Food Fun Friday: Pão de queijo Recipe -Brazilian Cheese Bread

 In the days before we had kids, my husband and I did a lot of travel. We were fortunate enough to visit Brazil, and that country has always held a special place in our hearts. Brazil has the most amazing people and culture. Part of that culture is the food. We ate a lot of street food while we were there, and one of our favorite treats was a cheesy dough ball called pão de queijo. When I came across a post on Kid World Citizen where they shared a pão de queijo recipe, I was inspired to make my own. I was so excited as we have not had this since we were in Brazil. I could not wait to share this treat with my husband and kids! For more recipes kids will love check out Cooking with Kids.

Pão de queijo uses tapioca flour which you can find online or at many local stores.

Pão de queijo is a great recipe to make with kids. After you initially mix the sticky dough, kids can help to roll it into balls.

I showed my kids how they could roll ping pong sized balls and place them on a baking sheet sprayed coated with cooking spray. Rolling the pão de queijo reminded them of playing with play dough, so they were all too happy to roll balls for me.

We made a full cookie pan of  pão de queijo, but we had lots of dough left over so we kept on rolling and froze the remainder of the balls. They keep fine in the freezer and you can just pop them in the oven when you want some more. And you WILL want some more!

When baked, the pão de queijo balls turn a pretty golden color.

Break one open and enjoy the Brazilian cheesy bread goodness. The tapioca flour gives the pão de queijo a nice chewy texture.

It was just as good as we remembered and now we have a whole new generation of pão de queijo fans in our house.

This is a simple pão de queijo recipe that will bring home the flavors of Brazil!