Delicious Cheesy Bread Puffs (Naturally Gluten Free!)

So those of you who have been to Brazil have most likely come across this bread, taken one bite and thought to yourself, "what is this magical delicious treat I have just discovered?" That's what I first thought when I ate one at least. I actually lived in Brazil for about 6 months when I was 6 years old and the memory of those heavenly cheesy puff balls stayed with me all the way until I was 22. When I started becoming a better cook, and when I realized I wasn't going to be flying to Brazil anytime soon, I decided to start looking into this cheesy bread to see if there was anywhere I could get it in the U.S. or any way I could make it myself.

It turns out these cheesy puffs are called Pao de Queijo in Brazil, and although the ingredients to make them truly authentic are apparently really hard to find in the United States, there are some ingredient substitutions that make them taste just as delicious as the original. I've tried different recipes and this one definitely tastes the best and the most authentic. Also, they are made with Tapioca Flour which is amazing because that means they are naturally gluten free! Can you imagine, cheesy bread that is delicious and naturally gluten free. And for the record I am not gluten free, I'm definitely gluten-full, but I love to find recipes that are inclusive of everyone's needs. So what are you doing still reading this, go make yourself some cheesy bread puffs!

Tips for the chef: Although most of you fancier, more experienced cooks will probably already have an electric mixer, I'm gonna throw it out there to my less experienced chef friends to DEFINITELY have one before you make this. That might sound like a given, but when I first read this recipe I was like pshhh "hand mixer?" My hands can mix this themselves thank you very much. Obviously I am NOT much of a baker. But, alas, it turns out my hands could not mix the dough, and I wound up with the craziest sticky mess everywhere, and flour all over myself. The bread was FAR from a "puff" and much more the shape of a pancake. I will say the bread still tasted pretty DAMN good though, and yes I'm not even ashamed to admit I still ate the whole pan of the misshapen cheese pancakes. I did buy a mixer after that though, it was like $12 and it works great, and now I can also use it for my whipped cream, which I also tried to whip by hand and ended up with a sprained muscle in my neck from trying to whip with the intensity of a machine. You might say I got WHIP lash...... HA HA ha.... But now seriously get outta here and make yo damn cheese bread!

Ingredients:

- 4 cups tapioca flour

- 1¼ cups milk

- ½ cup water

- 6 tablespoons oil

- 1½ cups grated parmesan cheese

- 1 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

- 2 large eggs

- 2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400F degrees with a rack in the middle (this makes them bake evenly or so I've heard)

-Combine the milk, water, oil and salt in a saucepan aka what I would call a pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat. (DONT walk away from it because you WILL have a mess on your hands if that stuff boils over)

-Add the tapioca flour to a bowl, or a stand mixer if you're fancy like that and once the milk mixture boils, pour it over the flour. Turn the mixer on and mix it reallll well. The texture will be really sticky and gooey (yum!)

-While the mixer is still on, add the eggs in, one at a time.

-Once the eggs are all mixed in, add the cheese until everything is mixed together in one happy bowl.

-The dough is supposed to be soft and sticky, but if it looks too watery or runny like you're not going to able to form it into little balls you can add a little more flour in to thicken it up.

-To shape the balls you HAVE to wet your hands with cold water first otherwise the dough will seriously stick to your hands, and then using a spoon scoop some dough up and shape it with your hand, then put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The balls should be a little bigger than ping pong balls.

-Place all the balls on the baking sheet and make sure not to crowd them too much! Then put the baking sheet in the preheated oven.

-Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden and puffy!

-Serve them warm! :)

#Bread #Glutenfree #breakfast #snack #cheese #cheesebread