Higher fiber, lower sugar, but somehow still rich and delicious. These double-chocolate cottage cheese muffins go viral every time I share them! They’re dietitian-designed and totally flourless – and they’re made in a blender for easy prep and clean-up.
Bravo Bravo!! Made two different times for two different families and they all raved about these marvelous muffins. If I could I would give it 10 stars.
Made with oats, cottage cheese, and about half the sugar of your usual chocolate muffin, you’ll love this healthy sweet treat. You’ll also like my blender banana muffins, chocolate chip protein muffins, and black bean brownie bites.
Recipe Highlights
- Made in the blender – this foolproof muffin recipe is made entirely in the blender for easy clean-up.
- No flour, just oats – instead of wheat flour, this decadent chocolate muffin uses oats as the base for extra fiber and nutrition. Explore more recipes with oats.
- Extra protein – thanks to an entire cup of cottage cheese (I promise, you can’t taste it!), these healthier muffins offer a protein boost.
Looking for more? Browse my high-protein recipes or cottage cheese recipes.
Key Ingredients And Swaps
- Rolled oats: You can use quick oats too, just be careful not to over-pack your measuring cup.
- Granulated sugar: I would not recommend swapping this for honey or maple syrup, because liquid sweeteners will make these muffins too wet. Don’t worry, I kept the sugar to a minimum with nutrition in mind.
- Instant espresso powder: Skip this if you’re serving these muffins to kids or don’t have this ingredient on-hand.
- Cottage cheese: I use 2% cottage cheese, but 1% or whole milk works too. I wouldn’t recommend using fat-free.
- Chocolate chips: You can use mini or regular size.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full ingredients list and detailed recipe.
How To Make Chocolate Cottage Cheese Muffins
Step 1: Blend batter until smooth.
Step 2: Stir in chocolate chips.
Step 3: Transfer to a lined muffin pan and sprinkle with extra chocolate chips.
Step 4: Bake for 20-minutes at 350 F, and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Storing Your Muffins
These are high-moisture muffins with lots of dairy, so I recommend keeping them stored in the fridge or freezer.
If you’re eating them within four days, keep them refrigerated. Gently microwave for 10-15 seconds before eating if you prefer them warm. If you’re enjoying within three months, keep them frozen. Defrost in the fridge overnight before eating.
Miranda’s Tips
Top Tip From My Test Kitchen
Blend until totally smooth. A smoother batter makes for a better muffin – give the oats a minute or two to blend until the batter looks super smooth.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
Blender Banana Muffins
Brownie Black Bean Muffins
Healthy Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins
Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins Recipe
Chocolate Cottage Cheese Muffins
Equipment
- paper or silicone muffin liners
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups old fashioned oats, use gluten-free if needed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup low fat cottage cheese, I used 2%
- ½ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup oil, I used avocado oil but canola or vegetable oil work too
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Position your oven rack to the middle and pre-heat to 350 F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan with paper or silicone liners and set aside.
- To your blender, add all ingredients except chocolate chips. Blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Transfer batter to prepared muffin pan, distributing evenly. Sprinkle each muffin with extra chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake for 17-22 minutes or until muffins are set and cooked through. A toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins should come out clean with just a few crumbs.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10-minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Could you use something else besides expresso powder? I don’t like coffe flavor anything….or just leave it out?
You can just skip it! 🙂
Hi, I love the tase and the nutritional value BUT I have a little problem. The muffins come out of the oven kinda flat on top and then the center sinks. I’ve tried cooking a little longer and same result. Which ingredient’s quantity should I adjust ????
Oh no, I’m so sorry! I would suggest reducing the milk (by half at first, or eliminate it all together), or simply letting the batter sit and thicken before baking. Different cottage cheese brands have more/less moisture, so sometimes the liquid takes some tweaking Let me know if that works for you
These muffins taste so good but mine didn’t rise?
Any suggestions?
Hi Marion, I’m so sorry you had trouble! Different cottage cheese brands can be more/less runny, so this may be causing you some structural issues. I would suggest reducing or eliminating the milk, and see if that helps.
looks so good, are EACH of the muffins
26 carb 6 protein or is that amount for the entire receipe?
Each! But please note those nutrition calculations are an estimate 🙂
These turned out so well! Do you think you could sub out the oats for almond flour? If so, with the amount or instructions change?
Thank you!
Hi Jaclyn, I’m so glad you liked them! I’m not sure if that sub would work since almond flour has quite a bit more fat, but it might be worth a try! Please let me know if you try that swap so I can update the notes!
Love these muffins! Ready at 20 mins in my oven. Omitted the espresso as I’m sharing them with my kiddo. Mini chef enjoyed making and eating them too. So good warm with my morning coffee, just the right amount of sweetness.
I would LOVE to make these! My question is, could I use I stand coffee, not espresso?
sure!
These were delicious! I made them in my nutribullet and it all just barely fit (I did a quick pre-mix of the oats, and then again before adding the eggs to make more space). I also subbed maple syrup for the sugar. Very tasty and came together quickly.
Hello. I made these muffins yesterday and they are delicious! I never knew espresso powder even existed, so I learned something new. Thank you for that! I used regular size chocolate chips only because I didn’t have minis in the house. Minis will definitely work better. I am a group fitness instructor, so I am always looking for high protein and healthy recipes for my clients and myself. This recipe is a winner AND a keeper. Thank You!
Glad you enjoyed, Lynn. Thank you so much!
I really wanted to love these but they just didn’t turn out right! Is it possible to overblend the mixture? I used my nutribullet as the larger blender was broken and it took a few goes with scraping the sides and bottom to get it all blended.
I also baked in a loaf tin and the it turned out very stodgy and dry!
I’m thinking ot trying again but instead I’ll blitz the dry and wet ingredients separately then combine gently and bake. Do you think this might help?
Hi Nalisha! I would not recommend making these muffins in a loaf fine — because the base is oats and not wheat flour, there’s no gluten to keep the structure! That means everything is a little more delicate. Sorry this didn’t work out for you!