Lemon cottage cheese muffins are moist lemon muffins that are made with cottage cheese. These easy, one-bowl muffins take less than 30 minutes to make from scratch.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy muffin recipe, these Lemon Cottage Cheese Muffins are just muffins for you! Made in one bowl from simple ingredients, these muffins come together in under 30 minutes, which makes them perfect for busy mornings or last-minute baking.
If you haven’t tried making baked goods with cottage cheese, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The cottage cheese helps to make the muffins moist and tender while also adding a bit of protein, so they’re a great choice for breakfast or for an afternoon snack.
Whether you’re already a fan of cottage cheese in baked goods or just curious to try it, this recipe is a great place to start (and check out my popular cottage cheese pancakes for another great breakfast made with cottage cheese). Plus, there’s no need for a mixer or complicated steps—just stir, scoop, and bake!
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Neutral oil: I like to use light olive oil, but any neutral oil, like canola oil, will work well.
- Vanilla extract: For even more flavor, use lemon flavoring in place of the vanilla.
- Cottage cheese: I recommend using full-fat cottage cheese for the moistest muffins. Also, using small-curd cottage cheese helps the curds to incorporate into the muffins.
- Milk: For the moistest muffins, use whole milk.
- Coarse sugar: The coarse sugar adds a sweet crunchy crust to to the muffins. You can omit it if you prefer.
How to make lemon cottage cheese muffins
Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425F. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs, oil, lemon zest, and vanilla together until combined.
Step 3: Add the cottage cheese and milk, and whisk in until combined.
Step 4: Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt just until combined.
Step 5: Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tins.
Step 6: Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Step 7: Bake for 5 minutes.
Step 8: Without removing the muffins, decrease the oven temperature to 350F and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 9: Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips!
- Variations: These muffins lend themselves to all sorts of add-ins:
- Blueberry: They are perfect with blueberries in them. You can toss 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour and then fold them into the muffin batter.
- Poppy seed: You can fold 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds into the batter.
- Freezing: The muffins freeze well. Let the baked muffins cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack. Place them in a freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 1 month.
Storage
Store any leftover lemon cottage cheese muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for 2-3 days when properly stored at room temperature.
More easy muffin recipes!
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Lemon Cottage Cheese Muffins
Equipment
- 12-cup muffin tins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup neutral oil like canola oil or olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup full-fat small curd cottage cheese at room temperature
- 1/3 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Coarse sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs, oil, lemon zest, and vanilla together until combined.3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup neutral oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the cottage cheese and milk, and whisk in until combined.2/3 cup full-fat small curd cottage cheese, 1/3 cup milk
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt just until combined.1 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour, 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tins.
- Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 5 minutes.
- Without removing the muffins, decrease the oven temperature to 350F and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Neutral oil: I like to use light olive oil, but any neutral oil, like canola oil, will work well.
- Vanilla extract: For even more flavor, use lemon flavoring in place of the vanilla.
- Cottage cheese: I recommend using full-fat cottage cheese for the moistest muffins. Also, using small-curd cottage cheese helps the curds to incorporate into the muffins.
- Milk: For the moistest muffins, use whole milk.
- Nutritional values are estimates.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Mikie says
Can I use lemon juice in this recipe?
Kate Dean says
Hi! Using enough lemon juice to add more lemon flavor would change the consistency of the muffin batter. For more lemon flavor, you could use additional lemon zest or lemon extract.
Sally says
Can I use gluten free flour and dairy free milk. If so what kind
Kate says
I haven’t tried those substitutions in this recipe, but I’ve had good luck with 1:1 gluten free flour and almond milk in roll and muffin recipes.