I was introduced to pão de queijo (cheese bread in Portuguese) when I traveled to Brazil on business and they were a common item on the snack table during meeting breaks.  I recently had an excellent version from the Swamp Rabbit Café in Greenville and that inspired me to make my own.  Pão de queijo is made from casava/yuca flour vs. wheat flour and has a chewy texture.

Here is how I made a test batch based on a recipe in Sandra A. Gutierrez’s book Latinismo.  I had to interpret the recipe a bit because some of the weight and volume measurements seemed inconsistent.  I thought the results were very good, but I am thinking of tinkering with it a bit to see if I can make it even better.  Carol thought I could increase the amount of cheese in it.

This is a small batch which will make 8 rolls each weighing about 50 grams.  A batch takes a little more than half an hour to make.  The original recipe made a batch 3 times what I made.

133 g. cassava flour

3/16 tsp. salt

3/16 tsp. baking powder

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2-1/3 Tbs. butter at room temperature

60 g. grated Parmesan cheese

67 g. grated whole-milk mozzarella

2-2/3 Tbs. whole milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder.

Put all of the ingredients into the bowl of a large food processor.  Pulse until the ingredients come together as a dough, about 40 seconds.  Form the dough into a ball, cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Put a sheet of baking parchment on a baking sheet.  Form the dough into 8 balls weighing about 50 grams each and spread them on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes until golden.  Serve while warm.

Notes:  The dough can be held in the refrigerator for later baking.  Also baked rolls can be warmed up at 350 degrees in a toaster oven.