Authentic Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)
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Finally!
Guys, you have to promise to love me forever. I’ve been wanting to post a Brazilian Cheese Bread (aka Pão de Queijo) recipe here ever since I started my blog, almost a year ago. I’ve tried and played with recipes a bazillion times, and it was never like the pão de queijo I get back home.
The last recipe I tried before this one was ok. Not “OMG this is the best cheese bread I’ve ever eaten” good, but still delicious in its way. So I almost posted here… I even had this whole speech on my mind about how you can attempt to make Brazilian cheese bread in the U.S., but it will never be as good as the one you find in Brazil, since it’s so hard to find sour manioc starch and almost impossible to find “meia cura” cheese. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, it took me a loooot of attempts, but I finally came up with the perfect recipe that you can make with ingredients you will find at your local grocery store. And I dare say it tastes better than many of the pães de queijo I had back home… You’re welcome! :P
The result? The softest, gooiest, most flavorful cheese bread you will ever taste. The ugly moles you see all over the rolls? That means that they are incredibly cheesy. If you’re a cheeseaholic, like me, you should always want ugly moles on your Brazilian cheese breads!
Pão de queijo is an typical Brazilian snack, originally from the states Minas Gerais and Goiás. We don’t know exactly where and when it originated, but it is suspected that it was around the 18th century, during the slavery period, in the “fazendas mineiras” (farms located in Minas Gerais).
It was customary to serve the masters bread and coffee in the afternoon (hence our “afternoon coffee” instead of “afternoon tea”). However, in Brazil, wheat products just started being largely produced in the 20s, so the cooks had to use manioc products. Those were widely available since they were used long before colonization. So to make the breads, they had to use tapioca flour (or manioc starch), and then, by mixing it with cheese, they created the first pães de queijo from Minas.
The pães de queijo baked in wood burning stoves and were prepared with ingredients produced in their own farms.
Fast forward to the 50’s when the recipe became popular all over the country and then again until nowadays when it’s popular all over the world.
Technically, pão de queijo shouldn’t be considered “bread”. I was debating calling them “rolls” or “puffs”, but SEO likes “cheese bread”, so I went for it! You will find them called either of those terms. You will also find lots of different recipes as every Brazilian has a family recipe that they swear by.
Some people make them crustier (and tougher) and others, like me, prefer them soft and pillowy! Some go light on the cheese and others (ahem! You’re looking at one!) stuff that baby with as much cheese as they can.
The original recipe uses manioc starch (either sour or sweet) and “meia cura” cheese. I guess you could claim my recipe isn’t really authentic since I’m using tapioca flour and parmesan/mozzarella. But let’s not rain on my parade, okay? :P :P :P
Brazilian cheese bread is tasty as it gets, since they are so flavorful due to the cheese and the tapioca flour. However, feel free to serve them with butter or even some dulce de leche! Yum!
Also, if you’ve seen other pão de queijo recipes out there, they were probably showcased next to a steamy cup of black coffee. Now, yes they go amazing together, but I always like to have my pão de queijo along with a glass of ice cold Guaraná (the national Brazilian soda)!
What? You’ve never had Guaraná? You need to try it right now! It’s delicious!
Make sure you get a few bottles or cans so you can have some friends over for this authentic Brazilian snack: “pão de queijo com Guaraná”. I mean, only if you’re in a sharing mood… Because there would be no judgement on my part of you eat the whole 30 rolls (puffs?) this recipe makes.
Or I you can do it like me and freeze some, that way I’ll always have fresh pão de queijo out of the oven. They taste better out of the oven! The leftovers usually lose the texture… But in case you do have leftovers, they are great for sandwiches! :)
But now you will have to excuse me cause I have a batch coming out of the oven! Oooh the smell…
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Authentic Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)
Ingredients
- 4 cups tapioca flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 tablespoons oil
- 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F degrees with a rack in the middle.
- Combine the milk, water, oil and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Add the tapioca flour to the bowl of a stand mixer and, once the milk mixture boils, pour it over the flour. Turn the mixer on and mix it well. The texture will be fondant-like, really white and sticky.
- With the mixer still on, add the eggs, one at a time. You will think they won't mix, since the tapioca flour mixture is so sticky, but hang in there cause they will.
