Colombian pan de bono
A cheesy, chewy and delicious bread !
Pan de bono has been rated as one of the best breads in the world for a good reason! It is a cheese bread made with cassava starch, cornflour and flavoured with cheese. This results in a bread that is stretchy, cheesy and soo tasty. It originates from Colombia although it bears similarity with Brazilian Pao de queijo. It is made with tapioca starch which derives from cassava (also known as yuca) so it has a very unique chewy texture and delicious cheesy flavour. Traditionally you would use queso costeño which is a salty semi hard cheese from Colombia. Since this can be difficult to find in other countries I am susbtituting with feta cheese which is more widely available but feel free to use other similar cheeses such as cotija or queso fresco.
Traditionally these breads are enjoyed with some hot chocolate, coffee or guava paste. In this case I am making a more savoury version by stuffing them with mozzarella cheese but feel free to skip this.
Also they are naturally gluten free and very easy to make, no need for fancy equipment, intense kneading or proofing the dough! All the ingredients come together in a bowl, so as long as you have a kitchen scale and an oven you are good to go!
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🌱Vegetarian
🌾GF
🍽️ 6 breads
🧀Ingredients
125g tapioca starch
35g cornflour (I used Harina PAN)
30g caster sugar
180g feta cheese
30g butter
1 egg
40g milk
Shredded mozzarella cheese for filling (optional)
🧀Method
Bring the milk and butter to a boil in a sauce pan
Add the tapioca starch to a bowl and then pour the hot milk and oil over and quickly mix with a wooden spoon until obtaining a dough. Add the egg and mix again, then the crumbled feta cheese and knead until obtaining a dough, it should be a bit sticky but firm enough to shake it into balls
Divide the dough in 6 equal pieces. Take each piece of dough and shape into balls with your hands. Flatten these balls and then add some mozzarella cheese in the middle. Then fold the dough over the cheese with the palms of your hands and roll into a ball again
Place balls onto an oven tray covered with parchment paper. Brush each ball with melted butter
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about 20 min until they get a light golden brown colour
FAQS and Tips
If the dough is too sticky you can rest the dough in the fridge for 30-60min and then also put some oil in your hands to avoid sticking. Alternatively add some extra tapioca starch
You can freeze down the dough balls and then bake them once you are ready to consume them
