Pao Di Queijo
Pao Di Queijo or brazilian cheese bread. These little morsels of deliciousness are gluten free and amazing. Easy to make, this brazilian street food can be be frozen as ready to go dough balls and then baked straight from the freezer for a quick afternoon tea snack or to quickly cater for those unexpected guests. Did I mention they were gluten free? I also make these with almond milk so my lactose-intolerant partner can enjoy them too (he is Ok with a bit of cheese).
It was December last year when I last posted. Different ventures and projects have been distracting me but my enjoyment of cooking, crafting and creative related things keeps drawing my back to keep this blog alive. I am considering venturing into the world of Fediverse, a more secure and private place to hang out amongst the vastness of the internet; if you have been led here from there, I wave furiously and emphatically at you in the hope you will leave me a comment and let me know…please!
Tips and Tricks
The mixture is sticky so resist the urge to add flour. Use a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients together and when it comes to rolling into balls have a small bowl of rice bran oil ready to the side. Add a dab of oil to your hand to stop the mixture sticking to your hand also helps to form a smooth pao di queijo.
To make these as a quick ‘out of the freezer’ snack, place unbaked dough balls on the tray into the freezer. Once frozen they can be placed into a resealable bag to store and they will be free flow ie, won’t stick together. When it comes time to bake them or that unexpected visitor arrives, just put them straight into the oven from frozen and bake for 30-40 minutes at 200 degrees celcius or until golden.
Although best eaten straight from the oven whilst still warm they are just as fantastic cold, once baked these Pao di Queijo are great lunchbox fillers and a good way to get some calcium into the kids. Bonus for my sons is that their school has a microwave in many of the classrooms that they can reheat their lunches with so they like to reheat them for 10 seconds before devouring. You can do this too with lefttovers, if you manage to have any!
I actually like them better the next day after a little reheat in the microwave; these pao di queijo then seem to develop a great crispy crunch on the outside and a soft chewy inside that is really quite tasty.
Quickies For Lunchies
Here are links to other easy to make lunchbox fillers:
All of these recipes can be made and eaten straight away or placed in the freezer for up to 3 months. I like to pop a portion in to my kids’ lunchboxes the night before straight from the freezer and into the fridge ready for packing into the schoolbag in the morning. By lunchtime, it has thawed and is ready for my kids to devour it.
Pao Di Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread)
Serves 10