I’ve been meaning to make these for a while (and I’m still in hibernation mode). Had I known how easy and fast this bread is, I’d have done it a lot sooner. Prep time is less than 10 minutes, and it’s gluten-fee.
Calling it “bread” doesn’t seem quite right, however. It’s more like a cheesy popover.
Serve this as an appetizer or a snack, or just the bread course before dinner, perhaps with an herb butter.
Since I was making it as a snack, I made a quick little spread to serve with it.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup tapioca flour
½ cup milk at room temperature
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg room temperature
½ teaspoon Salt
¼ cup Mozzarella cheese
¼ cup Cheddar cheese
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 400.
In a blender or a food processor bowl, add the tapioca flour, milk, oil, salt and egg.
Pulse it a few times to blend it into a smooth batter.
Add the cheese and just do couple of small pulses to combine everything. It will be a wet batter and a bit lumpy.
Grease the muffin pan liberally.
Fill each hole halfway with the batter. This allows plenty of space to let the bread puff up. If you fill them too much, the centers may not cook enough before the outside burns.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until the bread is crusty on the outside and lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven and let it sit for couple of minutes in the pan.
Carefully remove the Pão de Queijo in a bowl and serve warm.
Blue Cheese and Basil Spread
This doesn’t make a large amount, but the bread is very moist, so you won’t need much. you can double the recipe if you like.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 brick of cream cheese
1/4 cup creamy type of blue cheese*
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
6-8 fresh basil leaves
METHOD
*I don’t recommend buying blue cheese “crumbles,” or any pre-grated or crumbled cheese. They’re treated with a non-caking agent that dries them out and makes them unfit for many recipes.
Bring the cream cheese and blue cheese to room temperature.
Chop the basil leaves finely.
Mix everything thoroughly and give these little golden nuggets a little schmear.
I’m wondering if subconsciously, I chose something Brazilian because, well, it was 89 degrees there today. That’s enough to make a girl swoon.
Then again, so is this bread.
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