Brazilian Cheese Roll (Pao de Queijo)

Pao de Queijo is one of Brazil's most popular breakfast food or snack. They taste best when served warm. These puffs are slightly crispy from the outside but soft, chewy and moist on the inside.



First time I had them was 12 years ago. Andy and I were celebrating our FIRST anniversary at one of Fogo de Chao's chain in Chicago. Well, let's just say .. I am a meat-eater.. a BIG fan that is.. but instead of trying out the 11 different of type of those succulent meats, I was busy stuffing my face with the newly-found, scrumptious, little balls of heaven. 

So my new obsession begun. After doing some research, turned out there are many ways to make them. 

One method includes making a choux in which you boiled the flour and wet ingredients first before baking, and there is another method that called out for cooked potatoes as one of the ingredients. 

Recipe after recipe I've tried but none yielded a perfect result like I want them to be. Instead of chewy, they ended up rubbery. Instead of being puffed, they sank (and so does my heart...). 

Until I found this recipe, the best and easiest. No fuss. Even my 9 y.o daughter, Abby, loooves to do this on her own. (ps: she is an "all-cheese" lover and, just like her mom, kinda obsessed to bake these cheese puffs to a perfection). 

You might want to experiment with different type of cheese. We tried Cheddar, Parmesan, Jack pepper and my fave cheese, Havarti but the authentic recipe called for Brazilian cheese queijo minas. Here is the basic recipe. Feel free to add some herbs or flavoring to the mixture.

About Mommy Makes

Welcome to Mommy Makes!

I'm Fen. I am a wife and a mother, who tries so hard to balance home-management, kids activities, school involvement and a myriad of other things. I love to cook and bake but dislike the clean ups and dirty dishes. I am not a chef. Never been in a culinary school. I taught myself pretty much... everything!! :) I'm all about flavorful dishes and deliciousness. By starting this blog perhaps I could share what I have learned and hopefully inspire you to create something wonderful right from the comfort of your home.

When I'm not busy doing my mommy's duty, you can find me curling up on the couch with my family or doing all crafty stuff with my kids. Once a year, usually in summer, dearest hubby would take us on a trip. I love being able to see different things, taste different foods, experience different cultures .. but mostly, I get to practice my photography skill :)

I was born in Bandung, Indonesia. I grew up there until I was 18. So, you see, English is not my first language. Please forgive the occasional weird phrases and grammatical mistakes. I promise to try my best to write as decently as I can.

Now, let me introduce you to Mommy Makes' staff.

Andy, my hubby, is an engineer from 7-6. At home, he is my personal taste-tester, food critique and occasionally, manual dishwasher. If he's no-likey, recipe wont make it to this blog :)  Sometimes he would cook for me. We called him "eyeball-it chef" :)

Abby, my girl, my personal sous-chef and my editor of grammar and spelling :) Despite of her petite looks, she has a pretty well-developed taste buds. Her favorite foods are all kinds cheese, sushi and sashimi, smoked salmon, fatty tuna, medium rare steaks.

My other sous chef is my youngest, Matthew. He always try to describe my cooking, in the way Andrew Zimmern describes unique taste of the food that he's eating. His favorite foods is sushi and noodles. He loves spicy foods.

Last but not the least, our lovable Chi-mix, Toffee, who looooves to take up resident on my feet while I'm doing the preps in the kitchen. Toffee is our occasional crumb vacuum. Celery and cucumber are among his favorite foods.

I love comments and feedback so please don’t hesitate to contact me at delicately_cute@yahoo.com
or simply just leave a comment on my blog. Can't wait to hear from you!

Thank you for reading!