Recipe

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An easy recipe for banana cottage cheese muffins that's sure to become your new go-to.

These healthy banana muffins with cottage cheese are nutritious and a breeze to make.

Banana Oat Cottage Cheese Muffins

After making cottage cheese banana pancakes and cottage cheese banana bread for the kids and seeing how much they loved them, I had to turn those flavors into a portable breakfast or healthy snack: banana cottage cheese muffins.

The batter is made with oats, unlike these blueberry cottage cheese muffins, which use regular flour.

At 110 calories, 2g of fat, and 5g of protein, these are as nutritious as they are delicious.

Ingredients

You’ll find the measurements in the printable recipe card, but here is why each ingredient is used to make these banana cottage cheese muffins:

Cottage cheese: low-fat or 4% will work. I recommend holding back as much of the liquid when measuring.
Ripe bananas: for flavor and to naturally sweeten the batter. Measure the banana into the 1 cup vs throwing 2 bananas in the blender, they’re all different sizes.
Eggs: to bind all the ingredients in the batter.
Sugar or honey: to sweeten.
Vanilla: a classic in baked goods.
Baking powder & baking soda: they work together to give these muffins a fluffy and crumbly texture.
Cinnamon: pairs great with the banana flavor.
Cornstarch: a little bit gives these muffins a crumbly texture. Can be omitted.
Oats: old-fashioned or quick oats will work since they’re blended to make oat flour (if you have oat flour, use that). Check the recipe for adjustments.

While these are pretty straightforward, here I highlight some tips for the main steps.

Preheat the oven and prep the muffin pan. Avoid paper liners (like the cheap ones for cupcakes not parchment liners) they stick.
Make the oat flour in the blender then mix it with the other dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Measure out the banana first, then add it to the blender with the other ingredients. Adding too much banana (more than 1 cup) leads to moist muffins that resemble banana bread vs a crumbly muffin.
Mix the blended ingredients with the dry ingredients and let the batter sit for 5 minutes. This helps the oat flour absorb the moisture. Then, fill the muffin cups.
Bake the muffins, then let them cool in the oven with the oven off for 5 minutes. This helps prevent shrinking (or sinking).
Allow the muffins to cool slightly before serving.

Servings: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 25

An easy recipe for banana cottage cheese muffins that's sure to become your new go-to.

4.79 from 38 votes

Preheatthe oven to 350°F and position the oven rack in the center. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan well. Do not use paper liners; they'll stick.
Blend the oats in the blender to make 2 cups of oat flour. Sometimes you need to add an extra tablespoon of oats since it's not exactly 1:1. Add the oat flour to a large bowl.
Fill a 1-cup measuring cup with enough banana to fill the cup. If your bananas are on the larger side, save the remaining banana and slice it to top the muffins (like in the photo).

To the oat flour bowl, add the sugar (if using), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cornstarch*. Whisk the dry ingredients to combine.
To a blender jar, add the cottage cheese, 1 cup of banana, eggs, (add the honey here if you're using it instead of sugar), and vanilla. Blend on medium-high speed for 30 seconds, until the mixture is just combined and the cottage cheese curds are no longer visible.
Pour the blended wet mixture over the dry ingredients. Stir gently with a rubber spatula until just combined, when you no longer see dry ingredients.
Let the batter sit in the bowl for 5 minutes to let the oats absorb the moisture and thicken. Then, spoon it into the muffin cups about ¾ of the way to the top. The batter will be airy but thick. If you have any remaining banana and want to decorate the tops with thin slices, do it now.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and let the muffins sit inside for 5 minutes. This helps them transition from a hot oven into a cold room and prevents sinking. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for another 5-10 minutes before removing.

Keep in an airtight container on the counter for 2 days. Refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. To enjoy, let the muffin come to room temperature or lightly warm it up in the microwave for 20 seconds.

You can use quick/instant oats for this recipe. You’ll need a little more than 2 cups (about 2 ¼ cups) to make 2 cups of oat flour.
A little cornstarch transforms these oat muffins from soft and moist to soft and crumbly. Can be omitted if you don’t have any.
Sometimes, these muffins sink slightly as they cool. This usually happens because of the rapid temperature change from a hot oven to a colder room. Or, from excess moisture in the batter from adding more than 1 cup of a banana or too much liquid from the cottage cheese (I recommend holding back as much as possible when measuring).