Easy High-Protein Cottage Cheese Bagels
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Chewy, delicious, and baked to a golden crust—these high-protein cottage cheese bagels packed 10g of protein each, are yeast-free, and perfect for a nutritious breakfast!
Recently I am obsessed with cottage cheese recipes! I’ve made cottage cheese chocolate chip cookies, high-protein cottage cheese cheesecake, and today I want to present you with this recipe for cottage cheese bagels, which quickly became a staple in our home.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Bagels
Watch the full video recipe to learn how to make the best cottage cheese bagels.
Prefer the written recipe? Scroll down to the recipe box 👇
Ingredients Notes
- Cottage Cheese: Using cottage cheese adds protein and moisture. Blending it helps create a smoother dough. You can use low-fat, full-fat, or fat-free cottage cheese based on your preference.
- Flour: Regular all-purpose flour works best, but you can experiment with whole wheat flour for added fiber.
- Baking Powder: This replaces yeast, making the recipe quicker and easier.
- Egg: For brushing, helps bagels turn golden brown. Replace with milk if making eggless.
- Toppings: Sesame seeds, everything bagel seasoning, nigella seeds, poppy seeds—feel free to mix and match.
This is just a short review of the ingredients; for the complete recipe, including quantities, scroll down to the recipe card 👇
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten-Free: Replace regular flour with a gluten-free flour blend; adjust quantities slightly to achieve desired consistency.
- Eggless Option: Brush bagels with milk instead of egg for a beautiful golden crust.
- Flavored Bagels: Add garlic powder, onion powder, or herbs like rosemary or oregano directly into the dough.
- Cheese Variation: Substitute cottage cheese with ricotta cheese for a slightly different texture and flavor.
- Sweet Bagels: Skip savory toppings and sprinkle cinnamon sugar or raisins into the dough for sweet bagels.
- Buns: Skip the hole and make high-protein cottage cheese buns instead of bagels.
What to do with Leftover Cottage Cheese
Tips and Tricks to Make the Best Easy High-Protein Cottage Cheese Bagels
- Blending cottage cheese is optional but highly recommended. If skipped, the dough will be slightly grainier, impacting the smoothness of the final bagel.
- Gradually add flour to control dough stickiness; cottage cheese moisture levels vary.
- Use the back of a wooden spoon or your finger to make well-defined bagel holes.
Troubleshooting
- Small Holes: Make sure to make the bagel holes large enough; if too small, they’ll close during baking (as you can see in the photo above), if this happens, don’t worry too much, you’ll have a nice and soft cottage cheese buns instead of bagels.
- Sticky Dough: If dough feels too sticky, gradually add extra flour, one tablespoon at a time.
- Dry Bagels: Avoid overbaking; remove bagels once golden to maintain softness.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve these viral cottage cheese bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon, sliced onions, and tomatoes for a classic breakfast.
- Pair with avocado and scrambled eggs for extra protein.
- Try spreading with homemade peanut butter or any other nut butter and banana slices for a sweeter option.
- Spread this delicious strawberry chia seed jam for a healthy breakfast.
Make Ahead and Storage
- Make Ahead: Dough can be prepared a day in advance, stored covered in the fridge. Shape and bake when ready.
- Storage: Store bagels in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezing: Freeze baked bagels individually wrapped for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight or reheat directly from frozen.
More Recipes
High-Protein Cottage Cheese Bagels
These chewy and delicious cottage cheese bagels are high-protein, yeast-free, easy to make, and each contains 10 grams of protein. Perfect for breakfast!
Equipment
Ingredients
Fo the bagels:
- 1 cup (225 g) Cottage cheese
- 1 cup (125 g) Flour read notes
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1¼ teaspoons Baking powder
- 1 Egg + 1 tablespoon of water for brushing
For the topping:
- Everything bagel seasoning optional
- Nigella seeds optional
- Sesame seeds optional
- poppy seeds optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F (190C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- Make the dough: Place cottage cheese in a bowl of a food processor or a blender. Blend just until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until dough forms. Transfer onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few times until you are able to form a ball. If needed add more flour, one tablespoon at the time.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal balls, create a hole in each ball using your finger or the back of a wooden spoon and gently pull It apart to form a bagel shape.
- Brush each bagel with beaten egg and sprinkle with your favorite topping.
