Cottage Cheese Coffee Cake Muffins

I love traditional coffee cake, especially when it has a thick cinnamon streusel on top.

Instead of using sour cream like most recipes do, I decided to make these cottage cheese coffee cake muffins.

Blending the cottage cheese into the wet ingredients makes the crumb extremely soft and tender.

You also get a ribbon of cinnamon sugar in the middle, plus a sweet glaze drizzled over the crunchy topping.

They are wonderful to enjoy warm with a hot cup of coffee or tea in the morning.

Why I Love This Recipe

Incredible Texture – Blended cottage cheese creates an ultra-tender crumb that stays soft and moist for days.

Double Cinnamon Flavor – You get warm cinnamon sugar both swirled inside and piled on top.

Bakery Style Streusel – Thick, buttery crumbles add the perfect crunch to every single bite.

Hidden Cottage Cheese – Blending leaves zero curds behind, so even picky eaters will love them.

The Ingredients

For the Streusel

• 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter, Melted

For the Cinnamon Layer

• 3 tbsp Light Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

For the Muffins

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Full Fat Cottage Cheese
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, Melted
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Glaze

• 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 tbsp Milk
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

How to Make This Recipe

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Step 2

Make the streusel: stir the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt with the melted butter until large clumps form. Refrigerate while you make the batter. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon for the cinnamon layer.

Step 3

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Step 4

Blend the cottage cheese, eggs, sugar, melted butter, milk and vanilla until smooth and creamy, 30-45 seconds. The blended cottage cheese works just like sour cream, giving a tender, moist, classic coffee cake crumb.

Step 5

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold just until combined.

Step 6

Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each cup and sprinkle with the cinnamon layer. Top with the remaining batter, filling the cups almost to the top.

Pile the streusel generously over each muffin and press it in lightly so it sticks.

Step 7

Bake for 20-24 minutes, until the streusel is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Step 8

Cool for 15 minutes. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla into a thick glaze and drizzle over the muffins.

Quick Tips

Blend the Cottage Cheese Until Silky

Make sure you run your blender until there are zero cottage cheese curds left in the wet mixture.

When it is completely smooth, the cottage cheese mimics sour cream and gives you a super tender muffin crumb.

If you rush this step, you will end up with little white flecks and soggy spots scattered through the baked muffins.

Keep the Streusel Cold Before Topping

After you mix the streusel ingredients together, pop the bowl straight into the fridge while you work on the batter.

Chilling firms up the butter so the mixture stays in distinct, chunky clusters.

If the streusel is warm when it goes into the oven, the butter melts too fast and the topping turns into a flat, greasy puddle.

Anchor the Streusel into the Batter

Once you pile the streusel onto each muffin cup, use your fingers to press it down very gently into the wet batter.

These muffins rise quite a bit in the oven, which naturally pushes loose crumbs right off the edges.

Lightly pressing the clumps ensures the topping stays locked in place instead of tumbling off when you move the muffins.

More Favorites

• Cottage Cheese Chocolate Chip Snack Muffins
• Cottage Cheese Cinnamon Sugar Donut Bites
• Cottage Cheese Cinnamon Swirl Bread
• Cottage Cheese Protein Blueberry Crumble Muffins
• Cottage Cheese Strawberry Crumb Bread

Quick Answers

Can you taste or feel the cottage cheese in these muffins?

Blending the cottage cheese makes it completely smooth, so you will not find any curds in the baked muffins.

It acts just like sour cream, giving the crumb a tender texture without tasting cheesy at all.