Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins
These blueberry cottage cheese muffins are moist and packed with juicy bursts of blueberries. Lightly sweetened with maple syrup or honey, they’re made with protein-rich cottage cheese for extra creaminess.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup maple syrup or honey
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 large whole eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk at room temperature
- 1 cup cottage cheese full fat is best, lightly blended or processed until smooth if you have time
- 1½ teaspoons lemon zest or vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon optional
- 1½ cups fresh blueberries or 1¼ cups frozen, unthawed - this recipe depends on the natural sweetness of the blueberries, rather than sugar, so there is 1 1/2 cups. Literally a bite of blueberries in every bite!
Instructions
Quick Method
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). use a silicone muffin tin if possible or line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners or lightly grease with cooking spray.
- Beat together with a spoon, mixer or blender the wet ingredients in one bowl. Sift the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and gently mix until the flour is just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Wash and dry the blueberries and then coat in a tablespoon of flour. Gently add the blueberries to the muffin batter. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool for 3 minutes and then cool on wire rack.
- This quick method makes delicious muffins. If you would like to make them extra fluffy, then follow this slightly longer method.
Longer method - to get the lightest muffin possible:
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). use a silicone muffin tin if possible or line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners or lightly grease with cooking spray.
- Prepare the dry ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon if using. This is to avoid those nasty clumps and make sure your raising agents are distributed evenly.
- Wash and dry blueberries. Toss them with 1 tablespoon of flour to prevent bleeding and to stop them from settling to the bottom of the muffin.
- (Optional step) Process the cottage cheese: In a food processor or blender, pulse the cottage cheese until smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds. This will help incorporate air and ensure even distribution in the batter. The muffins will still be delicious if you don't blend the cottage cheese. You may see little pieces of cottage cheese, but you will not taste it. The flavor blends right in, but the muffin will be a tiny bit more dense.
- Prepare the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (If using oil instead of butter, then just mix the maple syrup or honey, oil and eggs together until well combined).
- Separate the egg whites and yolks.
- Add the egg yolks, maple syrup, lemon zest and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat until well incorporated and fluffy.
- Add cottage cheese and milk: Beat in the processed cottage cheese until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Then add the milk and beat until well combined.
- Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in two additions, folding gently with a rubber spatula just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
- Beat the whites until soft peaks form.
- Very gently fold the blueberries and the egg whites into the batter using just a few strokes to maintain the air in the muffin batter.
- Fill muffin cups: Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups (they should be about ¾ full).
- Bake: Place in the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes at 375°F (190°C), then without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C) and bake for another 15-18 minutes until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean 9see note below).
- Cool: Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for just 3 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool. This prevents the bottoms from becoming soggy.
Notes
Muffin liners
I recommend using a silicone muffin tin and not using muffin liners if you want to eat the muffins the same day. The muffins stick to the liners if eaten the same day, but are fine the next day if taken off with care.How to tell when the muffins are done
Because of the cream cheese, they are not going to be as golden as traditional muffins, so rely on the toothpick method to tell you when they are done, not the color of the muffins.Tips to get the lightest muffins
This recipe will make delicious blueberry cottage cheese muffins even if you use one bowl and use the quick method. But if you would like the lightest and airiest muffins possible, then these tips will help you achieve this.- Have all ingredients at room temperature to incorporate more air.
- Whip up the cottage cheese if you can to add air to the mixture.
- The initial high-temperature bake creates an immediate rise.
- Handle the muffin batter as little as possible after adding the flour.
- Weigh the ingredients (if possible) to make sure you have the right amount of baking powder needed.
Storage
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days in an airtight container
- Freeze for up to 2 months
Serving
These muffins really are very moist and are delicious as is. If you need a topping, consider my naturally sweetened cottage cheese frosting.Nutrition
Calories: 190kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 6gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 45mgSodium: 267mgPotassium: 102mgFiber: 1gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 248IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 77mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!