Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe You’ll Make on Repeat (Crispy Outside, Chewy Inside)

Balls of Brazilian Cheese Bread sit in a wicker basket in a white napkiin on a blue background.

5 from 5 votes

Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe You’ll Make on Repeat (Crispy Outside, Chewy Inside)

Warm from the oven, Brazilian cheese bread is one of those recipes that feels a little magical the first time you make it. I love that these small, golden rolls puff up with a crisp shell and a stretchy, cheesy center—no wheat flour required.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Total Time35

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Brazilian Cheese Bread, Cheese Bread

Servings: rolls

Calories: 60kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

Mini cupcake pans for 24 rolls

Ingredients

1 ½ cups tapioca flour ((170 grams)
1 large egg
⅓ cup oil, vegetable, canola, or olive oil
⅔ cup milk
½ teaspoon table salt
½ to 1 cup pepper jack cheese or cheese of choice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly spray the mini cupcake wells with a non-stick baking release. Set aside.
Place the tapioca flour, egg, oil, and milk in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process or blend until smooth, scraping down as necessary
Add the shredded cheese and pulse or process until the cheese is incorporated. To make the crispiest rolls, pulse just a few times to simply break up the cheese a little. To make a chewier, less crispy roll, process to incorporate the cheese completely but do not take it so far that the batter thickens. It should be very thin.
Fill the wells to within ⅛" from the top. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until puffed and slightly colored. Serve warm or room temperature.
They will keep in a closed tin for several days. They can be frozen either unbaked in the pans by adding a few minutes to the baking time or baked, cooled and frozen then reheated in a 350°F oven for a few minutes until warmed.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

Unless otherwise noted, salt refers to table salt.

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

__________________________________________________

Any cheese will work. I chose pepper jack to up the taste. A couple of cheeses can also be used. Mozzarella and parmesan are frequently mentioned,

Tapioca flour can be found in most grocery stores in the baking aisle.

Canola oil, vegetable oil, olive oil are all good choices for the oil.

Whole or 2% milk may be used.

Don't over mix the batter. It needs to be liquid when it goes into the wells of the muffin pan.

Make sure the oven is set at 400°F. If it is too low, the rolls won't puff up.

I prefer to bake off all the rolls at once and freeze what we don't eat. If holding excess batter in the fridge, warm it to bring it back to a liquid state before baking.

To make the crispiest rolls, pulse just a few times to simply break up the cheese a little. To make a chewier, less crispy roll, process to incorporate the cheese completely but do not take it so far that the batter thickens. It should be very thin.

Nutrition