Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon
Low-Carb Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon have egg, Parmesan, almond flour, and a tiny bit of white whole wheat flour. See suggestions if you need to replace the flour for a version of cottage cheese muffins that’s Keto and gluten-free.
PIN the Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins to try them later!
When I spotted an idea for cottage cheese egg muffins online years ago, I loved the idea of a high-protein muffin with cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan, and almond meal, and just the tiniest bit of flour, and I decided to make them as a breakfast muffin. And when I tried that recipe I discovered that the almond flour and tiny bit of flour gave these cottage cheese muffins a nice texture that was different than the Keto Egg Muffins I’d been making for years.
And these Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon were definitely a success! And even with the small amount of flour, there are only 7 net carbs per muffin, and 15 grams of protein!
Since I first posted this recipe I’ve made these delicious breakfast muffins over and over to keep in the fridge for a grab-and-go breakfast. And these tasty high protein breakfast muffins have been a hit with everyone who tries them!
I hope you’ll try this recipe that’s been one of my absolute favorites for years, and if you don’t want flour or want a muffin that’s stricter on carbs for Keto or Gluten-Free, this post has some suggestions for adapting the recipe for that as well!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- cottage cheese
- grated Parmesan cheese
- White Whole Wheat Flour (affiliate link), or see Keto and Gluten-Free options below
- Almond Flour (affiliate link)
- baking powder
- salt
- water
- eggs
- bacon
- green onion
Want cottage cheese muffins that are gluten-free or Keto?
If you check the nutritional information you’ll see that the small amount of white whole wheat flour doesn’t add many carbs, and the flour does give a nice texture to these cottage cheese egg muffins. But if you need a version that’s gluten-free or Keto I’d recommend replacing the flour with Flaxseed Meal (affiliate link) or Hemp Seeds (affiliate link), or maybe a combination of both those. There are also a number of brands of Keto Flour (affiliate link) on the market which I am guessing would work fine in this recipe. And there’s also a delicious flourless gluten-free breakfast muffin on the blog that was partly inspired by this recipe.
Want more ideas for cottage cheese muffins like these?
I love these cottage cheese and egg muffins so much that I’ve made a variation with ham and cheddar and a meatless version with mushrooms and Feta! Try the recipe yourself and see if these are going to become a repeater for you too!
More Ideas for Egg Muffins and Breakfast Muffins?
Check out my post with Low-Carb Muffins and Breakfast Muffins for lots more tasty muffin ideas to make for breakfast!
How to Make Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon:
(This is ONLY a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
- Spray silicone baking cups (affiliate link) lightly with olive oil or non-stick spray.
- Mix together the cottage cheese, Parmesan, white whole wheat flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, water, and beaten egg.
- Then fold in the crumbled pre-cooked bacon and thinly sliced green onion.
- Fill large muffin cups 3/4 full.
- Bake 25-30 minutes, or until muffins are light browned and enjoy!
- One of these muffins is enough for me for a tasty breakfast!
More Low-Carb High Protein Muffin Recipes:
- Keto Egg Muffins (Master Recipe)
- Flourless Savory Breakfast Muffins
- Green Chile and Cheese Egg Muffins
- Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar
- Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Mushrooms and Feta
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon
Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon have cottage cheese, egg, almond flour, and and just a little white whole wheat flour for a tasty low-carb breakfast muffin! See suggestions in the recipe if you need a version that's gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup cottage cheese (see notes)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour (see notes for gluten-free option)
- 2/3 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3 T water
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 3 strips cooked bacon
- 3 T thinly sliced green onion
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Spray silicone baking cups (affiliate link) lightly with olive oil or non-stick spray.
- Microwave bacon until crisp and then crumble it. (I use Costco pre-cooked bacon which made this quick.)
- Thinly slice green onions.
- In mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, white whole wheat flour, Almond Flour (affiliate link), baking powder, salt, water, and beaten egg. Mix well.
- Gently mix in crumbled bacon and green onion, until well distributed in batter.
- Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with cottage cheese and egg mixture.
- Bake 25-30 minutes, or until muffins are firm and lightly browned.
- Serve hot or room temperature.
Notes
To make a version that's gluten-free I would replace the white whole wheat flour with Flaxseed Meal (affiliate link) or Hemp Seeds (affiliate link), or use a combination of both. Some people have also reported using quinoa flakes, and I think a gluten-free flour mix would also work.
Use regular or low-fat cottage cheese, whichever you prefer.
Muffins can be refrigerated and reheated in the microwave. (I cut in half crosswise before heating. Be very careful not to microwave too long, or they will become tough.)
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I would imagine they will freeze well.
