I've been a professional chef for 18 years, worked in restaurant kitchens, and taught hundreds of cooking classes. But this cottage cheese bagels recipe taught me something completely new about how protein really works. These bagels pack 22 grams of protein per serving because the cottage cheese bagels becomes part of the actual dough structure, creating this incredibly soft, almost cake-like texture that's nothing like regular bagels. After making them 147 times (Emma keeps a tally on our kitchen chalkboard), I can promise they'll solve your morning hunger battles too.
Why You'll Love These Cottage Cheese Bagels
After three years of making these every weekend and watching Emma's friends devour them at sleepovers, I know exactly why families keep coming back to this recipe. These bagels actually solve the morning hunger problem - Emma eats one at 7 AM and doesn't even think about food until lunch. No more crackers hidden in his backpack or complaints about being starving during math class. But here's what really shocked me: they don't taste like health food at all. Emma's friend Jake said they remind him of birthday cake, and honestly, he's not wrong.
They're also ridiculously simple to make, which is perfect for our chaotic mornings. No yeast, no endless kneading, no sitting around waiting for dough to rise for hours. From mixing bowl to breakfast table, these cottage cheese bagels take 45 minutes total. Emma stands on his step stool and helps me make them every Sunday night, then I freeze the extras for those crazy school mornings when we're running late.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love These Cottage Cheese Bagels
- Essential Ingredients for Cottage Cheese Bagels
- How To Make Cottage Cheese Bagels Step By Step
- Substitutions
- Cottage Cheese Bagels Variations
- Equipment For Cottage Cheese Bagels
- Storing Your Cottage Cheese Bagels
- How My Neighbor's Dish Became a Household Staple
- Top Tip
- Why This Recipe Works
- FAQ
- Perfect Breakfast Done!
- Related
- Pairing
- Cottage Cheese Bagels
Essential Ingredients for Cottage Cheese Bagels
Main Stuff:
- Full-fat cottage cheese
- Self-rising flour
- Large eggs
- Greek yogurt
- Everything bagel seasoning
- Sea salt
Extra Flavors:
- Dried herbs
- Garlic powder
- Onion flakes
- Sesame seeds
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Cottage Cheese Bagels Step By Step
Get Ready:
- Heat oven to 375°F
- Put parchment paper on baking sheet
- Let cottage cheese sit out for 30 minutes (cold stuff doesn't mix well)
- Get everything measured first
Mix It:
- Put cottage cheese and Greek yogurt in big bowl
- Crack eggs in and stir until smooth
- Add flour bit by bit - don't dump it all in
- Stir just until it looks like dough (lumps are okay)
Make Bagels:
- Bake 25-30 minutes until they're golden
- Use ice cream scoop to put dough on baking sheet
- Brush tops with beaten egg
- Sprinkle everything seasoning on top
Substitutions
Basic Swaps:
- Self-rising flour → Gluten-free flour blend (add 1 teaspoon baking powder)
- Greek yogurt → Sour cream or more cottage cheese
- Everything seasoning → Sesame seeds or poppy seeds
- Full-fat cottage cheese → 2% works but not as good
Special Diets:
- Low-carb → Almond flour instead of regular flour
- No dairy → Coconut yogurt (still working on this one)
- No eggs → Can't figure this out yet - eggs are kind of important
Cottage Cheese Bagels Variations
Sweet Ones:
- Cinnamon sugar (Emma's weekend favorite)
- Blueberry - just fold in fresh berries
- Chocolate chip - Emma convinced me this counts as breakfast
- Vanilla almond - add vanilla and sliced almonds
Savory Ones:
- Herb and garlic - mix dried herbs right in
- Jalapeño cheddar - Emma won't touch these but I love them
- Sun-dried tomato and basil - sounds fancy but really easy
- Plain with cream cheese on top
Air Fryer Way:
- 350°F for 12-15 minutes
- Good when you only want a few
- They get really crispy outside
- Flip them halfway
Equipment For Cottage Cheese Bagels
- Big mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Ice cream scoop
- Small brush for egg wash
Storing Your Cottage Cheese Bagels
On the Counter (2 days):
- Let them cool down first
- Put in a container with paper towels
- Keep at room temperature
- They stay soft this way
In the Fridge (5 days):
- Wrap each one in plastic wrap
- Put wrapped ones in a container
- Toast before eating
- Still taste good
In the Freezer (3 months):
- Cut them in half first
- Wrap in foil really tight
- Write the date on them
- Toast straight from frozen
How My Neighbor's Dish Became a Household Staple
I have to give credit where it's due - this whole cottage cheese bagels thing started with my neighbor Sarah. She's one of those moms who always has her life together, and her kids never whine about being hungry. One morning when I was fighting with Emma to eat anything before school, she mentioned these weird bagels she'd been making with cottage cheese bagels mixed right in the dough.
