Almojábanas
Small Colombian cheese breads made with precooked corn flour, queso fresco, mozzarella, eggs, milk and baking powder. This documented home version makes eight breads and is served warm.
Modern adaptation
Pandebono (Erica Dinho's Colombian cheese bread)
Pandebono · Pandebonos · Pan de bono
Colombian cheese breads made from cassava starch, precooked cornmeal, queso fresco or quesito, feta and egg; this source's version makes 12 warm, round rolls.
Overview
Pandebono is a Colombian cheese bread made from cassava starch, precooked cornmeal and fresh cheese, bound with egg and baked into small round rolls. The version recorded here follows a home card published on My Colombian Recipes by Erica Dinho, a contemporary cook writing for a North American audience.
The card names no yeast and no chemical leavener, and its method describes no fermentation. The rolls set and colour in the oven from the starch, cheese and egg alone.
Sources for this section
Ingredients and their roles
Cassava starch, which the source also calls yuca flour or tapioca flour, gives the dough most of its body. Precooked cornmeal (masarepa) adds a maize note and a second starch base. The cheeses carry salt, fat and protein, and the card pairs queso fresco or Colombian quesito with feta. The egg binds the dough.
The card gives cup measures and no masses, so the quantities in this record are the source's volumes and are not converted to weights.
Sources for this section
Method and timing
The food processor method combines the starch, both cheeses and the cornmeal, then adds the egg gradually until the dough comes together. The dough is divided into 12 equal pieces, each rolled into a ball, and set on a lined sheet to bake at 400 °F (204 °C).
The source's timings disagree. The author's introduction gives 15 to 20 minutes, the recipe card gives 20 to 30 minutes, and the card's metadata lists 10 minutes preparation, 20 minutes cooking and 25 minutes total. Both ranges are kept. The source's own cue is a golden top, so checking from about 15 minutes and judging colour is the practical route.
The author also describes a hand-mixing method: the starches are combined separately, the cheeses are mixed with the egg, and the dry mixture is worked in. Milk is added only if the dough is dry, up to about one tablespoon, and lightly oiled hands help with sticky dough.
Sources for this section
Starch is not raw cassava
Pandebono uses refined cassava starch or yuca flour, a powder that has already been processed. The recipe does not involve grating, soaking or cooking raw cassava roots, and nothing in this method can be read as a procedure for preparing the roots, which need their own handling.
Sources for this section
Related breads
Almojábana and pan de yuca are related cheese-and-starch breads from the same culinary region. Both use baking powder as an explicit leavener and different starch and cheese proportions, so their records stay separate rather than being merged into one formula.
Sources for this section
History and naming
The source presents pandebono as a Colombian cheese bread. It does not date the bread's first appearance or tie it to a narrower region, so no origin is recorded here. This record describes one contemporary home formula, not a single traditional recipe for every pandebono.
Sources for this section
History
The inspected source presents this as a Colombian cheese bread but does not date its first attestation or name a narrower regional tradition. This entry records Erica Dinho's contemporary formula, not a universal formula for all pandebono.
Ingredients
Yield 12 pandebonos · Scaling: source batch only
158 mL⅔ cup as recorded
also called yuca flour or tapioca flour in the sourcePrecooked cornmeal
59 mL¼ cup as recorded
masarepaQueso fresco
237 mL1 cup as recorded
or Colombian quesito; source also describes farmer cheese as its U.S. substituteFeta cheese
296 mL1¼ cup as recorded
1 large
Milk (optional)
Amount not stated
up to 1 tablespoon only if the dough is dry, per the author's hand-mixing tipMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour and egg dough
Cassava starch and cornmeal are uncooked until baking, and the dough contains raw egg.
Hazard sourceDo not taste the raw dough; wash hands, tools and work surfaces after handling, and bake the shaped breads through.
Control sourceDo not taste raw dough. Wash hands and equipment after handling it. This source gives no internal temperature or validated safety endpoint; bake until golden as directed.
- Heat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Put the cassava starch, both cheeses and precooked cornmeal in a food processor. Process until evenly combined.
- With the processor running, add the egg gradually and mix until the dough comes together.
- Divide the mixture into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a ball. If mixing by hand, combine the starches separately, mix the cheeses with the egg, then work the dry mixture into the cheese mixture. Add milk only if the dough is dry; the author suggests up to 1 tablespoon. If the dough sticks to your hands, lightly oil them before shaping.
- Set the balls on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 20–30 minutes, until golden on top. The source's introductory instructions give 15–20 minutes, while its recipe card gives 20–30 minutes; begin checking at 15 minutes and use the stated golden-top cue rather than treating either duration as exact.
- Serve warm.
Conditions
Yield12 pandebonos
Active time10 min
Places
Colombia
Documented preparation · Country evidenceErica Dinho identifies her formula as Colombian and notes many variations; this source does not specify a narrower region.
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Sources
My Colombian Recipes, Erica DinhoMethod · Ingredients · Yield · Geography · Use
Pandebono (Colombian Cheese Bread)Erica Dinho presents this as a Colombian recipe and notes that Colombian cooks make variations.
This source formula combines cassava starch, precooked cornmeal/masarepa, queso fresco or quesito, feta, and egg; it yields 12.
Food processor, 400°F oven, parchment-lined baking sheet, shaping into balls and baking 20–30 minutes until golden; serve warm.
If mixing by hand, combine dry starches separately, mix cheese and egg, then combine; add a tablespoon of milk only if dough is dry. Sticky dough can be rolled with oiled hands; refrigeration for at least 15 minutes is optional.
Cited in: Overview; Ingredients and their roles; Method and timing; Starch is not raw cassava; Related breads; History and naming
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowRaw flour may carry harmful bacteria; do not taste raw dough and wash hands, tools and surfaces after handling it.