• 500g of tapioca flour/starch

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• ½ cup of water

• ½ cup of milk (you can use light, skim or lactose free milk)

• ½ cup of sunflower oil (you can use any vegetable oil of your preference)

• 3 extra-large eggs

• 120g of shredded Parmesan Cheese (lactose free cheese works well)

• 250g of shredded Mozzarella Cheese (you can use pizza cheese or tasty cheese or lactose free cheese)

Make the dough

1. Put the tapioca flour into a large deep bowl.

2. In a small saucepan bring the milk, the oil and the water to a simmer. The liquids won’t combine but you only need to heat it through. Don’t boil the milk.

3. Pour the heated liquid mix on top of the tapioca flour. Stir the mix with a wooden spoon and leave it to cool on the bench for about 20 minutes. (If you need to speed this bit up, put the bowl into the fridge). This is a very strange mix, it’s clumpy and it won’t stick together at this stage. 

Form the balls and bake or freeze

4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees on the convection/bake setting (not fan forced).

5. Add the 3 eggs and cheeses to the dough until it is smooth.

6. Knead the dough until all the ingredients are well combined and a forms large ball. If it’s a bit tacky/sticky don’t worry. 

7. Using a tablespoon roll balls of about 4 cm or about 30 grams each (I prefer to use the scales). If the dough sticks to your hands add oil or a little tapioca starch to your hands. 

8. Spread the balls on a lined baking tray, about 4 cm apart.

9. Bake the cheese balls in the preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the balls are golden.

10. If freezing the balls, after forming the balls place them on a tray suitable to fit into your freezer. They can be lightly touching each other but don’t squish them together otherwise you won’t be able to separate them when they have frozen or defrosted. Place the cheese balls in the freezer for about 3 hours. Once they are frozen transfer the cheese balls to a snaplock (sealable) bag or container.