Inside Scoop: These Gluten-Free Cheese Puff (AKA pizza bombs) are absolutely grain-free, can be made dairy free, simple and oh so delicious.

Have you tried Brazilian Cheese Buns yet?

Well, if you’re new to the concept of ‘Brazilian cheese buns’ you need to test this recipe for pizza style gluten-free cheese puffs!

Also, if you’re new to the idea of cooking with tapioca flour, we have to let you know that we are HOOKED and have been using it to bake and experiment with lately, and it’s been awesome.

This little Gluten-free Cheese Puff recipe was inspired by a classic, but with a modern day twist.

WHAT ARE GLUTEN-FREE CHEESE PUFFS AKA. BRAZILIAN CHEESE BUNS?

Brazilian cheese buns, AKA Pão de Queijo are basically cheese breads, or cheese puffs made from a couple of incredibly simple ingredients: cheese, tapioca flour, milk, oil and salt. The way they’re created and baked leave you with these delicious balls or puffs of cheesy goodness, that are gluten-free, grain-free, and incredibly delicious.

We’ve decided to do some experimentation with these little gluten-free cheese puffs of joy to bring you an option that’s healthy and delicious, doesn’t use white flour or any refined ingredients, but instead is simple, easy and tastes just like pizza bites.

WHAT’S TAPIOCA FLOUR?

The yucca root (woody shrub native to South America and the Caribbean) is the plant that’s cultivated to extract cassava flour. This cassava flour is then refined further to extract the pulp, or tapioca. Over the past couple of years, both cassava flour and tapioca flour have risen in popularity as a lot of people are finding grains and gluten hard to digest, or cause intestinal upset. Grain-free diets are popular, and these flours are great alternatives when considering baking.

Tapioca flour is a great replacement for cornstarch, as it thickens any liquid it’s placed in. Plus, tapioca flour has been popularly used in these little cheese puffs, and due to its rise in popularity we thought we’d give it a try.

Our favourite brand of tapioca flour is Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour, which you can find on Amazon.

CAN THESE GLUTEN-FREE CHEESE PUFFS BE MADE DAIRY-FREE?

Totally, we have given an option and provided our favourite dairy-free and vegan shredded cheese options below, and have tested this recipe with both mozzarella and dairy-free/ vegan shredded cheese to make sure that all your cheesy puff pizza dreams are going to come true, no matter what the dietary requirement.

CAN THESE GLUTEN-FREE CHEESE PUFFS BUNS BE MADE VEGAN? 

We have not yet tested this recipe to be vegan, but if you want to experiment, you can try using a flax egg in place of a regular egg. Get the flax egg recipe here. 

WHY THESE GLUTEN-FREE CHEESE PUFFS ARE THE PERFECT CHEESY SNACK

As far as nutritional value goes, tapioca flour is pretty bland. It’s low in fat, protein and calories and due to its processing, it’s been stripped of many nutrients. BUT, that doesn’t mean you can’t create healthy recipes with it.

Tapioca flour is grain-free, nut-free and gluten-free, which make it an allergy-friendly base for baking. It’s also versatile and you can add in other healthy ingredients that can vamp up the nutritional profile of what you’re cooking.

For example, you can add matcha, chia, flax, pureed sweet potato, pureed spinach, fruit, and other nutrient dense foods to these buns to create something that’s healthy and allergy-free.

These buns contain cheese, a great source of calcium, vitamin B12, selenium, zinc and many other essential vitamins and minerals; eggs, which contain so many powerful nutrients such as choline (part of the B’s) that’s important for brain health; and with a homemade marinara you get the antioxidants from tomatoes, as well as other benefits from the sauce. All of this together you have a delicious, healthy, grain-free recipe that fits into a variety of diets.

We’re all about these cheesy buns and are excited to be whipping them up on a regular basis! If you’re a fan of pizza and ok with gluten, you can check out this amazing healthy recipe Veggie & Goat Cheese Spelt Flatbread. And if you’re looking for more Nutritionist Approved Brands, be sure to snatch up your copy of our Healthy Packaged Foods list (all brands have the Naughty Nutrition stamp of approval), you can grab the list here:

What do you think? Are you ready to start experimenting with tapioca flour? Let us know in the comments below.