- Once the eggs are incorporated, add the cheese, a little at a time, until fully incorporated.
- The dough is supposed to be soft and sticky. However, if you're worried it's too liquidy, add some more tapioca flour. Just don't over do it or your cheese bread will be tough and not too gooey.
- To shape the balls, wet your hands with cold water and, using a spoon, scoop some of the dough to shape balls that are a little smaller than golf-sized.
- Place the balls on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bring it to the preheat oven.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden and puffed.
- Serve them warm! :)
Notes
To freeze them, shape the balls, place them on the baking sheet and bring to the freezer. Once they are frozen, transfer to a ziplock bag and keep them in the freezer up to 3 months.
Once you're ready to use them, preheat the oven to 400 as usual and bake the frozen balls for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and puffy!
Once you're ready to use them, preheat the oven to 400 as usual and bake the frozen balls for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and puffy!
297 Comments on “Authentic Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)”
Oi Olívia, se eu substituir a mussarela pelo queijo Gruyère dá certo?
Da sim, Aline! :)
What did I do wrong?!
I followed the recipe (but halved it). It seems way to liquify so I added more tapioca till it got to a doughy consistency. I rolled it into balls but then they melted in the oven into a chewy flat bread?!
THANK YOU so much for your recipe! We absolutely loved these Brazilian cheese breads — so tasty, soft, gooey, warm, and delicious! I followed your recipe to a tee, except I didn’t roll the dough with wet hands; instead, I used my “wet” mini ice-cream scoop by dipping it in water and scooping out the balls, and they turned out perfectly! Will definitely make these again :D. YUMMY!
Made them. Mmmmmm. Tagged you on fb
Delicious! It tastes just like my grandma’s pão de queijo.
I added oil in my hands to roll the balls – grandma’s tips – it makes it more golden and crunchy outside and soft inside.
Thank you, Olivia. Made my day!
I just made these today and used cheddar instead of parmesan because I didnt have any on hand. Otherwise I followed your recipe ecactly and they turned out great! I had difficulty rolling them with my hands so I just used 2 spoons to form a rough ball and they puffed out perfectly in the oven!
My daughter and I just made these, they are really good and we’ll definitely be making them again. The only thing is, it turned out too salty even though I only added 1.5 teaspoon salt. Next time I will add a lot last salt and probably less cheese as well.
This was SO good and got rave reviews from my party – 5 stars times 9! Extra points for gluten free – my friend with Celiac’s took the rest of them home :) So, I don’t have a mixer… I dove in with both hands and my kids took turns putting in the eggs and cheese. Once I got it mixed, and scraped the dough off my hands, I used the cold water idea to make the balls, which made the rest of the process very easy. Unfortunately, I discovered I only had one tiny piece of parchment paper left so I just spray my pans. The rolls on those pans did not compare to the glory of the parchment paper rolls, but we were still happy. Thank you!
I just made this recipe. The dough was WAY too wet, even after adding more tapioca flour, to roll into balls. I ended up spooning the batter into muffin pans, filling each 1/2 way. I baked them in a 400-degree oven for 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking. They came out pretty good, but would probably have been better had I not added so much extra flour. The centers were nice a gooey and they taste good.
Actually- tapioca flour (or starch) is the same thing as manioc starch. Tapioca comes from the manioc plant. So – it’s very authentic!
Do you use a the bread dough mixer attachment or the whisk attachment on your stand mixer? Going to try this today!
I use the paddle attachment!
Thank you so much for this recipe, Olivia! I missed pao de queijo so much. I just made them and they were fabulous! It even converted my non-brazilian boyfriend into loving it!
I made these today and they turned out great. They were absolutely delicious! The texture and taste was very similar to the ones I have had at the Brazilian restaurant Fogo De Chao.
The dough was wet and sticky as described in the article and in the comments. I just scooped the dough into mini muffin tins using a cookie scoop. I sprayed the scoop with a cooking spray before using it.
Came out perfect, making no changes to the above recipe. Cruntchy on the outside but not hard and nice and cheese gooey on the inside.
They didnt ball at all on the cookie sheet and i was thinking “oh great a failure” but once in the oven they completely balooned to perfection.
We had these every morning in brazil and they really bring back memories.
