Puffy Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)

Puffy Brazilian Cheese Bread – Cheesy Cheesy Bread Poofs, Magic & Macaroons!

A recipe for puffy cheesy Brazilian Cheese Bread that’s crusty on the outside and gooey chewy on the inside! Inspired by the Magical Bakery Mystery, Magic and Macaroons by Bailey Cates Cattrell.

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Did I mention I LOVE food novels?

For instance, one of my favorite series is Magical Bakery Mysteries by Bailey Cates Cattrell. The main character, Katie, moves to Savannah to open a bakery with her aunt and uncle. She notices her aunt putting mysterious ingredients, like rosemary and other herbs into her recipes and whispering over them. Katie discovers her aunt is magically enhancing the pastries! She discovers her aunt is a witch, and she is too! They form a book club and meet in the bakery after work with their fellow witches and practice spells. I promise you’ll love reading about the special herbs she and her aunt add to the recipes and you’ll wish the Honeybee Bakery was right around the corner!

Cheese Pull
Just LOOK at that CHEESE-PULL!
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Bailey Cates ~ Magical Bakery Mysteries

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)

The Magical Bakery Mysteries are good, clean & fun, light reads with wonderful and strong women characters, like Katie, descriptions of amazing baked goods like these cheesy poofs, and more! You won’t want to miss the recipes she adds at the end of her books. Check out these peanut butter bacon and banana cookies inspired by the series!

If you’re stressed or need a break from the world, a series like the Magical Bakery Mysteries is great. I think you will love them too!

Macaroons would have been the obvious recipe to make after reading this book! Lucy’s description of Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo), sounded soo good that I had to make a batch!

Cheesy puffy bread from tapioca flour
Look at the chewy, airy center of the bun after I tore into it!

If you follow me on Twitter you saw my recent Salmon Sunday tweet – Sweet & Spicy Sunday Salmon served with some adorable little cheesy poofs! They were Lucy’s Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) from @WriterBailey ‘s book Magic and Macaroons. I’ve never eaten or baked anything like them! Making Brazilian Cheese Bread dough is similar to making churro dough. Like churro batter, the recipe calls for boiling the milk and oil and dumping in the flour. They poof up into cute little balls, crusty on the outside, gooey, chewy, and cheesy on the inside!

Brazilian Cheese Buns

Magic and Macaroons is book 5 of the series. Start with book 1, Brownies and Broomsticks.

“…Like many of my cozy characters, I believe magic is all around us if we only look for it. Having apprenticed with a master herbalist for a year, I’m prone to concocting teas and tinctures for family and friends from the stash of herbs stored in the corner cabinet in my office…”

~Bailey Cates Cattrell

If I close my eyes, I can totally imagine myself at the Honeybee Bakery picking out a book from the bookshelves, while nibbling on an éclair full of magical vanilla filling, and sipping a steamy hot cappuccino. I may need to re-read this entire series!

This awesome book inspired me to whip up this puffy Brazilian cheese bread!

Change is inevitable, they say. Struggle is optional
Your life’s path deviates from what you intend
– Whether you like it or not- Whether you fight it or not – Whether your heart breaks or not

~Bailey Cates, Brownies and Broomsticks

If you love book-inspired recipes, like this one, try these bacon peanut butter banana cookies! Since these cheesy poofs are made with tapioca flour, I believe these are gluten-free, however, I recommend you check your ingredient contents for gluten.