Recipe adapted from Sundried Tomato Cottage Cheese Muffins by Rose Elliot, featured on 101 Cookbooks.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 659mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 15g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
These cottage cheese muffins are low in net carbs, even with the small amount of white whole wheat flour. See suggestions in the recipe for Keto and Gluten-Free options to replace the flour if you prefer. The muffins would be phase 2 or 3 for the original South Beach Diet due to the flour. I wouldn’t worry about the small amount of bacon here for South Beach, but you could use turkey bacon if you prefer.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Breakfast Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this recipe
Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon were first posted October 2007 and updated with better photos, September 2015. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.
55 Comments on “Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Bacon”
Made these this morning and noticed that although you included baking powder in the ingredients the instructions didn’t say when to add it. I assumed at the last minute before filling the pan to get the most “rising” power.
Love your recipes!
Oh how I hate it when I mess up like that! I will fix it right now. Thanks for telling me!
I need these recipes for my diabetes concerns. I want to make these muffins and will later today, but I could not find the amount of Sharp Cheddar cheese to use. Thank you for coming up with such good ideas
I”m glad you like it. This recipe doesn’t use sharp cheddar, but you could substitute some for part of the Parmesan cheese if you like.
Can I sub the whole wheat flour with almond flour? Making for a type 1 diabetic and don’t keep flour in house. Thanks
I haven’t made it with all almond flour. The other ingredients I mentioned are not quite so dense, so that would be quite a lot of almond flour. It might work, but I can’t really say for sure.
These were really delicious! I made them for a light dinner along with a salad. Followed the recipe as written but subbed Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour for the whole wheat. The muffin texture was light but firm, almost reminded us of a cross between a bread and a soufflé. My batch made 9 full-size muffins in my non-stick muffin pan. Oiled well, no silicone or paper liners.
So glad you enjoyed it. And brilliant idea to use gluten-free flour!
I just made these last night! I followed the recipe exactly! (Except I had to use the parmesan in the green bottle, oops) Super easy! I'm eating one right now and it's really good! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed, and no worries on the Parmesan. Whatever works!
I've never had anything like it. Looks great
Thanks, hope you enjoy.
I made these last week using soy flour. They were delicious both warm and cold, I really didn't bother warming them up the following 2 days. I had 14 of them, made in smaller silicon moulds.
Thanks for sharing that Adina; I am glad to have confirmation that soy flour will work well.
I also would like to know what to use in place of Almond flour, almonds etc. The specialty flours and such are really expensive for small bags where I live. I have oats, chia, couscous, and things like that as well as other (regular) flours. Thank you!!
Linda, I haven't made them with anything but almond flour and I'm afraid I'm not a good enough baker to know what else might substitute. One commenter has recommended soy flour, but I haven’t done that myself. If you make them sucessfully with something else, I'd love to know about it.
Mmmmmm I really want to make those tonight! I have no almond meal, what can I substitute them for? Oat flour, more whole wheat flour? Those are the stuff I have around…
I'm afraid I can't offer any suggestions about what to substitute for almond meal; I”m not that good of a baker. One commenter has recommended soy flour, but I haven’t done that myself. If you make them sucessfully with something else, I'd love to know about it.
These look so great – hearty enough to fill you up, but still really healthy. I need to use cottage cheese more often, it's not something I ever really buy.
Becca, it's so loaded with protein! I am trying to use it more.
If you use the silicone baking cups (I now prefer the individual ones) that will keep them from sticking. I don't think paper would work for this, even with flour (and personally I would not use flour; that defeats the purpose of a relatively low-carb breakfast like this.) Even a well-sprayed metal muffin pan would be better than paper muffin liners.
Great taste, but even with the well oiled muffin cups, they still terribly stuck and when paper cup was pealed off, a 1/4 of the muffin went with to :(. I wonder if flour or maybe even corn flour would prevent it from sticking?
Cyndi I would guess it might be partly because I'm at high altitude? And those silicone muffin pans I used in the photo are a bit on the large side. Glad you enjoyed them.
I made these for the first time today; followed the directions exactly except for the oven temperature (mine runs hot), which I set at 350˚. Two big differences from yours: The recipe filled up 12 regular-sized muffin tins, and they came out almost over-done after 25 minutes. I'm thinking that's because of the oven temp – I need to do a temperature test. But I'm wondering why it made so many. Verdict: wonderful. I used a little salsa and am nice and full.
I've been experimenting with hemp hearts, and I'm going to try those in these muffins to replace the flour!
I used to follow the recipe as written, with the exception of the flour, I used soy flour instead. But this time I was looking to lighten it up, so I eliminated the egg yolks and just used the whites instead, along with the soy flour. I also had to grind up my own almonds to make the almond meal/flour. They were just as delicious with a little less color. I think next time I will use a different bean flour instead of soy flour to see how it turns out.
Jan, good to know it will work with garbanzo flour! Did you use any wheat flour at all, or all garbanzo flour?
These muffins are fantastic! I had all the ingredients on hand,except almond flour. I had almonds on hand and could have made almond flour, but looking around I had some Bob's Mill Garbonzo Bean Flour in the fridge and decided to experiment. SUCCESS! The muffins baked up perfectly and the texture was slightly dense. Hubby and I loved the taste and have decided this recipe is a keeper. I also have pictures.
