Delicious Kale and Cheese Puffs (Brazilian Cheese Bread)
Pao de queijo, the cheese puffs you may have first come across at a Brazilian steakhouse, are the bread equivalent of a Goldfish cracker: airy but satisfying, delivering the fromage dopamine shot you need while feeling weightless in hand and mouth. You can easily knock down four or five of them before realizing what you’ve done.
So can your baby or toddler. That’s what makes them a great snack between meals; that’s also why I snuck some kale in there for you and him/her. This recipe couldn’t be easier to put together; the hardest part will be tracking down tapioca flour, which you should be able to find at Whole Foods or your local specialty grocer.
- 4 stems Kale (I use Lacinato/dinosaur but any variety will work)
- 1 Egg
- 2/3 cup Milk
- shredded or grated Cheese (whatever you got in large quantities; even sliced would work)
- 1 cup Tapioca Flour
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
- dried Chives
- Preheat your oven to 400. Spray the wells of your muffin tray with cooking spray.
- Optional but recommended: boil the kale until soft, or about one minute. Cool. Squeeze out excess liquid.
- In a blender, crack in the egg, pour in the milk, and add a big glug of olive oil; then add the flour, cornstarch, a lot chives, and a pinch of salt. Add cheese. Add some more. Figure on using 3/4ths of a typical bag of store-bought shredded cheese (i.e., 6 ounces).
- Pour mixture into the wells, stopping just above the halfway mark so that you leave a bit of room on top to allow puffs to, well, puff while cooking.
- Bake for 12 minutes if using a mini-muffin tray; bake for 18-20 minutes if making regular-sized muffins.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool five minutes before removing from tray. (If hard to dislodge, trace a knife all along the edge of the well to separate before lifting.)
Because of their airiness, the puff does not need to be broken up into any more than two or three pieces; by about 15-18 months your child should be able to gnaw through it whole without you breaking it down. Serve at room temperature.
If the vivid green color is (or may be) divisive for your toddler, here’s an easy fix: chop it up–either by hand/knife or in a food processor blender–separate from the other ingredients. Place some of the kale shards at the bottom of each well in your muffin tray, pour in the batter, then scatter some more pieces over the top of the batter. Your puff will come out orange-y/yellowish, with green flecks all about.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
