Gluten Free Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo)

It is always nice to find a recipe that was not revised to make it gluten free, but was a gluten free recipe to begin with.  While I was trekking through the hot, steamy jungles of Brazil I found such a recipe.   The natives of Brazil had been making this for centuries, and it suited my gluten free life, so I knew I had to add it to my blog (okay, maybe I'm stretching the truth a bit to make my blog more exciting, and hearing about this recipe at a coffee shop in Long Beach, and then finding it on the internet isn't the most exciting story to share.  So, is embellishing the story a little a crime?). 

Gluten Free Brazilian Cheese Bread (buns)

Brazilian Cheese Bread has become a staple at meals for my family.  My husband calls these the "Nectar of the Gods."  He really loves them, and I'm really glad because they are so easy to make and have few ingredients.  They are made with tapioca starch (a.k.a tapioca flour), garlic and cheese.  I have bought my tapioca starch at Walmart, Sprouts and health food stores.  These yummy, naturally gluten free Brazilian Cheese breads (or buns) are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  I seriously could just sit and eat a whole batch of them right out of the oven, slathered with melting butter.  So good.  Okay, so now that I have your mouth watering, without further ado, here is the recipe!  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Brazilian Cheese Bread (buns)

GLUTEN FREE BRAZILIAN CHEESE BREAD (Pao de Queijo)
adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: 20 to 24 buns
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups tapioca flour (a.k.a tapioca starch)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (I press mine in a garlic press)
2/3 cup (heaping) grated Parmesan, Romano, or aged Asiago cheese (I use Parmesan)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly grease a mini muffin tin.  Put the butter, water, milk, and salt in a saucepan, and heat until the butter has melted and the mixture has come to a full boil.  While the mixture is heating, put 2 cups of tapioca flour into a mixing bowl.

Pour the boiling butter mixture over the tapioca flour, beating to combine.  Beat at high speed until the mixture becomes smooth and elastic-looking; this will happen very quickly.

Beat the garlic and cheese into the dough until well combined.

Stick your finger into the dough.  If it's uncomfortably hot, let is sit fora couple of minutes to cool a bit; you don't want to cook the eggs when you beat them in.  If it seems hot but not burning hot, continue with the next step.

With the mixer going, gradually dribble in the beaten eggs, beating until well combined and smooth.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full (I use a cookie scoop.  The mixture will be quite runny).

Bake the buns for about 20 minutes, until they have a freckled appearance (from the browning cheese), and they begin to color a bit.  Remove them from the oven, and serve hot.

Note:  You can warm the left overs up in the oven and they will crisp back up again.  Or if you like them softer, you can warm them briefly in the microwave.