Brazilian cheese buns
- Published: 31 May 14
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
These crispy, gluten-free cheese buns, known as pão de queijo, are a Brazilian snack staple. Tear one open to reveal the irresistibly gooey centre, then use it to scoop up the zingy, salty peanut salsa.
Ingredients
- 230ml whole milk
- 115ml vegetable or sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
- 1 tsp salt
- 300g tapioca flour (available from Waitrose and online from Ocado)
- 2 large free-range eggs
- 100g mature cheddar or vegetarian alternative, coarsely grated
- 175g parmesan or vegetarian alternative, coarsely grated
For the salsa
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- Juice 2 limes
- 2 large pinches sugar
- Sea salt
- Large bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked and roughly chopped
- ½-1 red chilli, to taste
- 150g salted peanuts, roughly chopped
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C/ fan200°C/gas 7 and line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper. Put the milk and oil in a large heavy-based saucepan with the salt, then bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat. Remove from the heat as soon as large bubbles start to appear.
- Add the tapioca flour to the pan and stir until there are no dry patches of flour remaining. The dough will be gelatinous and ragged at this point – this is normal.
- Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer for a couple of minutes until it becomes smooth and has cooled slightly (or use a stand mixer). Don’t worry if you see the oil leaching out – the dough will come back together when you add the cheese.
- Beat the eggs into the dough, one by one – wait until the first egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Beat in all the grated cheese until fully combined. You should end up with a dough that is very sticky, soft and stretchy, with a consistency similar to stiff cake batter.
- Using a well greased ice cream scoop or dessert spoon, scoop walnut-size portions of the dough into mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, allowing them room to expand.
- Put the trays in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the buns have puffed up and turned crisp and golden, but are stretchy and gooey when torn open. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool a little.
- Meanwhile, make the salsa. Toss the onion in a mixing bowl with the lime juice, sugar and a good pinch of sea salt, then set aside for 10 minutes. Stir through the chopped coriander leaves, chilli and peanuts. Taste to check the seasoning – you may need to add a little more salt or sugar. Serve with the buns for scooping up.
- Recipe from June 2014 Issue
Nutrition
Per bun
- Calories
- 119kcals
- Fat
- 7.8g (2.5g saturated)
- Protein
- 5g
- Carbohydrates
- 7.2g (0.9g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.7g
- Salt
- 0.3g
delicious. tips
Chill the dough, covered, in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Shape it into balls as in step 5 (it won’t be as sticky to handle once chilled) and put on a lined baking sheet. Cover loosely with cling film and leave for 1 hour to warm up to room temperature before cooking as in step 6.
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