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pão de queijo (cheese bread)
/Opener-BrazilianCheeseBread)
These cheesy rolls originally come from Brazil. They’re crunchy on the outside, and soft and chewy inside.
Prepare Ingredients
Gather Baking Equipment
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray (making sure to get inside each cup).
Add milk, cheddar cheese, Pecorino cheese, oil, eggs, and salt to blender. Add tapioca starch. (Make sure to add the tapioca starch last, or the mixture will turn to glue in the blender.) Place lid on top of blender and hold lid firmly in place with folded dish towel. Process on high speed for 30 seconds. Stop blender.
Use rubber spatula to scrape down sides of blender jar. Replace lid and process on high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour batter evenly into greased muffin tin cups, filling each cup about three-quarters full.
Food for Thought
The Secret of These Stretchy, Chewy Bites
Pão de queijo (cheese bread) are small rolls with crunchy exteriors and uniquely chewy, stretchy centers. Instead of using flour like most baked goods, they use a surprise ingredient: tapioca starch. Tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) is made from cassava root (a plant native to South America) that has been ground up into a powder. When combined with liquid, tapioca starch makes a gooey paste that can trap air and make baked goods rise in the oven. Bonus: it’s naturally gluten-free!
Blender Safety
When using the blender to process a batter, make a smoothie, or puree a soup, follow two simple rules:
- Don’t fill the blender jar more than two-thirds full.
- Make sure to hold the lid securely in place with a folded dish towel.
Once ingredients are in the blender jar, place the lid on top and hold it firmly in place with a folded dish towel. Then turn on the blender, keeping pressure on the towel so the lid stays in place.