That first Saturday morning, Emma stood on his step stool watching me mix cottage cheese bagels into what looked like normal bagel dough. "This looks gross, Mom," he said, but he helped anyway. When they came out golden and puffy, something changed. He ate two whole bagels and didn't say he was hungry until after lunch. Now, three years later, Sarah's napkin recipe is our Sunday night thing, and Emma keeps track of how many batches we've made on our kitchen chalkboard.
Top Tip
- Here's the one thing that took me 30 terrible batches and a lot of wasted ingredients to figure out: don't drain your cottage cheese. I know it sounds completely backwards because every other recipe tells you to drain cottage cheese, but all that watery, liquidy stuff everyone says to pour down the sink? That's actually what makes these bagels incredibly soft and fluffy instead of dense hockey pucks.
- For the first month I was making these, I religiously drained the cottage cheese just like I do when I'm making lasagna or cheesecake. I'd set up my fine mesh strainer, dump the cottage cheese in, and let it sit for 15 minutes while I got everything else ready. Emma would take one bite of the finished bagels and make this awful face. "Mom, these taste like eating rocks," he'd say, and honestly, he wasn't wrong. They were dense, tough, and nothing like the fluffy ones Sarah had described.
Why This Recipe Works
After making these cottage cheese bagels 147 times and watching Emma's friends eat them, I finally get what makes them so different from regular bagels. It's the cottage cheese doing three jobs at once - it's the protein, the wetness, and the soft texture all in one ingredient.
Regular bagels get chewy from all that kneading and yeast stuff, which is why they're heavy and sometimes feel like eating rubber. But cottage cheese bagels skip all that. The cottage cheese chunks break down when you mix them and make this protein web that holds everything together without getting tough. All that watery liquid I used to pour out actually turns to steam when they bake, making little fluffy pockets all through the bagel.
The self-rising flour is the other trick. Instead of waiting around for yeast to work for hours, the baking powder in self-rising flour makes them puff up the second they hit the hot oven. Mix that with the steam from the cottage cheese, and you get this crazy rise that makes them look like little golden clouds when they're done.
FAQ
Is cottage cheese good for bagels?
Yes! Cottage cheese adds 22 grams of protein per bagel and makes them really soft and fluffy. Unlike regular bagels that leave you hungry fast, cottage cheese bagels keep you full for hours. Emma eats one at 7 AM and doesn't bug me for snacks until lunch.
How do you make Bethenny Frankel's viral cottage cheese bagel?
Bethenny's thing puts cottage cheese on top of regular bagels. Our recipe mixes cottage cheese right into the dough, so you get way more protein and a totally different texture. These are more like protein breakfast cakes than normal bagels.
Why do bodybuilders eat cottage cheese before bed?
Cottage cheese has this protein that digests slowly and feeds your muscles all night while you sleep. These cottage cheese bagels give you that same slow protein, which is why they keep Emma full so much longer than regular breakfast stuff.
Is it healthy to eat cottage cheese for breakfast?
For sure! Cottage cheese has good protein, calcium, and vitamins. These bagels pack all that good stuff into something that tastes great. Way better than sugary cereal or pastries that make you crash an hour later.
Perfect Breakfast Done!
Now you know all the tricks to make cottage cheese bagels that will fix your crazy morning routine. From not draining the cottage cheese to Emma's ice cream scoop idea, these protein bagels prove that healthy stuff doesn't have to taste gross. No more fighting about breakfast or kids whining they're hungry an hour later.
Want more breakfast ideas that kids actually eat? Try our Best Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls that make weekend mornings feel special. Need something faster? Our Easy Cottage Cheese Pancakes take 15 minutes and make everyone happy. Or make our Easy Waffle Recipe in 30 Minutes - another family hit that gets eaten fast.
Share your cottage cheese bagel wins! We love seeing your breakfast wins and hearing how these keep your kids full!
Rate this recipe and join our breakfast gang!
Related
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Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Cottage Cheese Bagels
Cottage Cheese Bagels
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl (Large enough to hold all ingredients)
- 1 Measuring Cups (For accurate ingredient measurements)
- 1 Baking sheet (Lined with parchment paper)
- 1 Ice cream scoop (For even portioning of dough)
- 1 Small brush (For egg wash)
- 1 Parchment paper (For lining the baking sheet)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Full-fat cottage cheese - Don’t drain it for maximum fluffiness
- 1 ¾ cups Self-rising flour - Substitute with gluten-free flour blend if needed
- 2 large Eggs - Beaten for dough and egg wash
- ½ cup Greek yogurt - Can substitute with sour cream or more cottage cheese
- 1 tablespoon Everything bagel seasoning - For topping
- ½ teaspoon Sea - salt
- Optional Dried herbs - For savory flavors optional
- Optional Garlic powder - For savory flavors optional
- Optional Onion flakes - For savory flavors optional
- Optional Sesame seeds For topping optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
- Mix the cottage cheese and yogurt well
- Portion the dough using an ice cream scoop
- Bake the bagels until they are golden brown
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