I know that I don’t make breads very often. But I am about to redeem myself with these tapioca breadsticks — a quick, naturally gluten-free Brazilian snack that is best served warm and accompanied by coffee, tea, or any other beverage of your choice.  Is that sounding good to you?
I know… Sometimes I can be a lazy cook.  On top of that, I confess that bread is not my favorite thing to make… although it’s definitely one of my faves to eat! 🙂  Well let me tell ya, these tapioca breadsticks just became an exception, because they are quick and easy to make… and they are similar to one of my favorite breads: pĂŁo de queijo (Brazilian Cheese Rolls).  Just thinking about it has me buzzing with excitement!!!
Back in Brazil, these are known as biscoito de polvilho (tapioca “cookies”), and also by some other funny names such as biscoito de vento (“wind cookies”), biscoito voador (“flying cookies”), and biscoito globo (“globe cookies”). Originally from the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, they date back to the colonial period (18th century), and used to be served to the plantation owners along with cheese and coffee at afternoon coffee time. Over time biscoito de polvilho acquired different variations in shape (rings, sticks, or spheres), size (mini and regular sized), cooking methods (fried or baked, like ours), as well as in a few ingredients (some add cheese and/or fennel to the dough).
These are traditionally made from sour tapioca starch, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and salt…
… and yet they are so popular in Brazil that they are available at supermarkets and even from food vendors at the beach. Vale D’ouro and Panificação Mandarinho are a couple of brands that manufacture this baked goodie.
The main differences between the cheesy version of these tapioca breadsticks and the traditional pĂŁo de queijo are basically in the shape, and the fact that some like to add fennel to the dough. However, since I am not a fan of fennel, I used rosemary to flavor ours.  Yes, they are a great snack, but can also be a great substitute for crackers or other breads at the hors d’oeuvre table.  In that case, you can serve them with caipirinha instead.
Enjoy!
Tapioca Breadsticks (Biscoito de Polvilho)
Ingredients
- 4 cups tapioca flour about 500 g
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary optional
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
Instructions
- In a large heat-proof bowl, stir in tapioca flour and Parmesan cheese together until combined; then set aside.
- In a small saucepan, stir in together the milk, oil, salt, and chopped rosemary and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour the hot liquid mixture over the flour mixture, stirring well with a wood spoon until combined. Mixture will be lumpy. Add eggs on one side of the bowl, break them with a fork and give a quick stir. Then, using your hands, mix them with the lumpy flour mixture until obtaining homogeneous dough, about 3-4 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (about 180 degrees C). Line two to three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Lightly grease your hands with a drop of vegetable oil. Using a tablespoon as measurement, spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the dough onto your hands, mold into balls and then roll into sticks, 2-inch (mini breadstick) to 4-inch long each (medium breadstick). Arrange them on the lined baking sheets, leaving a space (1 to 2-inches) between them. Bake for about 13-15 minutes, or until tapioca breadsticks are puffy and lightly golden on top. Yield will vary according to the size of the tapioca breadsticks (22-45 breadsticks). Mine were approximately 4 inches long a piece, yielding about 22 breadsticks.
- Serve while still warm accompanied by coffee, tea, or any other beverage of your choice. If desired, you can brush a bit of melted butter on top of the tapioca breadsticks. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Sour tapioca starch (polvilho azedo) is often used to make these tapioca breadsticks (biscoito de polvilho). Since it is not typically available at local supermarkets in the US, I used tapioca flour instead -- which is a suitable substitute, and can be usually be found in the flour/cake aisle.
Flor de Maria
September 15, 2015 at 12:15 pmThanks for the recipe–looking forward to making these as I especially appreciate GF recipes to make for my child that has celiac. I am sure all of us will enjoy these.
Denise Browning
September 15, 2015 at 1:36 pmMy pleasure, Flor de Maria! I hope your child and all the family enjoy them. My children love these breadsticks… so much that I made them twice within a few days. 🙂 You can shape them as sticks or simply rolled them into balls.
Deb|EastofEdenCooking
September 15, 2015 at 3:48 pmI just love the egg photos Denise! And that they are part of making wonderful home-made bread sticks is all the better. A scrumptious post!
Little Cooking Tips
September 16, 2015 at 12:30 amFantastic breadsticks dear Denise! Breadsticks are also extremely popular here, there are fresh, sold at all bakeries and packed, sold in supermarkets. We love having them with The Laughing Cow cheese, cream cheese and sometimes with a more “special” cheese like a smoked metsovone or a good graviera. We never had breasticks from tapioca flour though!
Your recipe is very easy to follow, and Mirella adores eating and making anything that includes dough:) This means we’ll be having those very very soon:)
Have a great day!
xoxoxoxo
Marcia
September 17, 2015 at 1:32 amDenise, vocĂŞ disponibiliza alguma de suas receitas em portuguĂŞs? Sempre quis aprender a fazer este biscoito, pois gosto muito. Acabei me apaixonando por todo site.
Obrigada!
Denise Browning
September 17, 2015 at 10:14 amOlá, Marcia! Muito obrigada. Que coincidĂŞncia! Meu site vai estreiar atĂ© o fim deste mĂŞs em portuguĂŞs como se fosse um site em separado do de inglĂŞs assim vocĂŞ terá muitas das nossas receitas na nossa lĂngua mĂŁe para experimentar. A estrutura do site está quase pronta. Inicialmente vamos publicar umas vinte receitas e depois vamos traduzir todo o resto para colocar lá. Como faltam ainda quase duas semanas atĂ© lá, vou traduzir a receita deste biscoito em portuguĂŞs para vocĂŞ e te envio atĂ© este domingo. Um abraço!
Mi Vida en un Dulce
September 17, 2015 at 11:45 amOh Denis, this recipe is wonderful. I’m still have in my pendings to try the Pan de Queso, and I will add this sticks!!!
Chris Scheuer
September 19, 2015 at 2:54 pmThese look perfect for appetizers or a dinner bread. Love the rosemary. I would have made the same choice!
Carrie
December 30, 2018 at 11:59 amHi, if I omit the cheese would I need to change anything else in the recipe to accommodate? Thanks!
Denise Browning
December 30, 2018 at 9:12 pmHi, Carrie! I have never made these without cheese but you can give it a try. The cheese adds extra flavor to these bread sticks. But I don’t think it will make a great difference in terms of consistency — only flavor. So please place more herbs and an extra dash of salt to compensate. Enjoy and have a marvelous New Year!