Bonus points to the author for including freezing instructions so we can have them fresh at any time.
Thank you!
I’m not a cook AT ALL but my son turned 11 and his beloved Brazilian Steakhouse has shut down.. so I decided to try to make his favorite item from the restaurant.. the cheese rolls. Since I’m not good in the kitchen, I made sure to follow EXACTLY as instructed. Even borrowed a stand up mixer. Well, looks like I’m going to have to buy one now. They were PERFECT! I think maybe better than the ones at our local steakhouse!!! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
I’m so glad you guys liked it! Thank you for the feedback!
Can I double the recipe? Would you modify?
I double the recipe all the time and keep an uncooked bag in the freezer at all times.
Greetings from Singapore and thank you so much for this recipe!
Had to come up with something for a Brazilian night cook out last Friday and made these heavenly breads on the spot. It was a hit! It was soft, pillowy and chewy, all at the same time. How good was this? And this is the first time I ever got my hands to doing anything this fancy.
Did it without a mixer and boy, it was a workout! I was literally sweating buckets from the stickiness of the batter. Well worth it considering I’m burning calories before enjoying this treat (and yes, diet had to be discarded for this).
The only thing was mine came out smoother without the lovely crust that you had. Perhaps I needed another 5-10 mins in the oven (I baked mine in 20mins)
Cheers!
Thank you for posting this recipe. I make it all the time for my son, who has celiac. I double the recipe and always keep some on hand in the freezer. They make the perfect after school snack. The only thing I’ve changed in the recipe is that I substitute queso fresco for the mozzarella. YUM!!!
Made this recipe today and it worked out great. One note about soupy batter – folks may consider allowing the batter to sit for a few minutes. As it sits, the tapioca flour absorbs the liquid and it will get thicker and sticky. I also just use a mini-muffin tin – they come out even and wonderful and it’s just so much easier than forming the little balls. One other note – though it’s just good technique – NEVER open the oven unless you’re planning on taking out the baked rolls. Opening the oven repeatedly lowers the temperature and will cause the rolls to deflate.
I second that advice about letting the dough/batter sit for a while, it made a big difference. Mine still came out more pancake shaped than anything else, so next time I will do 4 cups PACKED flour instead of just scooped in.
Very excited to try these, can anyone tell me roughly how many balls this recipe will make? Or how many people it will serve as a snack?
Depends on the size. About 30 golf sized balls, I’d say.
First off: Thank you so much! When Joao Gilberto passed away, i decided I had to have a party in his honor and so I looked up Brazilian recipes. On Tuesday I had party #1 and I made your coxinhas and your feijoada. Both were amazing. The coxinhas are one of the best things I’ve ever made. On Saturday, I am doing party #2 and I plan to make these pao de queija.
i have a question: Can I prepare the dough earlier in the day and form into balls without freezing? If I do so, how far ahead can I do this? I want to pop them in the oven and serve them warm after my guests arrive. If I can’t prepare them say 3 hours earlier on the same day, I’ll make them the day before and freeze them. Please let me know!
Update! I made these late in the day and did not have to leave them waiting long, but I suspect they could be prepared as far ahead as 4-5 hours before cooking. The recipe worked perfectly as written. Absolutely delicious!
Yum! Although as a Brazilian I think the tapioca leaves it with a little bit of an after taste, since I moved to a non Brazilian area this did the job!
I also tried with a wheel of smoked Gouda and it came out good!
One batch I made I totally forgot the eggs, and long behold, I didn’t even notice it when I was rolling or when I baked it!
Fun tip: putting it in a 12 muffin tin holder makes it sooooo yummy with a thick crunchy bottom.
Did you use grated Parmesan or the stuff in the shaker that you put on spaghetti?
I use freshly grated!
Can I use cornflour instead of tapioca flour?
Hi Lucy,
I’ve never tried it but I don’t think it’d be the same!
Also I just wondered if you could say how much flour you used in grams because I had a bit of a hard time measuring it, and I think I might not have packed the cup enough because the batter came out a bit liquidy (still turned out amazing when baked though!)