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Brazilian Cheese Bread

Puffy Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)

Adapted from Lucy’s Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) – Magic and Macaroons by Bailey Cates, these cheesy poofs are a unique and wonderful treat! When I read this recipe in Magic and Macaroons, I was intrigued by her description of crispy soft, airy addictive bread. This is her recipe with more cheese added, my notes, and photos to help you make them.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Appetizer, bread, Snack
Cuisine Brazilian
Servings 15
Calories 193 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup milk Whole milk recommended, I used ½ cup half & half and ½ cup 2% milk.
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan (I actually used ½ cup Parmesan + ½ cup Asiago)
  • ¾ cup sharp cheddar Use bar cheese, not pre-shredded if possible.
  • 2 cups tapioca flour Sifted. I use *Bob's Red Mill

Instructions
 

  • Grate and combine the cheeses in a bowl and set aside. I use this Pampered Chef Grater that I have had for ages.
    Grate the Cheeses
  • Preheat the oven to 450° (You will reduce the heat to 375° as soon as you put your baking sheets in to bake.)
    Ingredients for Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)
  • Sift flour into your mixer bowl and stir in the salt.
  • Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and set them aside.
  • Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (Bake side by side or arrange your shelves to accommodate both pans.)
    (If you are using donut-hole pans, lightly grease them.)
  • In a 2-quart saucepan combine milk & oil. Bring to a boil while stirring. As soon as it comes to a boil remove from heat and dump the entire contents at once, into the mixing bowl.
  • Mix on medium speed until combined. This will be a white sticky mess. Keep mixing until it the sticky lumpy dough becomes smooth.
    Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) batter
  • Mix in half of the whisked eggs at a time until combined.
  • Add in cheeses, 1/2 cup at a time, but quickly, just until combined. It will be a shiny, very sticky concoction! You may need to finish mixing with your (oiled) hands.
  • Use two oiled spoons or an ice cream/cookie scoop to make about 15 evenly sized balls, about 3 tbsp each. Roll them into smooth balls with your oiled hands and place them about an inch apart on the lined baking sheets.
    (If you are using donut-hole pans, lightly oil the pans, and scoop about 1 ½ tbsp each.)
    Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) balls ready to bake
  • Place both sheets in the oven and immediately turn heat° down from 450° to 375°, bake for 20 minutes and check them. Lift one to make sure they aren't too dark on the bottom. If so reduce heat to 350 degrees. When they are browned lightly on top and crispy they are done. They will cook for between 20-25 minutes. 
    (If you are making these smaller, like donut-hole sized, check them after 10-minutes, and flip them over if they are lightly browned on the bottoms. They will probably only take about fifteen minutes total. If they are crispy on the top, they are done!) 
    *If you are making these ahead of time, freeze them on the sheet, and once frozen you can package them in zip-top bags or a freezer storage container.
    Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) crispy and gooey!

Notes

You can freeze the dough balls and bake them later! Bake them from frozen at 350 for about forty minutes depending on how large you make them.
I have made this recipe three times and while they are a bit hard to mix up, they always came out cheesy, poofy, and crispy!  I tried a different recipe where you mix it all up in a blender without cooking and pour the batter into muffin tins. They just did not come out as crispy. I tried in a *mini-popover pan. They were chewy and not crispy enough for me. I have a donut hole pan that I’m going to try next. It’s like this cake pop pan, but no top pan so that the cheesy breads can puff up! If you do use a cake pop pan, only use the bottom!
update: Smaller poofs cook in about twelve to twenty minutes. I made some in a heavy donut hole pan like this one and they cooked in about twenty minutes at 350 degrees. I have a Pampered Chef donut-hole pan that is really nice.
I’ve had a hard time finding parchment paper in the stores lately, and when I find it the price is ridiculous. I do like to splurge on the pre-cut sheets.
Cookie scoopers or “dishers” like these are very helpful! Just oil them first.
Have you tried this recipe and do you have some tips to make them extra crispy?
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Nutrition

Calories: 193kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 5gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 297mgPotassium: 47mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 158IUCalcium: 123mgIron: 1mg
Keyword addictive bread, appetizer, asiago, Brazilian Cheese Bread, cheddar, cheese, Cheesy Bread, Cheesy poofs, parmesan, Pão de Queijo, puffy bread, puffy cheesy bread, tapioca flour
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Have you read any Magical Bakery Mysteries, or baked up some goodies with “magical” properties like her vanilla scones?

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