes at the same time. I couldn’t believe how easy this recipe was. I was worried because the batter was so thin but the little cheese breads were perfect. I appreciated the tips about not over mixing, not getting the cheese breads too brown and to get the tapioca starch at an asian market. I wondered if there is some interactive website way to keep track of the recipes I have tried.
No baking powder or baking soda ?
Nope.
I suggest Asian grocery stores tapioca starch same as flour only $.99 for 14 oz. and such interesting shopping for adventurous types. Tofu and noodles really cheap if you are semi vegetarian and try Thai basil it’s a delicious revelation.
Hi mel. Can I mix the batter for the cheese bread earlier and keep in frig until ready to cook? How long will it keep in frig? Thanks. Trying then for South American dinner after our travels there earlier this year,
Yep! You can mix it up 1-2 days in advance. Just give it a good stir before pouring it into the muffin tins.
Hey – I had these breads when I was in Brazil and loved them! I’m so glad I’ve found the recipe and that it’s so easy! I originally thought it might be a bit complex but glad to see its simple.
However, I am based in the Uk and wanted to know whether I could substitute Cassava flour for the tapioca flour as I can’t seem to find tapioca flour here?
Thanks x
I’m not familiar with cassava flour – your best bet may be to look online to see if tapioca flour can sub well for that type of flour.
Tapioca and cassava flour are one and the same! Cassava, tapioca, yucca and mandioca are all the same tubereous vegetable grown in the tropics.
So… When I made this, it was about as pourable as baked bread, so I added another egg and a WHOLE lot more milk, and I still had to spoon it into the muffin tin. Exactly what consistency do you expect to get from this? I used a bag of manioc flour (harina de mandioca cruda) – was this the wrong stuff?
Hi Amy – sorry this didn’t work out for you but I think the issue is in the flour. My husband, who lived in Brazil, said the flour you used is traditional to the pao de queijo made in Brazil. I’ve never seen that type of flour and don’t have easy access to it which is why the recipe I posted was developed with tapioca flour. I’m guessing the other ingredient amounts need to be adjusted if using the mandioca.
My son has Celiac Disease so I tried these and they’re a great little…roll! (Treat? Snack? Pop-over?) I used a small ninja prep and some have holes bottom and/or top, while others look fine. They all taste great! I finished my tapioca starch for this so I may have been a tad light on that, causing the holes? I just used packaged shredded “Mexican Blend” cheese this time, but I’ll have to experiment. THANK YOU! 🙂
Hi Allyson, I’m glad you liked these! I’ve gotten holes in the bottom of them a time or two. I’m not positive about why it happens but I suspect it might be overmixing…usually it’s happened after the kids have helped and run the blender too long. 🙂
Well, these are a hit no matter what, so I’ve made them at least a half-dozen times….always hollow on the bottom. Last few times I just whisked the ingredients, no change to the end result. Maybe it’s my pan or oven temperature?
Guess what, though? These can be waffles if you’re so inclined! My little guys love when I make PdQ waffles OR “pow pow” as they call the original version.
Thanks! I may not solve the hollow bottom mystery, but we’ll enjoy trying. 🙂
Love the waffle idea!
Just made them and have eaten 5 in 2 minutes. Your recipe was amazing. I think the person above making her own tapioca probably affected the recipe, as I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out just like the pao de queijos i had in Rio last week. Thanks!
I remember cheese bread from when I lived in Brazil 45 years ago. I love it. I made this recipe exactly as directed. A NASA engineer could not have been more precise! But the finished batter was more the consistency of play dough – nothing you could pour into the muffin tins. In addition it nearly killed my vitamix it was so dense. The end result was good but kind of heavy and solid . I get the impression it should have been a looser batter. What do you suppose happened? I did grind my own tapioca flour from tapioca – could that have altered the amount I added somehow? Or are you SUPPOSED to be able to roll it into golf balls? Thanks for the recipe. Maybe I will give it another go.
Hi Deb – I definitely think it’s probably from grinding your own tapioca flour. I’ve never done that myself but it’s the only thing that would so drastically affect the texture if you followed the recipe exactly. The batter should be quite thin and pourable. Next time I make it I’ll weigh the tapioca flour to see what the weight measure is (do you have a scale)?
My family is a fan of these from a local brazilian restaurant, so I followed your recipe to make these for a christmas eve dinner party (still going on at the moment, in australia) instead of having dinner rolls. They came out perfect. Thanks!
I tried to use corn starch today but it was kind of hard and not chewy at all. Do you know it’s because of the corn starch (not tapioca starch)?
Hi Victor – yes, unfortunately as far as I know, there aren’t any substations for tapioca starch that will lend the same texture to the pao de queijo.
Oh.my.gosh. These were DELICIOUS. I have a feeling I’ll be making these all the time now. They were so simple to make! I used cojita cheese and they were perfect. Thank you!
I’m so sad! These look so amazing and I’ve ordered the tapioca flour from amazon and it was supposed to get here today and it’s still not here. *Insert pouty face* Ok, sorry about the rant, I’m just so excited to try these! I’ve been looking forward to it all day and I knew you would sympathize. Hopefully it will come soon and I’ll be able to enjoy a midnight snack! 🙂 Thanks for all your amazing recipes, you are an inspiration to me!
I hate it when that happens! I can totally commiserate and stalk the UPS guy until he delivers my amazon stuff. 🙂
Wondering if these can be prepared ahead and frozen for future use.
donna – I’ve only ever made them fresh but you could certainly try freezing after baking – I think if they were reheated gently, they’d probably work out well.
I did make and freeze them, to good results!
Also, I used the cheese that was in my fridge, which happened to be gouda with cumin seeds. Wow – yummy! (not totally Brazilian, I guess, but a big hit nonetheless).
Hi – can you tell me how you reheated these? I am needing to make a whole lot of these for a party and would like to make them ahead of time and reheat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
We usually microwave them for a few seconds but if I were warming up a large batch, I’d probably pile them in a 9X13-inch pan or something, cover with foil and reheat in a 250 degree oven for 10 minutes or so.