Cottage Cheese Coffee Cake

Sweet, Spiced Cottage Cheese Coffee Cake

This cottage cheese coffee cake was inspired by my love of coffee shop treats and my obsession with finding creative ways to add more protein to everyday recipes. After making everything from Cottage Cheese Brownie Cookies to Cottage Cheese Protein Brownies, I knew coffee cake had to be next on the list.

It took several rounds of testing to get the texture just right, but the final version is everything I wanted it to be. The cake is soft, moist, and perfectly spiced with cinnamon, and the buttery oat streusel adds the most delicious crumbly topping. The blended cottage cheese melts seamlessly into the batter, creating a tender cake with extra protein and no noticeable cottage cheese flavor. Paired with a hot cup of coffee, it’s the perfect breakfast, afternoon snack, or dessert!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

• Perfect Coffee Cake Texture – The blended cottage cheese creates a super soft, moist, fluffy cake, and the streusel topping adds a crumbly element that makes for the perfect contrast. 
• Sweet + Spiced – Every bite is filled with warm cinnamon flavor and just the right amount of sweetness. 
• Protein-Forward – Thanks to the cottage cheese, a single serving provides 6 grams of protein, making this coffee cake more satisfying than your average recipe. I promise you don’t taste it! 
• Super Easy – With minimal ingredients and simple steps, this cottage cheese coffee cake recipe is virtually foolproof and requires just 10 minutes of hands-on time. The oven does the rest!

RELATED: Cottage Cheese Muffins

Ingredients

Streusel 

• Flour – I use a combination of all-purpose flour and almond flour for the base of the streusel, giving it a crumbly consistency and a little extra fiber. Swap the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour if needed!
• Rolled Oats – These give the streusel a crumbly topping. Look for certified gluten-free oats if you need to keep the recipe gluten-free. Do not substitute quick oats or steel-cut oats, or the texture won’t be the same! 
• Salt
• Brown Sugar – Light or dark brown sugar will work. Use light brown sugar for a subtle flavor or dark brown sugar if you want a bolder molasses taste. 
• Cinnamon 
• Unsalted Butter – This adds flavor and helps combine the ingredients, creating the crumbly clumps we want. 

Cake

• Cottage Cheese – I used the Good Culture 4% Organic cottage cheese, but any brand will work. I recommend sticking with full-fat cottage cheese for the best taste and texture. Low-fat won’t be quite the same.
• Vanilla 
• Eggs – These act as binders, giving the cake structure so it holds its shape. 
• Milk – Use any regular or non-dairy milk you have on hand. 
• Flour – All-purpose flour forms the base of the cake batter. As with the streusel topping, substitute 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour if needed. 
• Baking Powder – A leavener, this helps the cake rise in the oven. Make sure it’s fresh for the best results! 
• Cinnamon 
• Salt
• Brown Sugar – Light or dark brown sugar will work. 
• Avocado Oil – This adds moisture without impacting the flavor of the cake. Canola oil can be substituted, but I prefer avocado oil for a boost of healthy fats. 

How to Make Cottage Cheese Coffee Cake

One of the best things about coffee cakes is that they always look beautiful and are super easy to make. This recipe is no exception! You’ll need an 8×8 square baking pan, two large bowls, a blender, and a wire rack. Here’s how to make Cottage Cheese Coffee Cake: 

1. Prepare the streusel – Mix all the streusel ingredients in a large bowl until a clumpy mixture forms. 
2. Combine the dry ingredients – Next, whisk all the dry ingredients for the cake batter in a large bowl. 
3. Blend wet ingredients – Add the cottage cheese and vanilla to a blender, and pulse until smooth. This removes any lumps from the cottage cheese! 
4. Combine the cake batter – Pour the blended mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients, and add the remaining wet ingredients. Whisk just until smooth. The batter will be very thick! 
5. Bake – Pour the cake batter into a square pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter, and bake just until the batter is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. 
6. Serve – Let the coffee cake cool on a wire rack. Then, slice and enjoy! 

Tips

• Blend the cottage cheese completely smooth. This is the key to a tender, uniform cake texture without any lumps. 
• Measure the flour correctly. If possible, I recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your flour and eliminate any guesswork. If that’s not an option, use the spoon and level method, spooning the flour into a measuring cup rather than scooping it straight from the bag. 
• Don’t overmix the batter. Stir just until the ingredients are combined, and no lumps remain. Overmixing can overwork the gluten, creating a dense, tough cake, which we never want! 
• Use room-temperature ingredients. Eggs and milk mix more easily into the batter and help create a more even crumb when they’re not super cold. 
• Check the cake for doneness early. Every oven is different. So, to prevent burning, I start checking the cake for doneness around the 50-minute mark. 
• Tent with foil if needed. If the streusel starts to brown before the cake is set, loosely drape aluminum foil on top. Then, continue to bake until the cake is fully cooked. 
• Cool completely before slicing. Allowing your cottage cheese coffee cake to cool for at least an hour before serving helps it set up properly and makes for cleaner slices that don’t crumble and fall apart.

You’ll Also Love: Cinnamon Roll Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Variations

Include nuts. Fold chopped pecans or walnuts into the streusel topping for extra crunch and nutty flavor.

Add a glaze. Drizzle the cooled cake with a simple vanilla glaze made from powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract for a sweet flavor and pretty presentation.

Mix in fruit. Fold fresh blueberries, diced apples, or chopped peaches into the batter for a fruity twist.

Use pumpkin spice. Replace the cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice for a fall-inspired taste.

Add chocolate chips. Stir mini chocolate chips into the batter for a sweeter dessert-style coffee cake.

Make cottage cheese coffee cake muffins instead. Divide the batter into a lined muffin tin, and reduce the baking time for individual coffee cake muffins. They’re perfect for littles! 

Serving Suggestions

I love to enjoy a slice of cottage cheese coffee cake in the morning with a maple pecan pie latte or tea. The cake is delicious at room temperature or quickly warmed for a few seconds in the microwave. To make it a little more filling, I often pair it with yogurt or fresh fruit, like fresh berries, sliced peaches, or apples!

This recipe is also the perfect addition to a brunch spread alongside date shakes, berry overnight oats, Whole30 healthy breakfast casserole, and fresh fruit! It’s my go-to for Easter, Mother’s Day, and just slower weekend mornings with the kiddos. 

How to Store

Once cool, transfer leftover cottage cheese coffee cake to an airtight container. It will keep fresh at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

You can also freeze cottage cheese coffee cake for up to 3 months! To do so, wrap individual slices or the whole cake with plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. 

To serve, warm frozen cake slices in the microwave in 10-15 second increments or the oven heated to 300°F for 5-10 minutes or just until heated through. There’s no need to thaw first! 

Healthier Cake Recipes You’ll Love

• Date Cake Recipe
• Gluten-Free Funfetti Cake
• Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake
• Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
• Southern Sweet Tea Lemon Cake
• Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake w/ Tahini Chocolate Icing

More Ways to Use Cottage Cheese

• Cottage Cheese Bagels
• Lemon Blueberry Cottage Cheese Pancakes
• Protein Pancakes with Greek Yogurt
• Cottage Cheese Pancake Bars
• Cottage Cheese Breakfast Rounds
• Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

Looking for more? Here are 35+ cottage cheese recipes!