23 Iconic Breads Around the World

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Pão de queijo - Brazil

Pão de queijo are delightful Brazilian cheese buns, often enjoyed as a savory snack or breakfast food. Recipes across the country vary, but they're almost always made from cassava flour and some type of cheese, usually the traditional Brazilian Minas cheese but also mozzarella or parmesan. Other ingredients can include a type of fat and egg.

These little cheese rolls are usually 3-5 cm in diameter but can come in bigger sizes and may be found stuffed with sweet ingredients as well. You can find these fluffy and delicious snacks everywhere in Brazil, either store-bought, prepared fresh or make-it-yourself with commercial cheese mix starter packs. If you can't get to Brazil, you can always check local Brazilian supermarkets for the latter, and frozen packages of pão de queijo have become increasingly available in the US due to their rising popularity.