(Updated and added to Recipe Favorites, December 2009. When I wrote this post I was a busy teacher/food blogger who had to plan ahead for breakfast. Now that I'm "retired" I'm finding it's just as important to have quick breakfasts on hand. I'm spotlighting this post for anyone who's busy with the holiday rush but wants to keep the breakfast habit.)Okay, some of you know it and others might have guessed, but I'm one of those insanely busy people who rarely sits down for a proper breakfast, certainly not on the week days. That's why in my fridge, you'll see breakfast muffins like this in a plastic container, waiting to be heated up in the morning. This is the second version I've made of this cottage cheese and egg breakfast muffin, made with almond meal, parmesan, and just the tiniest bit of flour to create a muffins that's quite different in texture than the phase one Egg Muffins I also like. Imagine a biscuit married an omelet and they had a child, but the child got a few more omelet genes than biscuit genes; that's what these muffins are like.
If you're someone who sits at the table and has a relaxed breakfast I do envy you, and you might picture your breakfast muffins more like this. However you're imagining they might fit into your life, these breakfast muffins are just delicious.
Cottage Cheese and Egg Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar(Makes 6 large or 12 small muffins, recipe adapted from Cottage Cheese Muffins at 101 Cookbooks, original recipe by Rose Elliot. You can see step-by-step photos of making cottage cheese and egg muffins if you'd like.)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup cottage cheese (I used low-fat cottage cheese)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup almond meal (I used Bob's Red Mill almond meal)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 eggs, beaten
3 T water
1/4 cup finely diced ham (could use turkey ham)
1/2 cup sharp cheddar (I used low-fat sharp cheddar)
2 T sliced green onions
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, parmesan, white whole wheat flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, eggs, and water. Mix until well combined, then gently stir in ham, sharp cheddar, and green onions.
Spray silicone muffin cups with non-stick spray or olive oil, or use foil muffin cups. (I would spray those too.) Divide batter between six muffin cups. Bake muffins 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top and set. (If you're going to be microwaving, I would bake about 25 minutes, for eating immediately I would use closer to 30 minutes.)
Muffins can be refrigerated and reheated in microwave. Be careful not to microwave too long or they will get tough. (Still have not tried freezing them, I eat them too fast!)
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Muffins can be refrigerated and reheated in microwave. Be careful not to microwave too long or they will get tough. (Still have not tried freezing them, I eat them too fast!)
South Beach Suggestions:
Be sure to use white whole wheat flour for the South Beach Diet, not white flour. With low fat cottage cheese and low fat cheddar, this would be a good choice for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. Even with lowfat cheese, the almond meal makes these muffins relatively high in fat, so be aware of your other food choices that day. It would be good to use turkey ham for South Beach friendliness, or choose a ham that's lean.
More Easy Breakfasts:
(Recipes from other blogs may or may not be South Beach Diet friendly, check ingredients.)
Egg Muffins Revisited, Again
Cottage Cheese and Egg Breakfast Muffins with Bacon and Green Onions
Alanna's Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Breakfast Casserole with Mushrooms, Green Bell Peppers, and Feta
Low Carb Protein Pancakes
Cottage Cheese Muffins from Nami Nami
Baked Eggs in Cream with Spinach from A Veggie Venture
Easy French Breakfast: Baked Eggs from Ms. Glaze's Pommes d'Amour
Blueberry Bran Muffins from Farmgirl Fare
Eggs on Quick Veggie Brown Rice from Dani Spies
Hot Oat and Wheat Berry Breakfast Cereal from Vanesscipes
58 comments:
Wow, those look really yummy. I might have to try them.
MM
These sound rather tasty. I wonder if I could sort of replace the cottage cheese with "blended" queso fresco? I just might have to try that!
Oh they look wonderful - those definitely go on the list of things to try!
Kalyn, these look absolutely marvellous! I've never seen white whole wheat flour though...would there be much difference if I just used wholemeal instead?
Ellie @ Kitchen Wench
Kalyn, I didn't have a chance to check your blog yesterday, and only did it while half-way through writing today's blog post - yes, about cottage cheese muffins:) Talk about great minds thinking alike:)
I love your version with ham - excellent idea!!
I'm a grab-and-go breakfast person, even though I work at home! These muffins look perfect for someone who doesn't want to devote a lot of thought to breakfast, but who wants something nutritious and delicious.
