Brazilian Cheese Balls

Brazilian cheese balls are a delicious gooey cheese bread! If you have ever had the Brazilian food from the Epcot Wine and Dine Festival at Disney World or have been to a Brazilian steak house before, you know how delectable they are.

Brazilian Cheese balls, also known as Pão de Queijo, are (as you can guess) originally from Brazil. They date back to the 1700’s, but became more popular in the 1950’s. These were originally made without cheese, but at the end of the 1800’s, people began to add cheese. The most common recipe uses Tapioca flour, which is from the Cassava root and part of the original recipe.

The Recipe

Down below is a list of ingredients you will need to make approximately 36 cheese balls.

• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil (I used avocado)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 10 ounces tapioca flour or cassava flour (It is better to use a scale to measure out the amount of flour, but if you don’t have a scale, it’s about 2+1/3 cups)
• 2 eggs
• 1+1/2 cups grated parmesan (when I say grated I mean like a powder, not shredded)

Making the cheese balls

First turn your oven on to 450°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Then stir together the milk, vegetable oil, and salt in a pot and bring to a gentle boil.

Take the pot off the stove and add the tapioca flour, stir until there is no dry flour left. The dough will be gelatinous and grainy at this point.

Transfer the dough into a standing mixer with a paddle attachment. (If you don’t have a standing mixer, you can knead the dough by hand. If you do that you will definitely get a workout though!) Beat the dough on medium speed for a few minutes until it is smooth and and it has cooled enough for you to touch it for a few seconds.

Beat in the eggs one at a time (on medium speed), waiting till each one is mixed in before adding the next one. Then beat in the cheese (on medium speed again). The dough will be sticky and stretchy.

Scoop* the dough by tablespoons onto your prepared baking sheets about 1+1/2 inches apart. Place sheets in oven and turn down the oven temperature to 350° F. Bake for 15 minutes. After that you will most likely need to rotate the sheets between racks and from front to back (in order to cook evenly). Then bake for 10-15 more minutes or until the bottoms have turned golden brown.

Enjoy!

*If the dough is sticking to the scoop, oil the inside of the scoop.

Click here for the free printable version!

If you have any questions just ask me in the comment section below!