A precious gift from my Brazilian friend Luana and her aunt Jovita, this authentic, easy recipe for Brazilian cheese bread, Pao de Queijo, is such a great gluten-free and lectin-free bread alternative. It only requires five ingredients and about 10 minutes to put together.
With a golden brown and crispy crust and a gooey, salty, cheesy inside, this easy Pao de Queijo will be perfect for breakfast with butter and jam, as an afternoon snack with tea, or even as mini sandwich bread.
My first experience with Brazilian cheese bread
I remember the first time I had Brazilian cheese bread, Pao de Queijo. It was at a Churrasco restaurant in Dubai. I ate so much that I could barely have any meat after. They were so good.
Since they are originally made with cassava flour and easy to make Plant Paradox compliant, I’ve been contemplating making them for a long time. Still, I’ve always been intimidated by recipes that seem rather complicated, like the classic Pao de Beijo recipe.
What I have here is a treasure because it is absolutely delicious, it takes 10 minutes to put together, and the recipe comes straight from Brazil.
The most precious gift – an authentic but easy Brazilian cheese bread recipe
Jovita is Luana Ferrari’s grand auntie, and Luana is a social media friend. She is Brazilian, lives in Paris, loves to eat real food, and is as passionate about food and cooking at home as I am. So in a proper social media friend fashion, I stalk her all the time and follow her travels and culinary adventures.
When she started posting about being back home in Brazil and enjoying foods and flavors that reminded her of childhood, I became curious. Thank God she enjoys the exchange and is as excited about sharing culinary stories of her family as I am to be at the receiving end.
To cut this story short (-er), I ended up with the most precious gift, an easy Pao de Queijo recipe (Brazilian cheese bread) her aunt Jovita makes, handwritten by Jovita’s brother in 1983, just before Christmas (I was four years old at the time!). And I’m now passing it forward thanks to Luana’s generosity.
The easiest Pao de Queijo recipe you will ever find
If you don’t read Portuguese, the original ingredients were:
- cassava flour
- oil
- cured (aged) cheese
- eggs
- milk
And four lines of instructions. My kind of recipe.
I used Otto’s Cassava flour, full-fat coconut milk (unsweetened, in a can, I buy 365 from Whole Foods), Pecorino Romano cheese, avocado oil, and two pastured eggs. Luana told me that Pecorino Romano is also her choice when she needs to replace aged Brazilian cheese.
The way this recipe comes together might change depending on the cassava flour you are using. If you are in the US, I recommend using Otto’s brand; if not, you might have to adjust the quantities slightly (add more flour if too runny or more milk if too hard.
It is super easy to make them. It took me 10 minutes to make the dough and 30 minutes to bake it, and the result was mind-blowing.
Can be served both warm and cold
The crust is golden brown and crispy and hard, and the inside is gooey, salty, cheesy goodness. I’m not even going to mention how many I had, for the sake of being informed to make this post, of course.
But in all seriousness, I had to try it warm and cold, and after keeping it for a few hours in the fridge, all of them were amazing.
How to store them
Store the Brazilian cheese bread on the counter for a day in an air-tight container or freeze it. The best way to store them is to freeze them.
I kept them in a Stasher bag at room temperature overnight. They are still soft the next day, they just lose a little bit of shape and the hard crust, but they are still as tasty as on the first day.
How to eat Brazilian cheese bread
Auntie Jovita and her dad are from Ibiraci, a small town in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil (North of Rio). At the farm they grew up, Pao de Queijo (‘cheese bread’) was an everyday food (and it still is).
In Brazil, cheese bread can be served as breakfast with butter, jelly, or jam, had as a snack in the afternoon with coffee, or even used for sandwiches, with pretty much anything you can imagine (guess what I’m having tomorrow?). I had some with homemade strawberry jam, and it was delicious.
This is not a keto bread
Because some of you have commented, this is not a low-carb bread. I have added the nutritional label below. Anything made with cassava flour will not be low-carb or keto friendly.
For more information on gluten-free and lectin-free flour types and which ones are keto-friendly, check this article: Quick Guide to Lectin-Free, Gluten-Free Flours
Vegan Brazilian Bread
For a vegan version of Brazilian cassava bread, try our Pao de Beijo recipe, made with cassava flour and sweet potato.
