Almojábana is a traditional Colombian cheese bread. They are delicious with coffee or hot chocolate for breakfast or a snack. Almojábanas are very easy to make and don't require a lot of ingredients. They are made with corn flour, cheese, butter, eggs and milk.
These Colombian Almojábanas are delicious for breakfast or for an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee.
Almojábanas (Colombian Cheese Bread)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups of masarepa or precooked cornmeal
- 3 cups queso fresco
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoon whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Mix the masarepa and cheese in a food processor.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Divide into 8 equal-size portions and shape into a ball.
- Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are golden. Serve warm.
Video
Nutrition
I published an almojábana recipe several years ago and it’s loved by many readers, but I was not completely happy with the recipe. I am not a baker, but, I’ve certainly improved my baking skills over the years! I want to share my new and improved version including the step by step video. Baking is truly a science and I’m happy to continue to deliver you tested and improved recipes!
Well, to tell you the truth I am always scared of baking, but sometimes I crave my favorite Colombian “parva”, so I bake. Parva is what we call our baked goods in the region of Antioquia. Although this recipe is very easy to make, the problem I have is that in the USA, I don’t find “cuajada”, a fresh white cheese made with non-pasteurized milk, and this is the base for Colombian Almojábanas. So, I have tried this recipe at least 4 times with various kinds of cheese and although the bread is not quite the same as I make in Colombia, it is pretty close and delicious!
BELKIS
Hi Erica. I am very happy I found this link. I have a question about the almojabana,can I make it with all porpoused flour instead of cornmeal??, I have been looking for a recipe but all of them have different kind of flours or mix. I really would appreciate your time. Thanks.
Erica Dinho
I don't know!!! I always make them with masarepa or arepa flour.
Catalina
Can I use baking sods instead baking powder?
Erica Dinho
No.
Richard
Alan;
You have to be a bit careful with the Mexican cheeses. Most of them are either too dry ,don't mix well, are too salty,&etc. For these rolls, I have found the best sub to be Ricotta. My Colombian friends agree. They even say they taste better than the ones made with cuajada which really doesn't have much in the way of character.
Alan Bowman
Could you use queso campesino (squeaky cheese)? If so a good substitute is fresh white goat's cheese.
Richard
Erica;
I tinkered with the recipe a bit. I have Colombian friends who are familiar with the flavor of the Almojabanas and the first batch using the Cotija/cottage cheese was a bit salty. For batch two, I used Ricotta. For the lady (Ivonne) who thought her dough was too liquid, Ricotta is the answer. I brought the second batch to my Colombian friends and they agreed that I had nailed it. Ricotta is the answer.
Erica Dinho
Thank you, Richard!I am going to try it with ricotta next time!
Richard
Erica;
I note that many who wish to make this recipe can't find, Masarepa. Almost any market in an area where there are Hispanics have a precooked corn flour called Maseca. It is the same flour that is used to make tortillas and tamales. Just check in the Hispanic foods aisle of your local supermarket
Kim Armstrong
Do you use the finely grated cotija? That's all I've found near me.
Richard
Erica;
I sort of like to fool around with recipes. I tried a local Mexican cheese named Cotija. 1/2n1/2 with Cottage cheese. It was really good. I halved the salt because Cotija is pretty salty. Came out nifty. I am going to up the baking powder a bit and add 1 tbsp. sugar in the next batch.
Richard
Asdru
If wanting to prepare a Gluten free version just use Tapioca flour which is sold at most natural supermarkets like Sprouts.
Nohra
Hola Erica, tienes una receta para cuajada que se pueda hacer con leche sin pasteurizar como dices para usar en esta y otras receta? Gracias!
Hope chen
thank you for your cheese bread recipe!
Ivonne
Erica, I tried this recipe, but the dough was very liquid. I wonder if I overused the processor. I added more Masarepa, so the almojabanas turned into kind of arepas. Flavor was delicious, but not the almojabana flavor that I was expected. Do you have some advice? I enjoy your website, thank you and have a very Happy New Year.
rebecca
these look so good, fun for kids to snack on too
Kathy Paul
Oh! I have made these twice - once with cottage cheese only, and one with 1 cup cottage cheese and 1 cup cotija cheese. The 2nd way seems closer to what I remember when we used to go into the panadería and say "Qué hay caliente?" early in the morning! Thanks for this wonderful website....
Dianita
Hola Erica, trate la receta hoy pero mi procesador está muy pequeño e intente varias veces, entonces creo que no me van a quedar muy bien.... Te estaré contando
Alan Bowman
We don't have any problem getting sqeaky cheese - we just use fresh goat's cheese. Our problem is getting the right flours although we can get Maizena.
Richard
Al; you can order Masarepa from Amazon.
Claudia G.
"PAN" corn flour you can get on Amazon.
Jacquie
Querida Erica,
Me encanta tu blog pues tienes las recetas de platos colombianos acomodadas a lo que uno encuentra por aquí en Estados Unidos y eso ayuda bastante.
Quería hacerte una pregunta: mi hijo de seis años tiene que hacer una presentación en su colegio sobre Colombia. Yo estaba pensando mandar algo de comer típico y pensé en almojabanas. Que opinas sobre esta receta? Será que les gustaría a los niños de esa edad o podrías recomendarme algo más? No se me ocurre nada.... Te agradezco la ayuda desde ya!
Erica
Jacquie, a mis dos hijos (2 y 6 años) les encantan las almojabanas y los pandebonos.
Emily Renate
Hey Erica- I had some trouble with this recipe...I had to nearly double the masarepa in order to be able to make a consistency that would give me a ball (and it still seemed quite wet). Also, I cooked it for 30 minutes at 400...the outside was quite dark, but the inside still was slightly undercooked (again seeming to indicate the dough was still too wet). Is there a specific type of cottage cheese you use? Small curd vs large curd....4%, 2%, 1%...It's the only thing I can think of that would make a difference. My husband said the flavor was definitely there, but obviously it wasn't quite right. Thanks for your help! (I've made many of your dishes quite successfully for my Colombian husband- he's always happily surprised; but, this one gave me trouble).