A blender recipe, these cheese popovers are light, buttery, and indulgent, yet incredibly easy to make. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, this new take on Pão de Queijo belongs in your collection!

The Inspiration Behind These Cheese Popovers

Funny enough, this recipe came about purely by accident! I actually nailed this cheese popover creation on my first attempt—it was that good. But being the perfectionist I am, I ran three more tests just to make sure I could replicate the same delicious, airy results every time.

So, what’s the backstory?

My wife is Brazilian, and Brazil is most definitely a snack-loving culture. But their snacks aren’t like the American kind—no bags of chips here! Instead, Brazilian snacks are savory pastries and baked goods, each more delicious than the last.

Some examples:

• Coxinhas (KO-ch-E-nya) – Tear-drop-shaped delights with a crispy potato crust, stuffed with meat or cheese.
• Kibe – A Middle Eastern-inspired puff pastry filled with seasoned ground meat.
• Pão de Queijo – The most beloved of all, aka Brazilian Cheese Bread.

Pão de queijo has become so popular in the U.S. that you can find a decent frozen version (Brazi-Bites) at most grocery stores. And guess what? This was the inspiration for these cheese popovers.

Why This Recipe Was Born

Every Sunday, pão de queijo is a staple in our household—just as as going to church. But when we run out of Brazi Bites or forget to visit the local Brazilian store for a re-stock? Chaos. Absolute chaos.

So, one day, I got creative. I tossed all the ingredients with some extra cheese, eggs, heavy cream, and milk into a blender, poured the batter into a greased muffin tin, and popped it into a 450°F oven.

Fifteen minutes later, out came the most perfect, golden cheese popovers. And just like that, our Sunday breakfast was saved!

Cheese Popovers vs Traditional Popovers

I love traditional popovers—they’re light, airy, soft, and buttery. But they have one major flaw: they collapse within seconds of coming out of the oven.

These cheese popovers, however, have a light, eggy, buttery inside with a crisp, delicate shell—almost like a croissant. The best part? They hold their shape for hours, so they’re just as beautiful (and delicious) long after baking.

Avoid Popover “Flopovers”

1. Choose Your Flour Wisely

Don’t improvise when it comes to flour. It makes a huge difference.

I learned the hard way that cassava flour and tapioca flour are NOT the same thing—even though they both come from yuca.

• Tapioca flour = Just the starch (what you want).
• Cassava flour = The whole ground-up yuca, fiber and all (what you don’t want).

For perfect popovers, I always use Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour.. If you can’t find it, arrowroot flour or potato starch should work as substitutes.Choose Your Flour Wisely-

Cheese Please-

2. Cheese Matters – Choose Wisely!

Cheese is key in this recipe, and trust me, I’ve experimented a LOT.

• For the soft cheese: Avoid sharp cheddar—it overpowers the delicate popover flavor and tastes like a giant Cheez-It at high heat (is that a bad thing? no… but it also isn’t what you were looking for!). Instead, go for something mild and creamy like Chihuahua cheese (quesadilla cheese) or low-moisture shredded mozzarella.
• For extra depth: Mix in a bit of Gruyère for a punch of flavor.
• For the grated cheese: Cotija is my top choice! It’s drier, which helps the popovers rise. If you can’t find it, use shelf-stable Parmesan (like Kraft Parmesan) instead.

Why not fresh Parmesan? The higher moisture content causes popovers to lose volume—I tested this multiple times, and they only puffed up half as much!

3. Non-Stick Muffin Tins Are Essential

I once tried making mini popovers for my boys, and they welded themselves to the muffin tin—even though I greased it well. Lesson learned:

• Use a non-stick muffin tin.
• If your tin is old or not non-stick, line it with parchment muffin cups and grease those too!

Trust me, it’s much easier to remove a greased parchment liner than trying to pry your popovers out with a knife.

4. Your Oven Needs to Be HOT

Temperature matters! If your oven isn’t properly preheated, your popovers won’t rise.

