Gooey Pumpkin Spice Cottage Cheese Protein Blondies
These pumpkin spice cottage cheese blondies are soft, chewy and packed with cozy fall flavors. Made with pumpkin purée, cottage cheese, almond flour and protein powder, they’re an easy high-protein treat for pumpkin lovers who want something sweet without making a complicated dessert.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces full-fat cottage cheese
- ¾ cup drippy peanut butter
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 scoop cinnamon roll protein powder (about ¼ cup) can sub vanilla protein powder, or omit protein powder entirely
- 3 tablespoons white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on the sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Blend the Cottage cheese. Add the cottage cheese to a high-speed blender or mini food processor. Blend until completely smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the blended cottage cheese, pumpkin puree, peanut butter, vanilla and coconut sugar. Then in the same bowl add the almond flour, protein powder and pumpkin pie spice. Fold everything together using a silicone spatula until fully incorporated. The batter will be very thick but that's okay, that's what you want!
- Add the white chocolate chips. Fold in most of the white chocolate chips, reserving a small handful for the top.
- Transfer batter to the baking dish. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining white chocolate chips over the top.
- Bake. Bake for 20-25 minutes for softer blondies, or closer to 30 minutes if you want them more firm and cakey.
- Cool and slice. Leave the blondies in the pan to cool completely in the fridge before slicing into squares. This helps them set (they're very gooey!)
Notes
Expert Tips & Tricks
- Blend the cottage cheese until completely smooth before adding it to the batter. Do not skip this step otherwise your blondies will have a lumpy texture.
- This is a thick batter, much thicker than most brownie recipe batters. That is exactly what you want, so don't worry!
- Use parchment paper in your prepared baking pan so the blondies lift out easily.
- For extra insurance, lightly coat the parchment paper with cooking spray.
- Once they are baked, I recommend chilling them in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up as they are quite soft & gooey.
How to Store Cottage Cheese Blondies
Store these blondies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also keep them on the counter for a day or two, but I prefer the texture chilled because they firm up a bit more and get nice and chewy. Tried this recipe?Mention @prettydeliciouslife or tag #PDLrecipes!