Cottage Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins
By Lee Funke
3/16/2025
These cottage cheese carrot cake muffins are topped with a homemade streusel and a sweetened whipped cottage cheese drizzle. They pack 7g protein per muffin, so you truly can have your carrot cake and eat it, too 😋
We’re on an absolute ROLL with blended cottage cheese over here in the Fit Foodie kitchen, and these carrot cake muffins are our latest obsession. They’re super moist and flavorful — you’re going to absolutely love the protein streusel topping and sweetened cottage cheese drizzle 🥰 They’re based off our cottage cheese muffins , but obvi with a carrot cake twist!
Top Tips from the Fit Foodie kitchen ⤵️
This muffin batter is thicker than your average muffin batter: The batter has the same consistency as a thick pancake batter. It should easy to stir, but not be pourable. If the batter seems entirely TOO thick and sticky, add 1 tablespoon of almond milk at a time until the batter is easy to stir.
Don’t skip removing the moisture from the shredded carrots: To do so, place the shredded carrots in a paper towel or tea towel. Twist the towel over the sink to release moisture.
Choosing the right oil: If you don’t have avocado oil, we tested this recipe with coconut oil, too. It worked great.
Where does the protein come from in these muffins?
Each muffin packs 7g of protein thanks to these protein-rich ingredients:
- Protein powder: we used vanilla protein powder in the streusel topping.
- Blended cottage cheese: you’ll find blended cottage cheese in both the muffin batter and the maple cottage cheese drizzle on top.
- Eggs: 2 eggs is all you’ll need in this muffin batter.
- Oats: rolled oats pack protein and amazing texture in the streusel topping.
You’ll ❤️ the whipped cottage cheese drizzle
Since you’re already blending cottage cheese for the muffins themselves, why not whip a lil extra for the cottage cheese drizzle. While it’s optional, we definitely recommend it for the ultimate carrot cake experience. All you need is blended cottage cheese and a little sweetener (we used maple syrup).
Our Favorite
Beast Blender
The Beast Blender is our go-to blender for smoothies, dips, soups, and everything in between. It’s the perfect size and moderately priced. Oh, and oh-so powerful!
More Carrot Cake Recipes
- Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
- Traditional Carrot Cake Muffins
- Carrot Cake French Toast Casserole
- Carrot Cake Pancakes
- Healthy Carrot Cake
Storage
Let muffins cool completely and store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 3 days. Or, store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
We recommend waiting on the glaze until serving!
Can you freeze these muffins?
Freezing these muffins is super simple. We recommend holding off on glazing them until after you’ve frozen and thawed them:
- Let muffins cool completely.
- Place in a freezer safe bag, and seal.
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
Ingredients1x2x3x
Streusel Topping
- ▢ ½ cup rolled oats
- ▢ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ▢ 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
- ▢ ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- ▢ ¼ cup chopped walnuts , raw
- ▢ 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- ▢ 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- ▢ 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1.5 cups shredded carrots
Wet Ingredients
- ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ▢ ¼ cup avocado oil
- ▢ ½ cup 2% blended cottage cheese
- ▢ 2 large eggs
- ▢ ½ cup unsweetened almond milk*
Cottage Cheese Drizzle
- ▢ ½ cup 2% blended cottage cheese
- ▢ 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- Prepare the streusel topping. Add the rolled oats, flour, protein powder, brown sugar, walnuts, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl. Use a fork and cut the ingredients together until a crumbly texture forms. This may take a few minutes. Set aside for later.
- Remove any excess moisture from the shredded carrots by placing them in a paper towel or tea towel. Twist the towel over the sink to release moisture.
- Next, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and carrots into a bowl and mix together. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir using a rubber spatula until combined.
- Scoop 3 tablespoons of batter into each lined muffin well. Then, top each muffin with 1-2 tablespoons of struesel topping.
- Bake the muffins for 18 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven if a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Mix the cottage cheese drizzle in a bowl.
- Remove the cake from the baking dish and serve with cottage cheese drizzle.
Tips & Notes
- The batter has the same consistency as a thick pancake batter. It should not be pourable.
- If the batter seems too thick and sticky, add 1 tablespoon of almond milk at a time until the batter is easy to stir.
- If you don’t have avocado oil, we tested this recipe with coconut oil, too. It worked great.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Cottage Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts raw
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 cups shredded carrots
Wet Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ½ cup 2% blended cottage cheese
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk*
Cottage Cheese Drizzle
- ½ cup 2% blended cottage cheese
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- Prepare the streusel topping. Add the rolled oats, flour, protein powder, brown sugar, walnuts, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla extract to a mixing bowl. Use a fork and cut the ingredients together until a crumbly texture forms. This may take a few minutes. Set aside for later.
- Remove any excess moisture from the shredded carrots by placing them in a paper towel or tea towel. Twist the towel over the sink to release moisture.
- Next, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and carrots into a bowl and mix together. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir using a rubber spatula until combined.
- Scoop 3 tablespoons of batter into each lined muffin well. Then, top each muffin with 1-2 tablespoons of struesel topping.
- Bake the muffins for 18 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven if a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Mix the cottage cheese drizzle in a bowl.
- Remove the cake from the baking dish and serve with cottage cheese drizzle.
Notes
- The batter has the same consistency as a thick pancake batter. It should not be pourable.
- If the batter seems too thick and sticky, add 1 tablespoon of almond milk at a time until the batter is easy to stir.
- If you don’t have avocado oil, we tested this recipe with coconut oil, too. It worked great.
