Pão De Queijo

My favorite part of going to Brazilian barbecue is the cheese bread. I shared a blender version a few years back but since then, my former coworker has given me her mom's recipe and I'm all about this version. My old version was super easy but the resultant bread was borderline gum-like in that it was a bit too stretchy and chewy. This newer version is pretty easy too, mainly because I adapted the recipe I was given to be a more manageable quantity and technique, and it's much more akin to the ones served in Churrascarias.

Ingredients [yields 12]:
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup tapioca starch
1 egg
2 oz. grated mozzarella
2.5 oz grated parmesan

Start by melting butter into the milk over medium heat until scalding.

Remove from the heat and stir in the tapioca starch until a crumbly dough forms.

Stir in the egg until the dough is homogenous and sticky.

Stir in the grated cheese and then use a 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop to evenly portion the dough into 12 pieces. Wet hands and gently roll the dough balls to make them smooth.

Bake at 400F for 15 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese looks toasted.

These cheesy breads are delightful. They puff up slightly in the oven so they have a light, airy texture but they're supremely stretchy thanks to the tapioca starch. They're salty and satisfying because of the cheese and the outside has such a wonderful crisp texture.

Here's the recipe page: