Yes, it is possible to have amazing Brazilian cheese breads when eating vegan. In fact, they almost taste better in flavor! You have no idea how happy I was when a friend of mine and fellow vegan told me that she found a recipe for vegan pao de queijos. So I have to share it with all of you!

You can find the original recipe here: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/211087/cc9a12153a/379000935/6316637b26/

OR, in true Serena fashion…you can try my variation of the same recipe below, where I use almond cheese instead of soy cheese, coconut oil instead of canola oil, and omit the oregano! Much better and healthier all around! 🙂

This makes about 20 1 to 1 1/2 inch breads

You will need:
– 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes. They need to be peeled, chopped, boiled with 1 tsp salt, drained and set aside to cool (this is the first step!)
– 2 cups tapioca flour
– 1 tsp salt
– 1⁄4 to 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
– 1/3 cup water
– 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder or baking soda (I’ve used both)
– 1⁄3 or more cup of shredded or grated almond cheese (any flavor)
– 1/3 cup coconut oil

– Preheat oven to 350 degrees. –

– In a small bowl, add tapioca flour, nutritional yeast, salt and baking powder and mix.

– In a larger bowl, add the cheese, the 1/3 cup water, and coconut oil. Add mashed potatoes (make sure they are cooled!), mix together, and let cool completely.
Then combine the dry ingredients into the larger bowl with the wet, and mix, press, knead, until you get a soft dough. This can take awhile, and the mixture may seem to dry, but keep at it, cause it’ll get there!

– Once the dough is mix, roll it into 1-1⁄4-inch balls and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake rolls for 30 to 35 minutes until puffed up and lightly golden. Serve hot.

If it doesn’t come out right the first time, don’t worry! It took me 2 or three times before they came out perfect! If you have leftover dough, you can save it in the fridge for a couple days. The dough will be harder because of the coconut oil, but as soon as you start kneading it again it will soften up.