Hello, mine came out decent, with one flaw – the puffs puffed up, but in a way that there was one big bubble that formed between the bottom and the top, and most of the dough was in one relatively thick gooey layer above this bubble. What could cause that? Ideally there’d be bubbles throughout the dough, obviously.. (btw i did boil the milk :) )
Hi Radim,
perhaps the rolls sat too long before baking? Or your oven was not preheated long enough?
I honestly never heard of that happening, especially to all the rolls!
If you want to send me a pic at olivia @ oliviascuisine.com, I can try to help you troubleshoot.
Best,
Olivia
Hey Olivia! I am baking at 5,000′ elevation, and I’m new to using tapioca flour. I got the Bob’s Red Mill type, and while the batter and baked rolls tasted great, they were way flatter than they’re supposed to be. I tried adding a bit more flour, and cutting back on butter (per other baking recommendations) when adjusting to altitude, but no luck! Any ideas? Should I omit the water entirely? I’m concerned that the batter/dough starts out way too wet. Has anyone had luck ‘resting’ it once it’s all combined in the mixer? I really want to master these!
Hi Olivia!
I made your Pao de Quijo recipe twice. It came out perfect both times. The first time I made them I attempted to roll them while they were still warm and quickly became frustrated and learned away from the batter. Once the batter cooled completely and rested a couple of hours I was able to form perfect balls out of the dough. The dough was still a little sticky, but not runny. I used two tablespoons to form the balls. I live
In SoCal and have easy access to over a dozen Brazilian stores and have tried a half a dozen different brands of Brazilian cheese bread before with my favorite being Gusto Brazil until I made your recipe. I can finally quit stalking Sam’s Club for Gusto Brazil cheese bread and
Just make my own. Ps., the second time a made your bread I switched up the cheese ratio. I used to 2 cups of Parmesan and 1/2 cup of mozzarella. Pure perfection.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I’m really happy rhat I can make my favorite cheese balls myself. However, I wanted to ask you, what kind of tapioca flour do you use? I live in New Zealand and I could only find a very fine, white snow tapioca flour. So I think that that’s why my cheese balls came out so white. They didn’t have nice yellow coloured and they also didn’t have the lumps that you usually get with pao de queijo.
Hi Maya, here in the US there’s only one kind, and it is white too. Try cooking them longer so they can brown more!
These are so easy and delicious; tapioca flour has become a new staple in my household. Thank you! I like to refer to them as fluffy, warm, fresh cheez-its. We have been gobbling them up plain here, as well as dunking in soup. Future plans involve trying to make mini sandwiches (we’re thinking: bacon & egg, and prosciutto & arugula) but it’s hard to make them last even more than 10 min out of the oven. We have also experimented with size, and recently made a bite-size batch of puffs which were fun and just as delicious (cook time was pretty much the same).
One timing detail I’ve found helpful after making a few batches of these and doing a little extra research: after you mix the tapioca flour & water/milk/oil mixture but BEFORE you add the eggs, make sure the batter is cool enough that you can hold your finger to the surface for 3 seconds before incorporating the egg. I think that otherwise the eggs cook a bit and aren’t able to add additional airiness to the dough? Or maybe it just gives the tapioca flour time to absorb more of the liquid? Whatever the science, writing about these has made my mouth water enough to go make a batch…
Hi Maddy,
Oh that’s a great tip! And I’m glad you’ve been enjoying pão de queijo. I also like to use it as pizza crust. It’s delicious! I’d give it a try if I were you. :)
I currently live in Brazil and was looking for an easy to follow Pao de Queijo recipe – this super simple and they came out delicious. I only had a bit of parmesan and replaced with mozzarella, used both big and mini muffin trays and although I planned to pop some in the freezer, I reckon they’ll be gone by tomorrow! Thank you so much for this recipe – obrigada mesmo!
I’ve tried Pao de Quiejo once and have always wanted to try and make it. I had a craving the other day and came across your recipe. Thank your u for sharing! They turned out perfect! I will definitely make again and keep this recipe in my bookmarks.
I’ve tried many recipes, and this one has by far worked out the best. I substituted milk for water, used more Parmesan instead of mozzarella, and added two teaspoons of chopped garlic. I would reduce salt in the future- but that’s a personal preference. Thank you for sharing this!
I don’t know what I did wrong! I used bobs red milk tapioca but instead of being liquid/y they needed waaay more liquid. Fingers crossed they turn out ok!
