Pan de Yuca: Warm Cheesy Colombian Buns You’ll Love

Pan de Yuca are irresistible little cheese buns from South America. With a crisp exterior and a chewy, stretchy interior, they come together in minutes and are best enjoyed warm from the oven. Naturally gluten free, they’re simple to make and hard to stop eating.

For this month’s Eat the World recipe challenge we visit Colombia, a country at the northern tip of South America known for extraordinary biodiversity and a wide variety of landscapes—Amazon rainforest, deserts, highlands, grasslands, mountain ranges and coasts on both the Pacific and Atlantic. That variety influences Colombian cuisine, which draws on Indigenous, African, and Spanish traditions and uses an abundance of regional ingredients.

Colombian food tends not to be very spicy but often features complex, layered flavors developed through grilling, smoking, fermenting and other techniques. Staples include rice, corn, tubers such as cassava (yuca), beans, plus plenty of meats, seafood and fresh fruit. Cheese is ubiquitous in Colombian cooking, used in everything from savory dishes to sweets and even hot chocolate.

Pan de Yuca—literally “bread made of yuca”—is made from the starch of the cassava root, known as tapioca flour or tapioca starch. These small cheese buns are popular in southern Colombia and Ecuador and appear across Latin America in many regional variations. The southern Colombian version is simple: tapioca starch, cheese, eggs and sometimes butter or cream. The result is a crisp outside with a fluffy, stretchy interior that’s delightfully addictive.

I’ve been making these buns for years for my family, and I’m excited to share the recipe. In Colombia they’re commonly served as a coffee-time snack with hot chocolate, but they also work well as appetizers, small slider buns, or a light accompaniment to soup or salad. You can shape the dough ahead of time and bake just before serving so guests enjoy them hot and stretchy.

cutting the dough into portions — Shape the dough into a log and cut it into 10 equal pieces. The dough should feel like soft playdough.

the dough is rolled into balls and ready for the oven — Roll each slice into a ball, place on a greased baking sheet, and bake. Eat them straight from the oven for the best experience.

Once you see how quickly these come together, you’ll want to make them regularly. Because they are naturally gluten free, they suit diverse dietary needs while still delivering that satisfying stretchy-cheese pull everyone loves.

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Kitchen Frau Notes: Traditional Colombian recipes use fresh cheeses such as queso fresco or quesillo; Oaxaca cheese works well too. Mozzarella is a convenient substitute, and combining mozzarella with a bit of white cheddar adds flavor. If you use a moist fresh cheese, omit or significantly reduce the cream or milk—add liquid only a tablespoon at a time if needed.

If you have leftover egg whites, use them in an omelet or scrambled eggs, or freeze them for future baking projects that call for whites.

Pan de Yuca (Colombian Cheese Buns)

2 cups (200 g) shredded full-fat mozzarella cheese (or 1 cup mozzarella + 1 cup white cheddar)
1 cup (135 g) tapioca starch/flour (or arrowroot starch)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream or 3 tablespoons milk or water (omit if using a moist fresh cheese)
Butter, for greasing the pan

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Generously grease a large baking sheet with butter—do not use parchment paper, which can be too slippery and cause the buns to slide and form tails as the cheese melts.

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together into a smooth ball, about 45–60 seconds. If you prefer, mix by hand; you may need a small extra drizzle of cream to form the dough.

Turn the dough out onto a cutting board and shape it into a log. Cut the log in half, then cut each half into five equal pieces to make ten portions. Roll each portion into a ball and arrange them on the greased sheet about 2 inches (5 cm) apart to prevent them from touching as they bake.

Bake 18–20 minutes, until tops are a pale golden color. Serve warm straight from the oven for the signature stretchy interior. As they cool the cheese firms and the texture becomes more breadlike; reheat in the oven or briefly in the microwave to restore the stretchy quality.

Makes 10 Pan de Yuca cheese buns.

Pan de Yuca: Warm Cheesy Colombian Buns You’ll Love

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Pan de Yuca (Colombian Cheese Buns)

Buen Provecho!

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