Easter is around the corner, and you might find that you have leftover ham. This would be a great way to use it.
My family has always liked chewy, cheesy, Brazilian bread balls. Since going dairy free I have experimented with the recipe a little. They actually turn out fine without any cheese. I just add a little nutritional yeast instead.
This recipe is an adaptation of that one. Not only does it omit the cheese and add nutritional yeast, but it also includes ham. I also substituted corn meal for part of the tapioca starch because they were really chewy with tapioca as the only flour.
The cornmeal gives these a bit of a gritty texture and with the bits of ham, they have a different mouth feel than the original recipe. They are stilly chewy, and the added protein from the ham make them a good appetizer or on the go snack. Even a teenage gluten eating friend gave these his approval.
Note: Nutritional yeast can be found at health food stores. I have only used it a little. Those of you who have used it, what brand do you use? The brand I have says it is packaged in a facility that processes wheat among other things. I would like to find a safer brand to use.
Ham Bread Bites

Ingredients
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1/3. cup water
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 3/4 cup corn meal
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 cup ground or finely chopped ham (be sure it's gluten free)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the tapioca starch and corn meal.
- Heat the oil, water, milk, and salt in a small saucepan until white foam appears.
- Immediately add the hot liquid to the bowl of flour and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Let rest about 10 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Add the eggs and nutritional yeast and stir together well. Stir in the ham.
- Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
- Serve warm.
These look delish, Linda!! Wonder what has you and I in the Brazilian Cheese Roll mindset these days? 😉 I’ll be making these soon! I haven’t tried nutritional yeast yet. I’ll probably just leave it out. Will report back. 🙂
Shirley
I actually made these a while ago, but the picture I took wasn’t very good. Maybe it was your rolls that got me in the mood to make them again and get a better picture. BTW, gf son is trying dairy free for a bit. Giving up cheese is hard for him, but he’s managing.
What is nutritional yeast? Is it different from regular yeast?