Most ovens lie about their actual temperature (mine does!). That’s why I always:

• Preheat to 425°F.
• Let the oven sit at that temp for 15 minutes so the walls and grates fully heat up.
• Use an oven thermometer (I just bought a Rubbermaid one—game-changer!).

If your oven is temperamental, preheat 25°F higher, then lower it after putting the batter in.

Final Tips & Tricks for Cheese Popover Success

Here’s a quick recap to make sure you nail this recipe:

✔ Non-Stick: Use a non-stick muffin tin, or line it with greased parchment cups. You can buy 500 Parchment Muffin Liners on Amazon for cheap, but grease these as well.
✔ Butter Matters: Grease tins with softened butter (better flavor than spray or Crisco).
✔ Oven Heat: Ensure your oven is truly at 425°F before baking. I actually just bought a Rubbermaid Oven Thermometer to better manage my oven temperature, I’ll let you know how it goes!
✔ Reheating: Leftover batter? Store it in the fridge for up to four days. When ready, just bake fresh popovers instead of reheating old ones.
✔ Storage: If you do have leftovers, reheat in an air fryer or oven at 400°F for 1–2 minutes—never the microwave!
✔ Creative Fillings: These popovers form a beautiful divot in the center. Try filling them with scrambled eggs, chicken salad, or even Nutella for a fun twist!

Pão de Queijo? Cheese Bread? Popovers? Call It Whatever You Want!

This recipe is a hybrid between pão de queijo, popovers, and buttery goodness. Whatever you call them, they’re irresistible.

Now, go grab your blender and start baking—I promise, they’re worth it!

Here Are Some Great Recipes in related to Cheese Popovers!

Buttery Asiago Garlic Breadsticks – Gluten Free

Most Wonderful and Fluffy Buttermilk Gluten-Free Pancakes

Easy, Irresistible Pao de Queijo Cheese Popovers- Gluten Free

These easy pao de queijo cheese popovers are a must have for everyone's recipe collection! A blender recipe, they're easy to make, light, buttery, and so indulgent!

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 14 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American, Brazilian

Servings 24 Popovers

Equipment

• 1 Blender
• 2 Nonstick Muffin Pans

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 Tbsp Salted Butter- Melted
• ¾ Cups Whole Milk Warmed to room temp
• ¼ Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 6 Large Eggs
• 1-3/4 Cup Tapioca Flour
• ½ Cup Cotija Cheese Or Grated Parmesan Cheese *See Notes About Parm
• 1 Cup Chihuahua Cheese You can also use Mozzarella or Monterey Jack
• 1 Tbsp Spreadable Butter Or Crisco for Greasing Muffin Tins

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 425°F and set racks in the middle. (If you can fit two muffin tins per rack, perfect. If you need to use multiple racks, space them out with minimally 6 inches between racks.)
• Thoroughly grease with the spreadable butter or Crisco two Non-stick muffin tins. (Make sure they are non-stick, if not, use greased parchment liners.
• Set out your ingredients to make it easy.
  
• Combine the Butter, Milk, Cream, and Eggs into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the Salt and Tapioca Flour and blend for another 10 seconds. Scrapes the sides of the blender with a spatula if the flour has clumped to the sides.
  
• And the cheese and blend on high for an additional 10 seconds.
• Ladle your batter into the greased muffin cups. Only fill each cup to ⅓ full or about 2.5 Tbsp.
  
• Place your muffin tins in the oven and double check your heat.
• Bake for approximately 13-15 minutes. Your top should come out light and crisp and your popovers should be gold brown.
• Remove from the oven and let the popovers cool for a minute or two, then enjoy!!!

Notes

If you can’t find Cotija Cheese, use shelf stable Parmesan Cheese.  I would also drop the amount to 1/3 Cup.

I say high heat, but I also found that if you preheat your oven to 200°F, place the muffin tins in, then raise the temperature to 400°F after 4-5 minutes, you don’t get the dimple in the middle.

For reheating, place the popovers in the oven for 2-3 minutes at 400°F or until crisp.  These popovers are best fresh and the batter will last up to 4 days in the fridge.

Keyword Bread, Pao de Queijo, Pastry, Popover

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

zz