Cottage Cheese Bagels are easy to make even for novice bakers, fluffy and are high in protein. Made in one bowl with 5 simple ingredients and 13 grams of protein per bagel.
When it comes to high protein bread, I also find fantastic results making cottage cheese biscuits, cottage cheese bread and cottage cheese flatbread.
Today we seem to add cottage cheese to anything and I’m enjoying this wave, as you can see by my growing collection of cottage cheese recipes, because I actually love its taste and extra protein content.
These cottage cheese bagels turned out way better than I expected! I have made Greek yogurt bagels and almond flour Greek yogurt bagels before but never bagels with cottage cheese. They taste similar, have identical texture and both are high protein bagels but cottage cheese is higher in protein.
Reader’s Review
I make these on repeat weekly!! They are delicious! My whole family loves them. They are great with butter or cream cheese or avocado toast or as a breakfast or lunch sandwich!!!
Jenny
Also I would like you to know that I tested this recipe with all-purpose flour and this Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour. You can also use self-rising flour. I do think whole wheat flour will work as well, you just need a different amount.
All helpful information is listed in recipe card’s notes below, including baking them in air fryer.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy: No yeast, waiting for the dough to rise or boiling the bagels.
- Simple: 5 ingredients, or 3 ingredients without toppings and 2 ingredients if you have self-rising flour.
- High in protein: 13 grams of protein per bagel.
- Tasty: Taste like a bagel my kids want to eat!
- Look good: They also look like regular bagels! If you are wondering, cottage cheese curds melt during baking and not a trace of them is left.
Ingredients for Cottage Cheese Bagels
- Cottage cheese: I use 2% fat cottage cheese. Good brand is Organic Meadow or Good Culture. You can also use 0% and 4% or lactose free cottage cheese.
- Flour: All-purpose flour. For other flours see variations below please.
- Baking powder: To help bagels rise.
- Egg: One egg or egg white for an egg wash to make bagel golden brown and help toppings stick.
- Everything bagel seasoning: I used it as a topping. You can omit or use anything else.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Bagels
Here is a quick overview how to make these bagels in as little as 1 hour, of which 25 minutes is resting time. Full recipe card is located below.
- Make self-rising flour: In a large bowl, combine flour and baking powder, and whisk very well until combined.
- Make the dough: Add cottage cheese and mix with spatula, then with your hands, until a ball of dough forms. You may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of flour. It should be not too sticky and not too dry. Mix until the dough barely sticks to your hands.
- Let dough rest: Cover bowl with kitchen towel and let dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Divide it: Transfer dough onto a floured surface, roll into a log and divide into 4 equal pieces.
- Make an egg wash: In a small bowl, whisk the egg and set aside.
- Form the bagels: Roll each piece of dough into a rope and form into a bagel shape, pinching the ends together. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat the process with remaining 3 pieces of dough.
- Top and bake: Brush top of each bagel with egg wash and sprinkle with topping or leave plain. Bake on a middle rack at 350 F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. You can also air fry bagels at 280 F for 15-20 minutes.
- Let bagels rest: Remove bagels from the oven and let them rest for 15 minutes.
Tips for Best Results
Here are my top tips for the best cottage cheese bagels in the world! So good, even your kids will love them!
- Don’t drain or blend cottage cheese: Other recipes might ask you to drain or blend your cottage cheese, but my recipe isn’t one of them. Cottage cheese will melt once baked and we need all the liquid.
- If the dough is too sticky: It can happen as different brands of cottage cheese have different amount of liquid. Just add small amounts of flour and knead until dough is barely sticking to your hands, if any.
- Don’t skip resting the dough: It will relax and rise a bit, resulting in fluffy bagels.
- Let bagels rest after baking: Bagels will be soft to the touch right out of the oven. Let them sit for 10-15 minutes and they will harden. If you try to cut into a hot bagel, it will deform and be soggy.
Recipe Variations
- Gluten-free flour: I tried this Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour and bagels turned out well. I know there is also this one, and I think it will work, I just don’t love its chickpea taste or texture.
- Whole wheat: Try to use 3/4 cup, adding 1-2 tablespoons at a time, if necessary.
- Self-rising flour: Use 1 cup + 1 tablespoon and skip the baking powder.
- Toppings ideas: Everything bagel seasoning, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion flakes, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds.
- No eggs: The egg wash makes bagels nice and golden brown. But you can omit if not adding any toppings or use melted butter.
- Perfect for meal prep: Make ahead my healthy tuna salad or cottage cheese chicken salad, place on top of a bagel and enjoy high protein lunch all week!
How to Store
Store: Store bagels just like regular bagels, in an airtight bag or container in a cool dry place for up to 3-4 days. It is not recommended to refrigerate bagels as they become stale faster.
Freeze: Bake and cool bagels completely. Transfer to a gallon size resealable bag, let out as much air as possible, seal and freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw bagels on a counter for a few hours. Or to save time, I like to pop frozen bagels in a microwave for 1-2 minutes, then slice in half and toast.
I would suggest you to slice them before freezing to be able to place frozen bagel into the toaster, but I think sliced bagels will dry out in the freezer. Unless you are planning to consume them within a few weeks.
FAQs
You can refrigerate the dough overnight but you will need to bring it to room temperature before baking in the morning, I would say about 30 minutes.
I have not tried freezing and baking these bagels from frozen but you could experiment with one and see how it goes. Please let me know if you try!
