Pandeyucas (Colombian Cassava Bread)
Today I bring you yet another recipe where we’ll use once again our all time favorite, cassava flour. In Colombia we make lots of different things with this flour and depending on the amount of cheese that you use and the way you shape the dough, you end up making different types of bread. If the dough is nice and soft, we end up with pandebonos, if we fry it in oil, we end up making buñuelos, if we add all purpose flour, they become pandequeso and if we leave it in the fridge so the dough loses its moisture, it becomes pandeyucas (cassava bread), which is the way we’re going to make them in today’s recipe.
You will immediately recognize a pandeyuca based on its texture which should be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I have seen a lot of bakeries sell them really soft and spongy inside and out, and even though the flavor is delicious, they are actually pandebonos and not pandeyucas. Like I said previously, we get this crunchy texture by leaving the dough in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours so it dries up really well.
Their shape is also very unique because they are usually shaped into crescent moons. Although I have been told that in the Valle del Cauca they sell them round and some times filled with guava paste and cheese. At the end of the day it really doesn’t matter how you shape them because I can guarantee you that if you follow my instructions to the letter, you will end up making super crunchy and chewy pandeyucas, in other words, perfect.
¡Buen provecho!
Pandeyucas (Colombian Cassava Bread)
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups 270 g cassava flour (you can also find it as tapioca flour, mandioca, yuca flour or yuca starch)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt - See notes
- 1½ tsp white granulated sugar
- 2½ cups 250 g Mexican queso fresco (grated) See note below
- 3/4 cup 75 g feta cheese (grated) See note below
- 1 tbsp butter (softened or at room temperature)
- 1 large egg
- Milk (as needed)
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix the cassava flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the cheese, butter and egg. Start mixing with your hands and add small amounts of milk while kneading until you get a soft dough. Shape the dough into a large ball, wrap with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.
- Pre-heat oven to 400ºF (204ºC).
- 3. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and make small balls that measure about 2 inches in diameter (you can make them bigger if you want to). Then, roll each ball into a small cylinder or rope to shape it into a crescent moon, making sure the ends are thinner than the center of the dough.
- Place the pandeyucas about 1-2 inches (2.54-5 cm) apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them on the top rack of the oven for about 20 minutes or until they're golden brown. Serve immediately.
Notes
I will make the pandeyucas using this recipe. It looks tasty to me. I’m Colombian and I constantly make dishes from my beautiful country and my friends really enjoy it. I’m sure it’s pandeyucas will turn very delicious.
Thank you!
Was it good? Could it be better? Need to know before I decide on a recipe
Hola, por cuánto tiempo se puede dejar la masa en la nevera? Nos gustaría dividirla en la mitad para servirlos recién salidos del horno. Adicionalmente, se podría congelar? Lo mismo aplica para la masa de los pandequeso/pandebono? Gracias, -G
La masa la puedes dejar en la nevera de un día para otro. Si haces lo mismo con la masa de pandebonos, entonces terminas prácticamente haciendo pandeyucas porque quedan crocantes por fuera y suaves por dentro.
I can’t wait to try this. Long ago I gave up but recently saw that Bob’s red mill sells cassava flour! 🙌
There was this absolutely wonderful bread that I was told was pan de yuca in Cartagena, but it looked more like light rye bread sliced, but definitely was yuca tasting bread (from yuca I had since). It was served with kind of a white fresco cheese as a sandwich and with hot chocolate to drink and dip it in. Will never forget it! ❤
If you have a recipe for that kind of sandwich yucca bread, i would love to have it. 🙂 unless it is the same thing but just somehow was presented to look differently(?)
Hola!! Vivo en Irlanda. He comprado cassava starch, pero pone que es sweet cassava starch. Puede servir para la receta o debe ser la version agria? Gracias!!
Esa te sirve.
puedo usar Mozzarella?? y cuanto?
Puedes, aunque te da una textura diferente. Usa la misma cantidad.