Savory Cottage Cheese Herb Muffins

Bump up your protein intake with these cottage cheese and fresh herb muffins. Made with wholesome whole milk yogurt and rich cottage cheese, they’ve got a creamy tangy flavor. Make them once, and you’ll want to bake these muffins again and again!

Click here to PIN Savory Cottage Cheese Herb Muffins!

Made with cottage cheese, yogurt and eggs, these muffins pack more than 6 grams of protein each. And they’re super easy to make. Ten minutes to chop and mix, and 20 minutes in the oven.

This muffin recipe screams for fresh herbs. Particularly my favorite, feathery fresh dill. I love the bright, subtly sweet flavor of fresh dill weed in these muffins. There’s a refreshing hint of lemon going on too.

Try fresh chopped basil or fresh chopped cilantro if that’s what you have. But when I make this recipe, I specifically seek out herbaceous fresh dill.

Green onions, with their mild oniony flavor, balance the fresh herbs.

You absolutely need fresh green herbs for these cottage cheese muffins. Dried basil or dried dill weed just won’t do it here. Did I mention that I highly recommend using fresh dill?

• As you see in the photos, I made these muffins with fresh dill. Lots of it.
• It works out to two teaspoons of finely chopped dill in every muffin! At first glance that seems like a lot, but the flavor is remarkably subtle and hard to define. Baked, the dill fragrance is even more quiet.
• If you want, substitute chopped red onion for the green onions–your muffins with have a more pungent onion taste.

Savory cottage cheese fresh herb muffins recipe notes:

• Use whole milk plain yogurt with probiotic cultures. Whole milk yogurt tastes and feels 1000 times creamier than not-fat yogurt–your muffins will be all the better. Totally worth the 25 calories extra if that’s a concern for you. Here’s an interesting article about full-fat vs low-fat dairy.
• You can use whole milk Greek yogurt as well.
• In summer, look for fresh dill at the farmer’s market. If store bought, you will need two clear plastic clams (about 1/2 ounce each) for ½ cup of chopped dill. Strip the feathery leaves and discard the stems.
• Use a multi-purpose ice cream scoop to drop uniform portions of batter into muffin tins. (Affiliate link.) The handy scoops come in different sizes–look for a number engraved on the inside of the scoop. It indicates how many scoops to a quart. My go-to muffin scoop is a (#2, like this one. (Affiliate link.) A #12 holds a little more than 1/3 cup.

Keep your savory cottage cheese herb muffins in an airtight container. They’ll stay moist and tender for several days.

These muffins freeze well too–make them when you have time and they’ll be ready and waiting. Wrap in aluminum foil and reheat in the oven or toaster oven.

Cottage cheese herb muffins transform leafy green salads into a full simple meal. And these muffins make excellent partners for healthy soups and stews.

• Hearty Potato Soup with tender pinto beans, toothsome hominy corn, golden potatoes and leafy greens.
• This Escarole and White Bean Soup can be made with your choice of leafy greens.
• Zucchini Rice Soup uses a serious amount of zucchini.
• Instant Pot Farro and Hearty Greens Soup—rich and nutritious.
• This Black Bean and Lentil Beer Soup is thick like chili.

About spelt flour:

• Spelt flour brings a light texture and slightly nutty flavor to muffins.
• Spelt is an ancient strain of wheat with a nutty, complex flavor and has been used for millenniums. Spelt flour has a slightly higher protein content than wheat flour.
• Spelt and wheat are close cousins and they both contain gluten. Some gluten-intolerant folks find spelt easier to digest. However, spelt is NOT gluten free.
• Just like wheat flours, spelt flour comes in two varieties; whole or white spelt. White spelt flour has had the bran and germ removed. I use white spelt flour (affiliate link) in these muffins.
• I used white whole wheat flour in another test batch. Spelt is more water-soluble than wheat. The ones made with spelt flour instead of wheat were more tender and stayed moist longer.
• ** You can also use organic unbleached white flour instead of the whole grain wheat or spelt flour.

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Print Recipe

4.78 from 9 votes

Savory Cottage Cheese Herb Muffins

These moist muffins round out a meal of soup and salad. With almost 7 grams of protein in each muffin, they’re awesome for snacking as well.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Side, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cottage cheese, yogurt

Servings: 12 muffins.

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups white spelt flour (8 ounces or 225 grams) (see note)
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• ¾ cup whole milk cottage cheese or or lowfat cottage cheese , about 6 ounces
• ¾ cup plain whole milk yogurt (see note)
• ½ cup finely chopped fresh herbs (see note)
• ½ cup chopped green onions, both green and white parts

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat 12 muffin cups with melted butter or spray generously with cooking spray.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, cottage cheese and yogurt. Stir in the chopped herbs and onions. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and gently blend together.
• Divide the batter evenly between each muffin cup. Decorate each muffin top with a dill frond, if desired.
• Bake about 20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are barely golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes, then remove from the pan. Serve warm.

Notes

• ** You can also use organic unbleached white flour instead of the spelt flour.
• Use whole milk plain yogurt, ideally a brand with a trim list of ingredients—just milk and probiotic cultures. Whole milk yogurt tastes and feels 1000 times creamier than not-fat yogurt–your muffins will be all the better.
• You absolutely need herbaceous fresh herbs for these muffins. Dried herbs just won’t do it here.
• For the chopped dill, strip the feathery leaves and discard the stems, then chop.

Nutrition

Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 458mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 61IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1mg

Did you make this recipe?Mention @lettyskitchen or tag #lettyskitchen

Nutrition information is meant to be an estimate only. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed, brands used and substitutions that are made.

*** Recipe adapted from the Sour Cream and Dill Muffins in Pastry Chef Mary Cech’s cookbook, Savory Baking.

**This recipe was first updated from one I posted in July 2010 on my old muffintalk.wordpress.com blog. In 2015 I added photos. This latest update includes nutrition information and more!