Pan de bonos from Colombia (gluten-free)

Wow, guys, really? 85% of you said on Insta that you want another pan de bono recipe on the blog. So I will happily oblige. Below version is made with Russian tvorog, which is a cream cheese also available here in Germany. My Colombian hubby says this is the closest I have gotten to the Colombian original, so I will take this as a huge win. Believe me, I have made probably thousands of pan de bonos by now, I have tried so many different cheeses, I have used mozzarella, and feta, I used queso de Burgos in Spain and a cheese called “Schichtkäse” here in Germany. Now we will  turn to tvorog as this seems to be pretty close to the Colombian “queso costeño”, which is used originally.

Tvorog is a cheese that is usually used for the dumplings called vareniki. At least here in Germany this cheese is widely available in several supermarket chains. You will often find it from the brand Dovgan in stores such as Aldi, Lidl, Norma, and Rewe. If you see it elsewhere, let me know, happy to update the list. One time while I was making vareniki, it dawned on me that tvorog was pretty similar to queso costeño. I therefore decided to make the cheese puffs yet again, this time featuring tvorog. My hubby very much approved. The secret to making pan de bonos with cheese substitutes is knowing the proper ratio of cheese vs. liquid since they may vary in how dry they are. I have quickly learned to pay attention to the right consistency. The recipe for pandebonos with German Schichtkäse uses less milk since that cheese contains more moisture. On the other hand, if using mozzarella and feta, you will again need more milk. Below shows you the correct consistency.

As you can see, the dough still looks crumbly, but it is starting to be more cohesive, this is the texture you are looking for

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Pan de bonos from Colombia (gluten-free)

Serves: About 17-18

Prep Time: 15min – Cooking Time: 25min – Total Time: 40min

Pan de bonos or pandebonos are gluten-free cheese puffs from Colombia. They are super easy to make and can be served as a side or snack.

Ingredients

• 30 grams of butter
• 240 grams of tapioca starch (may be called cassava or manioc as well, I used this one)
• 20 grams of cornflour (may be replaced with more tapioca starch)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 250 grams of farmer's cheese, I used this one, a recipe with mozzarella and feta can be found here, with German Schichtkäse here
• 1 egg
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of salt (depends very much on the cheese, mine was very mild, so I used a teaspoon of salt)
• 100-130 grams of milk

Instructions

1

In this video you can see how I make them. Melt the butter, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2

Weigh all ingredients except for the milk into a large bowl, then add 100 grams of milk and the slightly cooled off butter. Mix until you have a lightly crumbly texture. You will see on above picture that the crumbs are slowly getting bigger, this is the stage we want. If needed, add a bit more milk and mix again.

3

Form balls the size of a golf ball and place on prepared baking sheet. I usually do two rounds as they will grow a little and 17-18 don't fit properly on one sheet. Bake on middle rack for about 25 minutes or until golden. Eat fresh, best while still warm. I recommend keeping leftover dough in an airtight container in the fridge. I have realized that freshly baked is the most important aspect, you will need to add a few minutes to the baking time if you have chilled the dough, but you can easily keep the dough in the fridge for a few days before baking. Enjoy.