Who’s going to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival this year? I’ll be there in November, at the tail end of it. There are so many amazing food choices that you can’t possibly eat all of the goodies they have to offer. The good news is, whether you’ll be attending or not, I’ll be bringing you some recipes of items that you can recreate at home!
One tasty favorite that has been around the festival for several years is the Brazilian cheese bread (Pao de Quiejo). You can’t go wrong with bread and cheese, right? And something else great is that it’s made using tapioca flour, which means that it’s also gluten free. It’s becoming easier to come by these specialty flours now, so check the organic/Nature’s Marketplace/Natural/whatever they call it in your grocery store section.
For those of you who don’t know, outside of my “Disney life” I also work a day job as a children’s librarian. One of the programs I run for the kids is called Passport Pals, and each month we learn about a different country. We play games, do crafts, and eat food from that country. This past April we did Brazil, and so I decided to bake this Brazilian cheese bread for all the kids! I made two batches so I would have enough, and I will say that it’s a pretty easy recipe. Basically mix everything together and bake!
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup grated queso fresco cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease a muffin tin.
- Place all ingredients into food processor.
- Pulse until mixture is smooth (dough will be pretty runny at this point).
- Pour dough into muffin tins, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake 18-22 minutes, or until light brown and puffy.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
- Eat and enjoy!
If you liked this recipe, be sure to also check out some of our other Epcot World Showcase recipes, including the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and the Queso Fundido recipe from Mexico!
Would you want to try the Brazilian cheese bread recipe? What’s your favorite item at the Food and Wine festival?
There is no leavening agents in this recipe. Is this correct?
I have made this recipe twice. The first time I followed it exactly and got fantastic results. The puffs are air-filled with a lovely crust and a wonderful flavor. The second time I made them I substituted corn starch for tapioca starch, as they can be interchangeable. Not so with this recipe as they came out much more dense, the flavor is still there but the muffins are flat, lack that airy quality and do not feature the crisp crust. Definitely try this but don’t deviate!