Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread

1. Pre-heat oven, prepare mini-muffin tin:

   Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread a small amount olive oil around the insides of each well of a mini-muffin tin.
2. Blend ingredients:

   Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender so that everything gets blended well. At this point you can store the batter in the refrigerator for up to a week.
3. Pour into mini-muffin tin:

   Pour batter into prepared mini-muffin tin, not quite to the top; leave about 1/8 inch from the top.
4. Bake:

   Bake at 400°F in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until all puffy and nicely browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.

   Eat while warm or save to reheat later.

   Note that Brazilian cheese bread is very chewy, a lot like Japanese mochi.

Links:

Colombian Cheese Bread - much like Brazilian cheese bread but with the addition of corn masa, from My Colombian Recipes

Mandioca starch and Brazilian cheese bread - includes a great story about the mythology around manioc, or tapioca, from The Perfect Pantry

Very Easy Pao de Queijo - a potato-based version from Maki of Just Hungry

Brazilian Pao de Queijo - my Brazilian friend Fernanda's quick recipe tested, translated and published on Bewitching Kitchen

Bonus Recipe

When consulting my Brazilian friend Fernanda of Chucrute Com Salsicha for this post, she told me that although she makes the cheese bread the quick way in a blender, one of her favorite recipes comes from her friend Pat, which incorporates mashed potatoes and requires kneading by hand. It's extra work, but Fernanda says the results are great. You can find the original recipe in Portuguese on Fernanda's site here: Pao de queijo da Pat. And here is Fernanda's translation:

1 kg tapioca flour [polvilho azedo]
1 kg potato, cooked in water and mashed
250 ml milk at room temperature
250 ml vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 queso fresco or panela grated [1 pound]
6 free range eggs

Put the tapioca flour in a bowl. Add the potato still hot using a potato masher. Add salt. Mix very well using your hands. Add milk and continue working the dough with your hands. Add vegetable oil. Continue working. Add the grated cheese, and at last the eggs. Add 1 teaspoon of anise seeds for a special touch. The dough needs to get very silky and be moldable. If it is breaking, add one more egg. Make little round breads, and bake at 450oF for 20 minutes. The dough can be frozen.