*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.
PrintEasy Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe (Pao de Queijo)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12
Description
A precious gift from my Brazilian friend Luana and her aunt Jovita, this authentic, easy recipe for Brazilian cheese bread, Pao de Queijo, is such a great gluten-free and lectin-free bread alternative. It only requires five ingredients and about 10 minutes to put together. With a golden brown and crispy crust and a gooey, salty, cheesy inside, this easy Pao de Queijo will be perfect for breakfast with butter and jam, as an afternoon snack with tea, or even as mini sandwich bread.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup cassava flour
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (in a can)
- 1/2 cup avocado oil
- 2 pasture-raised eggs
- 200g grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 2 heaping cups)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410F.
- Prepare a muffin pan by oiling it (you can use ghee or avocado oil).
- Mix coconut milk with avocado oil and eggs. Add the flour and incorporate it into the wet mixture. Add the cheese and mix. You will get a sticky dough.
- Split the dough in two, then each half in two halves, then each of the quarters in three equal portions. You will end up with 12 balls that will fit in the muffin pan. Add them to the muffin pan and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly golden on top. (Mine took exactly 30 minutes, but keep an eye on them just in case your oven is slightly different).
Notes
Store on the counter for a day in an air-tight container or freeze. The best way to store them is to freeze them and reheat them in the oven. The consistency of the dough might differ when you use another type of cassava flour. If you are in the US, I recommend using Otto’s brand. If you don’t have access to Otto’s, you might have to adjust the flour-to-liquid ratio to get a sticky dough slightly.
45 Comments
Cathy
September 17, 2018 at 4:20 amCould I use A2 cows milk in place of coconut milk if dairy is ok?
Claudia
September 17, 2018 at 9:47 amSure. Just be aware of the sugar content of the milk. The original Brazilian recipe is made with normal milk. I saw Dr. Gundry uses goat milk. xx
Kristi Shanks
September 16, 2018 at 6:21 pmThese are awesome! And I did use parchment paper liners! No sticking.
Claudia
September 17, 2018 at 9:54 amGreat, thanks for letting me know xx
Heather
September 6, 2018 at 11:24 amI received cassava flour today and tried to make these. After I got started I realized that I didn’t have avocado oil so I substituted evoo. I don’t know how they were supposed to turn out, but I can say that what I made was a disappointment. 🙁
I’ll have to get avocado oil and try again for something better than just barely edible. Lol
Claudia
September 6, 2018 at 12:18 pmHi Heather, maybe you can give me more details about the result? What do you mean by disappointment, what do you think went wrong? I would not recommend using olive oil for this bread, because of the temperature is cooked at (it’s not really safe to use olive oil over 400F), but that being said I’m not sure if the type of oil would make a difference in the result (other than nutritional values). I’ve had multiple people doing the recipe since I posted and they all really happy with how it came out.
Susan Tyson
December 8, 2022 at 8:38 amGood News About Cooking with Olive Oil! Please review this video by Dr. Gundry regarding the safety of cooking with Olive Oil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyOHgML86I
Claudia
December 8, 2022 at 11:49 amHi Susan, I’m so happy you posted this comment. Just today, I saw the old reply about olive oil and thought the same; olive oil is pretty safe to cook with if it’s a good quality oil, high in polyphenols. We live and learn! Happy holidays! Claudia
Susan
September 1, 2018 at 3:22 pmOh my goodness! These are so delicious, and easy! They will be great alongside many dishes as well as by themselves. I did use muffin cups, as my muffin tin is well used, and they worked great. Thanks again Cladia!
Claudia
September 1, 2018 at 3:28 pmThank you so much for letting me know Susan! Enjoy! Auntie Jovita will be happy 😀
Leah Bruhn
August 31, 2018 at 6:30 pmLooks good! Can I use the parchment liners for the muffin pan? What brand of muffin pan do you have?
Claudia
August 31, 2018 at 7:37 pmI’m not sure about parchment paper. Maybe try muffin cups. My pan is from William Sonoma.