Chocolate Cottage Cheese Muffins

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Looking for more healthy baked treats or breakfasts? Try my Single Serve Chocolate Protein Banana Bread, Apricot Almond Oat Bars, or these Chocolate Hazelnut Baked Oats next!

About This Recipe

These double chocolate cottage cheese muffins are easy to make and incredibly delicious!

Cottage cheese in chocolate muffins might sound like a strange idea but not only does it make these muffins soft and fluffy by adding moisture, it boosts the protein content.

These healthy cottage cheese muffins are:

• Gluten-free. They’re made with oat flour instead of all-purpose flour.
• Made without oil or butter. But are still incredibly moist, light and fluffy!
• Mostly refined sugar free. All the ingredients are sugar-free except Guittard’s large yummy baking chocolate chips! You can of course use sugar-free chocolate chips if you’d like to make them completely free of added sugars.
• Low in calories! Each muffin has just 104 calories and 4.6 grams protein!

Cocoa powder and chocolate chips give these chocolate oatmeal muffins a decadent and rich chocolate flavor that chocolate lovers will love.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutes

• Oat Flour: Use store-bought oat flour for the best soft and fluffy muffins. Homemade oat flour made from blended oats won’t be as finely ground as store-bought. While it will still work for this recipe, the muffins will be slightly denser if using it.
• Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: I used Hershey’s but any high quality unsweetened cocoa powder such as the ones from Ghirardelli or Guittard will taste great. Make sure it’s a natural cocoa powder and not Dutch process. The muffins won’t rise much if using the latter.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Leavening agents to make the muffins rise.
• Low Fat Cottage Cheese: Adds moisture and protein. Use small curd cottage cheese. I add it without blending as the texture is undetectable once baked. The small curds also get mostly covered up by the cocoa powder. You can blend it first or with the wet ingredients if you prefer.
  Unsweetened Apple Sauce: Adds sweetness and moisture. It also eliminates the need for oil or butter.
• Liquid Egg Whites: From a carton or from 2 large eggs. It provides structure and helps the muffins rise.
• White Sugar Replacement: I used Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener. Or you can use regular granulated white sugar or other granulated sugar substitute made from stevia, allulose, monkfruit, etc. See the ‘Variations’ section below if you’d like to use a natural sweetener like maple syrup.
• Brown Sugar Replacement: I used Swerve Brown Sugar. Substitute with light brown sugar, coconut sugar or other sweetener of choice.
• Unsweetened Almond Milk: I like unsweetened vanilla almond milk but cow’s milk or other dairy-free milk can be substituted.
• Semisweet Chocolate Chips: Or chocolate chunks. Substitute with bittersweet, milk or dark chocolate chips. Use sugar-free chocolate chips to make these muffins free of refined sugar.

Full ingredient list and amounts are in the recipe card below.

How to Make Chocolate Cottage Cheese Muffins

Below is a step-by-step overview on how to make this cottage cheese muffins recipe. Keep scrolling down to get to the recipe card below with the full recipe and detailed instructions!

Prep. Preheat oven to 220°C / 425°F. Line a 12-count nonstick muffin pan with 8 muffin liners. Fill the rest of the empty muffin cups with water to promote even baking.

Storing and Reheating Leftover Muffins

• Storing: Store leftover muffins in a sealed airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in a cool dry area for up to 3 days.

• Reheating: To warm up these chocolate cottage cheese muffins, place in a bowl in a microwave and cover the top with a paper towel. Heat on high for 20-30 seconds or until warm.

Variations   

Dietary Modifications

• Gluten-free. This oatmeal muffins recipe is gluten-free as written. Use gluten-free certified oats if you have sensitivities and want to ensure there is no crossover contamination.
• Eggless. Use Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free egg replacer, a flax egg or chia egg. 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed or chia seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons can replace 1 egg white. (So 2 tablespoons of flaxseed/chia seeds mixed with 6 tablespoons of water for this recipe).
• Vegan/Dairy-free. Use a plant-based Greek yogurt or non-dairy yogurt (such almond or coconut yogurt), make it eggless (see note above) and use dairy-free chocolate chips. Note that you may need more oat flour if using a vegan yogurt.
• Sugar-free. This recipe is free of refined sugars except for the chocolate chips. You’re welcome to use sugar-free chocolate chips but I find that some brands don’t hold their shape as well as regular sweetened chocolate chips when baked.

Flavor/Preference Customization

• Add protein powder. Adding chocolate or unflavored protein powder will boost the protein in these muffins. You’ll need to add additional liquid if doing so and the amount will vary depending on if you’re using a whey, plant-based, of whey-casein protein powder. A plant-based protein powder will require more milk than if using a pure whey protein powder due to different thickness.
• Add instant espresso powder. Half a teaspoon will bring out the rich chocolate flavors without making the muffins taste like coffee.
• Use full-fat cottage cheese. The recipe should work the same and the muffins will be more moist.
• Use a natural liquid sweetener. If using a natural liquid sweetener such as maple syrup, honey, or agave syrup, add a little more oat flour to prevent the batter from becoming too runny.
• Add nuts. Chopped walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts or any other nuts you love can be stirred into the batter.
• Use Greek yogurt. I haven’t tested switching out the cottage cheese for Greek yogurt but you will likely need more oat flour if doing so.
• Use different chocolate chips. Peanut butter baking chips, dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, etc. I like using large Guittard semi sweet baking chocolate chips, but mini chocolate chips can be used too.
• Top with other nut butter or seed butter. A drizzle of peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter or tahini would be delicious!

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