These Cheesy Rolls, Originally From Brazil, Are Easy to Make in Your Own Kitchen

This cheesy, gluten-free bread is so good you’ll probably eat more than one. Sally Staub

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 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!

Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread)

Makes 12 rolls

• Vegetable oil spray
• 1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk
• 1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
• 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (2 ounces)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (8 ounces) tapioca starch

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray.