A classic of Minas Gerais cuisine. Crunchy shell and the crumb is lightly pulled and the flavor is marked by cheese.
Ingredients
- 300g polvilho azedo
- 150g polvilho doce (tapioca flour)
- 100g grated Gruyère cheese
- 50g grated Emmental cheese
- 3 eggs
- 360ml water
- 60 ml oil
- 1 teaspoon of salt or less
Directions
Place the water and oil in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the polvilhos and salt.
As soon as the water and oil mixture boils, pour it little by little over the polvilho mixture to boil. Stir well with a wooden spoon (or spatula) until all the liquid is incorporated. Wait for the dough to cool down. But really wait: if it is hot and you follow the recipe, it will cook the eggs that will be added and melt the grated cheese, causing the preparation to fall apart.
Add the grated cheese and mix well.
In a small bowl, break one egg at a time and add it to the batter – if one is rotten, you don’t lose the recipe. Mix vigorously with each addition, to fully incorporate each egg, preferably with a wooden spoon. The dough will not be smooth, don’t be alarmed, it’s just like that. The texture is a little more rustic, with lumps of tapioca flour, and a little sticky. The important thing is that all the ingredients are well mixed, without the liquid part of the egg being separated from the dough.
To shape the pão de queijos: put some oil on a saucer to grease your hands; with a spoon, remove a portion of the dough and roll it into small balls, which can be about 3 to 6 cm in diameter. If your hand starts to get sticky dough, stop, wash your hand, and grease again. Transfer the shaped cheese bread to a baking pan and freeze.
If baking afterwards, leave space between each one – they will grow as they bake.
Bake in the oven:
Small ones (3~4 cm) bake for about 20~25 minutes, until risen and golden.
large (5~6cm) bake for about 40 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from de oven and serve.
Freezing Process
To freeze, take the baking sheets with the molded balls to the freezer. When they are very firm, transfer them to a bag. This way the cheese rolls will not stick to each other. To bake the frozen cheese bread, preheat the oven to 200 ºC (convection / umluft) and take the cheese bread straight from the freezer to the oven. The shelf life of frozen pão de queijos is 3 months.
