Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread

This Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread recipe is inspired by the savory pastry from Brazil, pão de queijo. With main ingredients like extra-sharp cheddar and Pecorino Romano cheeses, it's made to be enjoyed warm as a snack, an appetizer, or with your favorite meal. 

These rolls have crunchy outsides, chewy insides, and a yummy, cheesy flavor. Because you combine the ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth, it's an easy recipe to make. (And one your kids will enjoy helping with!)

As an added bonus, it's also a gluten-free recipe because it uses tapioca flour.

Brazilian Cheese Bread

1 cup whole milk

1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/3 cup olive oil

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

2 cups tapioca flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Add milk, cheeses, oil, eggs, salt, and tapioca flour to blender, making sure to add tapioca flour last. Process on high speed for 30 seconds.
3. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down sides of blender. Replace lid and process on high speed until smooth, about another 30 seconds.
4. Pour batter evenly into muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full
5. Bake in oven until rolls are golden brown and puffed, 25-30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let rolls cool on cooling rack in muffin tin for 5 minutes.
7. Run butter knife around edges of rolls to loosen from muffin tin and transfer to cooling rack. Serve warm.

Notes:

You can change the types of cheeses in this bread if you'd like to change the flavor, but there isn't really a good substitute for the tapioca flour. Tapioca flour provides the crispy crust and chewy texture of the Brazilian cheese bread, which is what makes it unique. This is the reason there isn't a good substitute.

The BEST Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies

These cookies have been a favorite in our family for years, and if you're a fan of chocolate, I think you'll love them too! What sets them apart from other cookies is their fudgy texture.

If you're looking for a new recipe to add to your holiday baking rotation, then look no further. This one is sure to please adults and kids alike (and is sure to be a standout at your next Christmas cookie exchange)!

Triple Chocolate Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

28 oz. semisweet chocolate chips, divided

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder

10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Place 16 oz. semisweet chocolate chips in heatproof bowl. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir. Repeat until melted and smooth.
3. Beat eggs and vanilla together lightly. Sprinkle with coffee powder to dissolve. Set aside.
4. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in sugars until combined, about 45 seconds. Mixture will look granular. 
5. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add chocolate in steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula. 
6. With mixer at low speed, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat. 
7. Mix in remaining 12 oz. of chocolate chips with a spoon until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until mixture is scoopable and fudgelike, about 30 minutes.
8. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 
9. Leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each ball, scoop dough onto lined cookie sheets with 1 1/2 Tbsp cookie scoop.
10. Bake until edges of cookies have just begun to set but centers are soft, about 10 minutes. 
11. Cool cookies on sheets about 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes:

This recipe makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies. You can make a lot of cookies in one batch and they're unique, so they're also a great choice for if you're baking for charity. We've donated these cookies before as part of Aidyn's service organization's volunteer hours.

The balls of raw cookie dough should be about the size of a golf ball. If you make the cookie dough smaller, the cookies won't turn out as chewy. I use the OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop in size medium, which is the equivalent of the 1-1/2 Tbsp. size needed for this recipe.

The cookies may appear under baked at first, but they will firm up as they cool. Baking them longer will also affect their fudgy texture.

If you're a fan of flavored baking chips (sometimes sold around the holidays), they might be nice to substitute for the 12 oz. of chocolate chips that you add in step 7. For years, we made this recipe with raspberry flavored baking chips when they were readily available. But it might also be fun to substitute caramel, cherry, mint, or peanut butter, according to your specific tastes. Another fun addition around Halloween or fall-time might be to substitute Reese's Pieces in this step.

Because the recipe makes so many cookies, you could also divide the dough before adding the baking chips in step 7. That would allow you to make a half-batch of triple chocolate cookies and a half-batch of double chocolate cookies with your choice of flavored chips.

Make sure to check out these other favorite Harris Sisters holiday cookie recipes:

• Holiday M&M Cookie Bars
• No Bake Choc Oat Cookies
• White Chocolate Dipped Gingersnaps
• Betty Crocker's Old-Fashioned Thumbprint Cookies
• Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

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Broadway's Back: Our Broadway Musical Themed Group Halloween Costume

We are super-excited to be bringing back the Walkush family costumes in full force this year. And this year, we've chosen to celebrate Broadway's BIG return. (Fun Fact: This family LOVES a musical!)

Broadway's Back Group Halloween Costumes

Broadway closed its curtains in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as of September  2021, has slowly reopened. We thought this would not only make a perfect group Halloween costume but also be the perfect way to celebrate the long-awaited return to stage!

Can you spot the characters and the shows we represent? Some are a little more difficult than others!

Moulin Rouge

Les Miserables

Annie

Hamilton

Here's a closer look at all of the costumes:

Welcome to the Moulin Rouge

Jaxon is Harold Zidler, ringmaster of the Moulin Rouge. Jaxon was VERY interested in this costume chiefly because it included a bowtie, and Jaxon loves to wear bowties! This might have been the easiest costume this year. I used some advice on How to Save Money on Halloween Costumes by repurposing an old costume of mine from a circus-themed family photoshoot. The pieces that we repurposed were the jacket, hat, bowtie, and cane. Jaxon already had the white dress shirt, black dress pants, and black vest. So we didn't have to purchase anything for this costume and he loved it. (Turns out he loved that cane too!)

Who am I? 24601!

Aidyn chose Jean Valjean from Les Miserables. Although this is not a literal interpretation of the costume, which would have been a prisoner costume from early 19th-century France, I was happy to oblige my teenage son, who specifically requested a standard "prisoner" costume and mugshot sign. I am just happy that he still wants to dress up for Halloween! We also repurposed another costume from our Police Officer costumes for our German Shepherd Chance so that he could also be a fellow prisoner with Aidyn.

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

I was the title character from Annie. This was another easy costume this year. Other than the purchase of a red wig and lacy socks, I only needed to pull the dress, heart locket, and black patent leather flats out of my costume closet to complete this look. (I got the dress for my costume closet from a clothing swap party and have just been waiting for the perfect opportunity to dress as Annie!) Our pup Smitty got to play Annie's dog Sandy for the evening, which meant that he got to go without any costume other than his usual fluffy cuteness. He was so happy about that!

While we were taking photos, we realized that Aidyn's costume and my costume put together, made for a Smooth Criminal reference: Annie are you OK? . . .  You've been hit by a smooth criminal (We are cornballs, but this is not brand new information . . .)

I Am Not Throwing Away My Shot

Ryan was Alexander Hamilton from Hamilton. This costume was one that we purchased, and it was fantastic quality for a Halloween costume. It included a one-piece jacket (with an attached vest), a cravat, and pants. We paired it with Ryan's costume boots.

And here's a look at the whole cast. Coming soon to a stage near you!

Happy Halloween from the Walkush family!