- Baking method: Bakr for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Air fryer method: Preheat the air fryer to 350. Spray the air fryer basket with nonstick spray and air fry for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
Video
Notes
- High Protein: Each bagel contains approximately 10 grams of protein.
- Blending cottage cheese helps create a smoother dough but is optional; skipping this step results in grainier texture.
- Flour: you can use different types of flour, (all-purpose, whole wheat, gluten-free, spelt flour) but, the flour impacts dough texture; adjust quantities accordingly.
- Cottage cheese moisture varies; start with 1 cup (125g) and adjust flour as needed.
- Ensure holes in bagels are large enough to prevent them from closing.
- For egg-free option, brush bagels with milk.
- Watch the video: I highly recommend watching the step-by-step video recipe above. Visual instructions can help you follow along more easily and achieve perfect results.
- Have more questions? Check out the FAQ section below the recipe card—I’ve answered common questions and troubleshooting tips there!
- Storage: Keep the bagelsin an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
Calories: 155kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 10gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 653mgPotassium: 82mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 23IUCalcium: 113mgIron: 2mg
Common Questions
Can I use low-fat cottage cheese?
Yes, low-fat works fine but might require slightly less flour.
Can I use almond flour?
Almond flour alone won’t work; mix with a gluten-free flour blend for best results.
Can I bake these bagels in an air fryer?
Absolutely! Cook at 350°F (175°C) for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
Can I double the recipe?
Yes, you can easily double or triple the recipe for larger batches.
Can I skip blending cottage cheese?
Yes, but blending ensures smoother dough and texture.
These look great: not sure about the ingredients, however!
On the YouTube Video, it SHOWS you adding powdered milk…
In the recipes I have seen, there is no mention of the ingredients including that.
SOOOO, which is it, with powdered milk or not? I hope NOT is the answer, I don’t use it : )
Hi Leslee,
Just to clarify, there is no powdered milk in this recipe. I did not use powdered milk in the video either.
I stand CORRECTED 😬
When I watched, I MISREAD the text @the 1 minute mark🧐🤔 “Add the DRYMIX”
UNFORTUNATELY, I read it as “DRYMILK”!
Thanks for your prompt reply –my cottage cheese is ready to be transformed.
Why is someone so angry over a bagel? It’s just a bagel. Anyway, I just made these. I cannot believe how good they are. I made them with gluten-free flour and followed the directions exactly. My bagels came out very small and dense. I made the hole big enough. How can I make them come out bigger? They are more like mini bagels, but delicious nonetheless.
So glad you liked them! 😊 Gluten-free flour can make them a bit denser and smaller. To help them come out bigger, try using 1½ tsp baking powder, rest the dough for 10–15 minutes, and make slightly larger shapes. If your flour blend doesn’t have xanthan gum, adding ¼ tsp can also help. Let me know how it goes next time!
I can’t rate fairly since I have not tried the recipe but I appreciate the enthusiasm of David and I love the recipes that like the ‘bagels’ that are something that I can have fun making and I think I can be successful doing so! I am also encouraged to try some of his other recipes that do not look so easy but being a self trained chef I believe he is putting some very nice recipes out there for me! Thank you
These were amazing! Thank you for the recipe. You are right. The hole needs to be really large in order for it to show after baking. I brushed with milk on top and sprinkled with everything seasoning. Perfect in every way!
Do you even know what a bagel is? Clue #1 – IT IS NOT SOFT – – IT IS NEVER SOFT! i’ve made bagels that almost taste like a real New York bagel, (HINT-you cannot buy it at Dunkin’, Starbucks, or even a bagel bakery that proclaims itself to sell authentic NY bagels). Bagels are not healthy, nor should they ever advertise they are. Bagels are designed to be an indulgence. They are chewy and dense with a shiny, crusty crust (which does NOT come from an egg wash). They have a specific taste that is imparted from the water they are cooked in before they are baked (skip that boiling water step and you’ve created an abomination). If they do not, they are not a bagel. PERIOD. Call it a round baked roll with a hole in the middle but DO NOT CALL IT A BAGEL.
you’re weird pamela
Bagel snob lol
Wow, that was way too much information. If you don’t like it then don’t eat it but be at least more pleasant about it. PS. I like Panera’s bagels.
Just got them out of the oven. They are so soft and easy to make.
I wish I had some smoked salmon to make the sandwich as you did. I just spread with low fat cream cheese and tomato.
Delicious!