Sure. This protein bagel recipe makes 4 bagels as is. You can double, triple the recipe or make as many bagels as you like at same time.
More High Protein Bagels Recipes
More Cottage Cheese Recipes to Try
- Cottage cheese pancakes
- Cottage cheese muffins
- Cottage cheese pizza crust
- Cottage cheese egg bites
- Cottage cheese egg bake
- Cottage cheese scrambled eggs
Cottage Cheese Bagels (High Protein)
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour, more for dusting
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 egg
- Everything bagel seasoning
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add flour and baking powder; whisk well to combine.
- Add cottage cheese and stir with spatula to combine, then proceed to mix with your hands until a ball of dough forms. Knead it about 20 times. Dough should be not sticky but not dry. Cover with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Transfer dough on a counter, form a log and cut into 4 even pieces. Flour the surface, place one piece of dough, roll into a rope and then into a bagel shape, pinching the ends together. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat with remaining dough.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg. Brush bagels with an egg wash and sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion flakes or leave plain.
- Bake on a middle rack for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes (do not skip!). Slice, spread and enjoy protein bagels with your favorite toppings.
Notes
- Store: Keep in an airtight container in a cool dark place for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: Freeze in a resealable Ziploc bag for 3 months. Thaw on a counter for a few hours or pop into microwave or toaster.
- Gluten-free flour: I tried this Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour and bagels turned out well. I know there is also this one, and I think it will work, I just don’t love its chickpea taste or texture.
- Self-rising flour: Use 1 cup + 1 tablespoon and skip the baking powder.
- Whole wheat: Try to use 3/4 cup, adding 1-2 tablespoons at a time, if necessary.
- Air fryer: You can also air fry bagels at 280 F for 15-20 minutes, depends on air fryer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I make these on repeat weekly!! They are delicious! My whole family loves them. They are great with butter or cream cheese or avocado toast or as a breakfast or lunch sandwich!!!
So happy to hear that, Jenny! These are truly versatile!
Pro tip, make sure your circles have a big enough hole in the middle because you may just get dinner rolls like I did! Will def make these again!
Glad this is getting added to the repeat list, Eden! I appreciate your review.
I’ve never made donuts and I just tried making these donuts and it was fun. I followed the steps but I noticed that they didn’t rise at any point…any thoughts on why that may be? Also, it’d be nice if you had a video for this and your other recipes.
Hi Christopher. More towards the bottom of the post there is a full recipe card with exact measurements and there is also a video. Did you see it? I have a feeling you might have cooked from the post where there are no exact measurements. As for the rising if you use baking powder your bagels should rise unless it was old or expired. That’s the only reason.
Can these be boiled first like traditional bagels? I like the chewiness the boiling gives to the bagel. Looking forward to trying the recipe.
Thanks.
I think so.
LOVE these bagels!
Have made a batch with white flour and whole wheat….both Very good!
Whole wheat was a little denser, but enjoyed equally as well, with a little natural peanut butter…YUM!
UPDATE: made with shredded cheese with a sprinkle of dried rosemary and garlic powder, basted with mayonnaise and sprinkle of everything seasoning…..OMG!
Wow, that sounds incredible! Love the flavor combo—especially the mayo and everything seasoning twist! 😍🔥
Wow! Just Plain Wow! I followed your directions – they were so easy to make and turned out wonderful! I made 2 plain, one EveryThing Bagel and one cinnamon/raisin. They were gone in no time!! Picked up another tub of cottage cheese and we’re making them again this week – a double batch!! So much cheaper than store bought. Thank you!
So glad to hear! Wait until you see my cottage cheese bread.:) Coming soon!
Hi!! Can I use almond flour instead for the bagels?
Hi Rachel. Unfortunately not. Check out our almond flour Greek yogurt bagels which are high in protein as well. However, if you are an experienced baker, you may try sub cottage cheese instead of yogurt in that recipe and add more almond flour.
Wow, these are great. I have never made anything like this before and did not even know how to knead dough. It worked great, although a little messy at first. Next time I will use more of the Everything Bagel seasoning. I like bread and this is a good way to get some in my diet, and it was something I actually made myself, so I know what is in it. Again, love this recipe. I never thought that cottage cheese could be used in so many different things and not taste like cottage cheese.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Me too, I can’t believe how you cannot taste cottage cheese in baked goods at all!
How do u prevent excessively sticky dough?
Add a bit more flour. I cover this in Tips section of the post.
Are you able to make the bagel dough and store in the fridge overnight to bake in the morning?
Can you make the bagel shapes and freeze and then cook from frozen as required?
Yes, you can refrigerate the dough overnight but you will need to bring it to room temperature before baking in the morning, I would say about 30 minutes. I have not tried freezing and baking these bagels from frozen but if I were you I would experiment with one and see how it goes. Please let me know if you try!
I made these this morning as part of my breakfast meal prep for the week. My boyfriend and I loved them. They are fluffy and with a crisp outside. I like the cottage cheese so much better than the Greek yogurt ones which are alittle tangy. The cottage cheese gives it the saltier taste it needs. I will be making a double batch next time and freeze them. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Linda. Yes about cottage cheese more salty and less tangy in the dough, it’s nice. I love both though but glad you prefer these cottage cheese bagels. So happy you guys loved them!
Really, Really yummy!! My husband and I ate all 4 of them in 2 days as we just COULDNT RESIST! GREAT RECIPE, thank you.
So nice of you to say, so happy you loved these bagels! Thank you for the rating!