Cheese bread made with pre-cooked corn flour and two different cheeses, baked without yeast and without any rising time. Eighteen rolls in about forty-five minutes.
The flour is masarepa
The original ingredient list said cornflour, which is genuinely ambiguous and worth clearing up: in British English cornflour means cornstarch, the fine white thickener, and this recipe will not work with it at all.
What it needs is masarepa, pre-cooked corn flour, the same thing arepas are made from. It is sold as P.A.N., Areparina or harina de maíz precocida.
Two cheeses, two jobs
- Fresh cheese melts and gives the crumb its softness. Queso campesino in Colombia, queso fresco abroad.
- Salty cheese gives the flavour. Queso costeño is the original; feta is the usual substitute outside Colombia and behaves very similarly.
Using only the fresh one gives a soft bland roll. Using only the salty one gives something dry and aggressive. The pairing is the recipe.
No yeast, no waiting
The lift comes entirely from baking powder dissolved in hot milk at the start. That means the dough goes straight from the bowl into the oven, and it also means it cannot be made ahead: once the baking powder is wet, it starts working.
Shape and bake in one go.
Salt carefully
Both cheeses are already salty, and queso costeño in particular is very salty indeed. Taste the dough before adding any and you will probably find it needs none.
Eat them warm
Colombian cheese breads go hard within a few hours. This is not a fault and it is why bakeries make them in small batches through the day. Reheating for a few minutes brings them most of the way back.
More cheese breads
- Pandebono — cassava starch instead of corn.
- Almojábanas — softer, with curd cheese.
- Pan de yuca — the gluten-free one.
- Dedos de queso — fried rather than baked.
Cheese Bread FAQ
Masarepa, pre-cooked corn flour, sold as P.A.N. or harina de maíz precocida. The ingredient list said cornflour, which in British English means cornstarch and will not work here at all.
They do different jobs. The fresh cheese melts and makes the crumb soft; the salty one carries the flavour. Use only one and you get either a bland roll or a dry, aggressive one.
Feta is the standard substitute and behaves very similarly: firm, dry and salty. For the fresh cheese, queso fresco is sold in most American supermarkets now.
No. The lift comes from baking powder dissolved in hot milk, which means there is no rising time and also that the dough cannot be made ahead. Shape and bake in one go.
It is the nature of Colombian cheese breads, which is why bakeries there bake small batches all day. They are best within a couple of hours, and a few minutes in a warm oven brings them most of the way back.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups masarepa (pre-cooked corn flour) (harina de maíz precocida, not cornstarch and not raw cornmeal)
- 1 cup fresh cheese (queso campesino, or queso fresco)
- 1 cup queso costeño, or feta (the salty one; feta is the substitute outside Colombia)
- ½ cup hot milk
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder (there is no yeast: this is what lifts them)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Salt, to taste (go carefully: both cheeses are already salty)
Notas
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Mix the baking powder into the hot milk, add a tablespoon of the masarepa and the sugar, and stir until combined.
- In a bowl, add the melted butter and stir well. Add the masarepa, the eggs, the salt and both cheeses. Knead with your hands until it comes together into a smooth dough.
- Divide the mixture into 18 equal portions, roll each into a ball and shape them on a floured surface.
- Put them on a baking tray lined with parchment or greased with butter and bake for about 25 minutes.
- Serve warm, with coffee or hot chocolate.
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