Little Caesars Pão de Queijo, Hot-N-Ready

Brazilian tapioca cheese bread reworked as pepperoni-studded poppers, brushed hot with garlic butter and served with a warm marinara dip. It's Crazy Bread's chew with pão de queijo's stretch, ready before the oven timer even feels earned.

Serves 6 · as served on Bluesky ↗

Little Caesars built an empire on two ideas: garlic-butter Crazy Bread with marinara for dipping, and a pizza you don't have to wait for. Pão de queijo already runs on the same logic — no yeast, no proofing, just a scalded tapioca dough that puffs into a chewy, cheese-pulled cloud in under twenty minutes. So I'm merging the two: the classic Brazilian dough gets studded with diced pepperoni and a core of mozzarella, baked as poppers instead of rolls, then hit with hot garlic butter the second they leave the oven. A warmed marinara stands in for the Crazy Sauce. It's a bread that already tastes like a promise kept fast, just dressed for pizza night.

Ingredients

Fresh

• ¼ cup water
• 3 clove garlic (minced)
• fresh parsley (chopped, for garnish)

Fridge

• ½ cup whole milk
• 2 piece eggs (room temperature)
• ¾ cup grated parmesan (divided)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella (divided)
• ½ cup pepperoni (diced small)
• 4 tbsp butter

Pantry

• 2 cup tapioca starch (polvilho doce)
• ⅓ cup neutral oil
• 1 cup marinara sauce

Spice rack

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• red pepper flakes (to taste)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin.
2. In a small saucepan, bring the milk, oil, water, and salt to a simmer, then pour it hot over the tapioca starch in a large bowl and stir into a shaggy, slightly cooled dough. ⏱ 2 min
3. Once the dough is cool enough to touch, beat in the eggs one at a time, then work in half the parmesan and half the mozzarella until you have a thick, sticky batter.
4. Fold in the pepperoni until evenly distributed.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full, and scatter the remaining mozzarella over the tops.
6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until puffed and deep golden. ⏱ 19 min
7. While the poppers bake, melt the butter in a small skillet, add the garlic and oregano, and cook until fragrant. ⏱ 1 min
8. In another small pot, warm the marinara sauce with the red pepper flakes until just simmering. ⏱ 5 min
9. As soon as the poppers come out of the oven, brush them generously with the garlic butter, dust with the remaining parmesan, and scatter with the parsley. Serve hot with the warm marinara for dipping.

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