Hi Olivia,
I was able to get my hands on some sour manioc starch, and I was wondering if the ratio is still the same, 4 cups?
I would use half sour and half tapioca flour (which is what we Brazilians call sweet manioc starch). That way you get the benefits of both and the perfect pão de queijo!!
Hi, do you use coarsely or finely grated cheese? Thanks for the recipe!
I finely grate the parmesan and coarsely shred the mozzarella. It really doesn’t matter! :)
These were amazing! My 6 grandchildren just kept asking for more!
I used a small ice cream scoop and once it hits the paper it comes out pretty easily, they puffed up beautifully and were cheesy with a great texture. I did freeze the sheets and popped them in right before dinner.
I guess the only down side is cleaning up! But they are worth it!
Ahhh! So happy your grandchildren loved it! :)
Best milk to use? Is 2% good?
the only recipe that worked with no altering required. just a tad more salt..
i just used 2 spoons to shape them and to make them not go flat, just make them walnut size, not larger. super yum
I haven’t made these yet – gonna try it this week – but I just wanted to say I really appreciate your writing! I’m a big recipe searcher and the bane of my days is having to scroll through endless meaningless chunks of text and ads to get to the actual recipe, but I actually found your chunks of text much more meaningful and appreciated reading through them lol. Can’t wait to try making these!
I made this recipe for the first time for about a dozen of my boyfriend’s Brazilian friends and family and they all said they were perfect!
I did use Sweet Manioc Starch instead of tapioca flour (found in a Latin grocery store) and it only required 3 cups. They were very easy to handle/shape.
Thank you!
Best recipe that u can find. I followed the instructions here and it is always great. I would highly recommend using high quality Parmesan. I know good parmesan can be expensive so I usually do 1 cup of good parmesan and 1/2 of the cheaper one. I used just cheaper parmesan once and it’s makes a huge difference, it’s just not as good.
We have made these this evening for a Brazilian evening along with your beef mince and potato pie. Delicious.
We had to order the tapioca flour on line.
This was to engage my son with home schooling. We shall make chocolate brownies with Brazilian chocolate tomorrow
Can you freeze the uncooked cheese balls and bake when needed?
Yes! :)
I’ve tried other recipe with pretty much the same ingredients but the rations were wrong. This yields to the best pao de quiejo I’ve ever had!
Could you please put weights of ingredients if you ever make this recipe again? That would be so helpful for the flour and cheese amounts.
Also, what type of milk? 2%? whole? I assume the difference in fat content will change the recipe?
Hi Chelsea, I will update the recipe with metric measurements as soon as I can.
Please use whole milk. The difference in fat content will definitely affect the texture!
Thank you for the great recipe Olivia! My kids loved it and all agreed it was way better than the yoki mix, which is sometimes hard to find in Canada. I don’t need that anymore!!
My husband used to live in Brazil, and this recipe is incredible! Soooo light and puffy and cheesy!
Can I use cassava flour instead?
Hi Melody! Unfortunately, it won’t work with cassava flour.
I had a really hard time shaping the dough. I found a great work around was putting a few drops of olive oil in my hands and just rub fingers and palms together to distribute the oil. Then just pick up small handfuls of dough, rolling them into a ball in my oil-slicked and placing them in a mini muffin pan for baking. I just couldn’t get them round, otherwise! But they baked up well that way.
I did try just a loose shape on wax paper… But the baked puffs stuck on the wax paper so much that we lost dough or came away with paper!
This is a great recipe and one that is very similar to the one I use (which I had to translate from a youTube video from Brazil…) except I use a bit of butter in addition to the oil, and I throw in a little bit of baking powder to help them rise more. I had a big problem at first because the Google translator told me Polvilho azeda was Cassava flour, which is not correct, and made the pãos as hard as field hockey balls. Fortunately a little more research led me to tapioca starch and now I’m all set. I really just wrote to tell the people who feel the dough is too runny that you can refrigerate it for a half an hour or so and you should then easily be able to shape it into balls that hold up well during the cooking and rise nicely. And also that you should be able to get meio cura queijo made in the Açores in most cities in the US where there is a Portuguese community. It is called Queijo São Jorge.