In case you are looking for yet another variation for these muffins (love, love, love them- so glad I found them on your site), I sometimes use soy chorizo, jalapeños (fresh, but I'm sure the canned ones would be fine too), and cotija cheese instead of the parmesan. ¡Qué rico!
These are absolutely delectable. I made them with soy flour instead of the white wheat flour. I did not have Parmesan cheese so I opted for sliced swiss cheese I shredded myself. I also omitted the meat. I love bacon, but when made with certain dishes, it has a tendency to become almost raw in texture–this is gross for me. Thank you so much for the recipe.
They will definitely last for quite a few days in the fridge. I would just refrigerate instead of freezing. (I used to freeze egg dishes like this, but now I prefer them when they haven't been frozen.)
This looks fantastic! I'm going to a friends house for the weekend. Do you think these would last for a few days if I made them ahead of time? (make them on Fri, eat on Sun?) Do you think they would freeze ok? Would be great to make these up for the week.
Mandy, so glad you like the recipe. I used to eat these in the car on the way to work!
Yeah! This is EXACTLY the breakfast muffin recipe I was looking for! Thanks for the trial and error to find the perfect combo.
Ooh this looks yummy. I must try it. Thanks for the recipe!!
Lisa, I honestly don’t know if arrowroot would substitute for flour in a baked item like this, but Heidi did mention you could use soy flour. I think you could make this without the flour too, but it would be a bit more dense. Let us know if you try it.
could you replace the flour with arrowroot powder?
uclafan11, I’m not sure about substituting other types of flour for almond meal. The almond meal is there for people who are using this as part of a diet where you’re not eating white flour or corn meal. If you don’t care about that you could try substituting one of those, but I haven’t tried it. I’m not enough of a baking expert to really make any recommendations about what would work.
Hi there – I do not like almonds or any other nuts really. Is there any substitute for the almond meal? Thanks!
I can’t eat cottage cheese unless it is in a cooked meal – go figure. Regardless, this looks great! I will be trying this one for sure.
I am sold! This is on our menu for this weekends breakfast. Thanks for the great recipe.
These look and sound really good! Cottage cheese would probably go really well in a muffin. I will have to try these.
Oh–that’s the kind of thing after my heart! I would have a hard time eating just one. Cottage cheese improves any bread recipe. And thanks for mentioning my muffins! 🙂
Yum!!! Bacon and cheddar, one of my fav combinations. And I love that you used cottage cheese. These sound fantastic!
Stop, stop, you’re killing me here! That combo of ingredients sounds completely irresistible and muffins are the one thing I am happy to bake on a regular basis (everything else just looks like too much hassle!). Thanks for sharing that recipe – and I agree that crisp bacon is the way forward 🙂
These are the perfect snack, Kalyn – and I also love crisp bacon, it’s the best way of having it, imho!
my god these look good! i rarely follow other peoples recipes closely but i am totally making these with a slight variation… like leaving some of the fat in the bacon. 😉
Lydia, how funny. I never thought of Bob’s Red Mill as being anywhere but Wild Oats or some other overpriced store, so snap it up if you can get a bargain!
Peter, could be good for any meal, absolutely!
Maria and Margot, good reminder because I’m sure this will still taste great without the bacon. Also Heidi’s vegetarian version was delicious.
Katie, bran flakes are also good, in a different way, but these are really tasty!
B – you’re so welcome, and it reminds me that I need to check whether my flourless peanut butter cookies are gluten free.
Lucy, how funny. I think my blogger outfit will be a hit with the parents, who are very aware that I’m a food blogger. With the kids, not sure if they will get it, but at least I’ll be comfy at school!
Kalyn, this is a great recipe (I missed Heidi’s…not quite sure how that happened).
I’m also here to say that your comment on Susan at The Well Seasoned Cook’s Halloween post, about your seasonal outfit? MADE MY DAY!
Thanks.
oh thank you for putting in a gluten-free option on this one. it’s quite challenging to figure the gluten-free thing on my own! i can’t wait for yumminess!
Those look wonderful! I really need to get out of my Bran Flakes and O.J. rut… There’re so many much tastier things in the world.
Maybe I’ll be inspired to try these…
Kalyn, the look absolutely delicious. I will try to make them without bacon (I don’t eat red meat) if I only get almond meal…
Enjoy your day, Margot
Cottage cheese is a staple in my diet, I love it. I will for sure try these muffins…minus the bacon:)
I can see myself having these as part of a dinner too!
I too “cooK’ my bacon in the microwave. A great way to get crispy bacon AND leave the fat behind.
These sound absolutely delicious. I’ve been finding Bob’s Red Mill products in our Ocean State Job Lot stores, of all places! They seem to have the entire product line, so I’m off to get some almond meal.