Freezer-Friendly Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting (GF)
Gluten free Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Muffins with a cream cheese frosting that tastes like the real thing. Whipped cottage cheese keeps the muffins moist, almond and cassava flour keep them tender, and an optional scoop of cinnamon roll protein powder makes them filling enough to hold you over. Ready in about 30 minutes, and they freeze well.
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 Muffin Tin
- 12 muffin liners
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Muffins
- ½ cup cottage cheese , whipped smooth
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 1 ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup cassava flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 scoop about ¼ cup cinnamon roll protein powder , or vanilla protein powder (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese , softened
- ¼ cup plain greek yogurt or skyr
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with parchment paper muffin liners and set aside until the batter is ready.
- Whip the cottage cheese. Put the cottage cheese in the food processor and blend until smooth and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Leave in the food processor until you are ready for it.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, vanilla, whipped cottage cheese, pumpkin puree and coconut sugar to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until fully incorporated. Then whisk in the avocado oil until everything is combined.
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Add almond flour, cassava flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spice, salt and protein powder if using to the same mixing bowl and fold together with the wet ingredients until fully combined. Make sure there are no clumps of flour or protein powder.
- Pour batter in muffin tin. Pour the batter into the prepared parchment lined muffin pan and smooth it out evenly so no spots are thicker than others.
- Bake. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Make the frosting. While the muffins bake, mix the frosting ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with a hand mixer on medium speed until light & fluffy.
- Cool & frost. Allow muffins to come to room temp before frosting to avoid melting.
Notes
- Don't over-mix the batter. Once the dry ingredients go into the wet ingredients, fold gently with a silicone spatula just until combined. Over-mixing leads to a tougher crumb.
- Whip the cottage cheese thoroughly. Run your food processor until no visible curds remain. A smooth consistency blends seamlessly into the wet ingredients.
- Fill the muffin cups fully: Because this batter does not spill over drastically, scoop it until each cup is almost completely filled for full-sized muffins.
- Save the leftover pumpkin puree for more pumpkin baking. Instead of wasting the last of the pumpkin puree, go ahead and save the leftover puree for a different fall treat: pumpkin loaf with cream cheese frosting, pumpkin syrup for fall coffees (bye overpriced Starbuck's drinks!), or these pumpkin blondies.
- Make a double batch and freeze half to save for later. Whenever I make my cottage cheese banana muffins or these pumpkin muffins, I always make a double batch of them and then freeze one batch for later. It makes it really easy to grab a couple at a time to thaw for a quick snack on the go or for overall meal prep when life is busy (like right now with me and my husband moving!).
Did you have a chance to make this recipe? If so, please leave me a 5 star rating and review below. I always love and appreciate hearing from you!
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