Pao de queijo - Brazilian cheese puffs / rolls

Gooey, chewy, soft, rich and gluten-free cheesy puffs

This recipe is featured on RecipeNewZ

Source: Sonia Portuguese

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 225 g / 1/2 pack tapioca starch
- 1 egg
- 100 g grated Parmesan / cheddar or other cheese (I used Bergeron)
Total: 35 puffs

Directions:
1. Bring water, milk, oil and salt to boil.
2. Remove the pan from heat and add the tapioca starch. Mix well with a wooden spoon and let it cool down slightly.
3. Start preheating the oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Add the egg to the dough and knead. I used a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment for that. 2-3 minutes was enough.
5. Add the cheese and continue kneading until the dough is smooth. With a stand mixer it took another 5-7 minutes (love, love, love my KitchenAid, how could I live wihtout it?)
6. Grease your hands with oil so that the dough does not stick. Roll walnut-sized balls and place them on the baking sheet.
7. Bake the puffs for about 30-40 minutes until puffed and golden.
8. Serve warm.

Afterthoughts
- Wonderful puffs! A little crunchy on the outside, gooey and chewy inside. We ate them instead of bread with lunch, but they would make a perfect snack or appetizer.
- I saw many recipes with pao de queijo, and tried making them before, but they deflated and collapsed as soon as I took them out of the oven. I think the recipe I had followed did not require boiling the milk first before adding the flour. Probably it also used normal flour. In any case, this recipe worked much better for me. I got the link to it from a very nice Brazilian girl I recently met, and I am very grateful :-).
- The original recipe calls for baking the puffs for 20 minutes at 350F. That's what I did, but the puffs were completely row. I ended up baking them for about 50 minutes, increasing the temperature to 380F for the last 15 minutes. Maybe it's my oven, but next time I am going to bake them at 375 for 40 minutes. Maybe I'll reduce the temperature to 350F 20 minutes into baking.
- By the way, tapioca flour is gluten free, so this recipe is gluten-free (and fat-rich ;-) with all the cheese and oil).