I like your muffins. Very different!
Paz
These look wonderful! I wonder if you have any idea how many carbs per muffin these are? Even though more of a phase 2 recipe I like to keep track. Thanks!
Hi everyone,
Happy to hear that people like the sound of these because I'm loving this recipe. Next I'm thinking a vegetarian version is in order. Pille, must go check out your muffins.
Gretchen, Let me know if you try it. The cottage cheese does kind of melt into the muffins so I'm thinking it would work.
Ellie, I think you could use whole wheat flour, but I'm not a baker so I don't know much about the properties of different flours. White whole wheat can usually be used interchangeably with white flour in most recipes so you might use just white flour if you're not avoiding it.
r.d. One reason I like South Beach is not having to count carbs, so I'm not an expert at it. There are quite a few ingredients here with minimal carbs, but the cottage cheese, flour, and almond meal do have carbs. I'm coming up with 6-7 carbs per muffin, depending on the type of cottage cheese you use. (My cc has 5 carbs per 1/2 cup.) These are pretty nutritionally dense, so one is enough for me for breakfast, but if you're a hearty eater you might want two.
Those look seriously delicious, Kalyn! I'm saving recipes for a houseful of people for over the holidays, add this to the list for easy breakfasts!
I'm home tomorrow. These must be for breakfast on Tuesday. Beautiful again Kalyn!
Cool, they look like a savoury muffin and cottage cheese is great for baking.
Time constraints or not, these look delicious. I love savory breakfasts...and second breakfasts...
Thanks for the info on 'A Menu for Hope' - I was wondering who the coordinator for Europe was.
Wow, you continue to inspire me. Thanks for having such a great "spot" on the net to keep me motivated. I check at least once a day!
Great idea Kalyn. GH and I drink breakfast standing up...a low carb breakfast shake made with ice water, frozen strawberries and banana, ground flax seed, and soy protein mix. It's high in protein and fiber. It stays with us all morning. But soon I'll be out of strawberries and I'll try this. Thanks.
Doesn't this look delicious! It is morning here in France and since I'm quite useless until around 10, I wish I had someone I could order to make this for me now with my coffee....sigh!
ronell
oh wow this is very healthy. i'm gonna give it a try. right now i'm doing a cereal with milk routine..nothing fancy :) any substitute for cottage cheese?
Those muffins look delicious! I was thinking how great they would be in a vegetarian version when I read your reply to comments - can't wait for your veggies!
Kalyn,
These look fantastic. The only problem is that there is no cottage cheese in Marrakech. Any idea of a substitute? There is no ham here either but perhaps I could substitute with turkey?
Oh my gosh Kalyn, these look absolutely delicious! I'll be giving this recipe a try very soon! Cheers, Heather
To those who have inquired about a substitute for cottage cheese, I think any type of crumbly, dry, low-fat cheese would work. Ricotta is one thing that comes to mind as a substitute. I'm not that familiar with cheese in other parts of the world, but the cottage cheese is melted into the muffins and adds moistness.
I have used this very similar recipe from Sara Moulton for years now. It only uses 1/4 cup of flour, and if I don't make it full size for dinner, I make it in silicone muffin cups for breakfasts and then freeze them. It is infinitely variable: different cheeses, add some meat if you like, various onions or leeks, etc.
It's always nice to add another recipe to the quick breakfast file! Thanks!
Wow, yummy sounding muffins! I'll have to make these for my hubby :D Thanks for sharing!
Pegasus, thanks for sharing. What makes these muffins different from Sara Moulton's and also my previous versions of Egg Muffins is the almond meal. It adds a chewy texture that I really like. Sara's recipe does sound good but I'd have to change it a bit to make it South Beach friendly.
These muffins look and sound so good!
Kalyn, I now declare you my personal breakfast (and even lunch) saviour! What a great recipe.
Gumbeaux gal, what fun! I've never been anyone's personal breakfast saviorr before! They really are great, I had one for breakfast today!
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! Yuuuuummmmm!!!! Kalyn those looks incredibly good. You're torturing me this morning!
Kalyn, I can't remember if I left a comment on your first cottage cheese egg muffin post, but I tried both of these variations -- as well as the original sun-dried tomatoes one from 101 Cookbooks -- to great success. I am completely in love with these muffins. So yummy, healthy, convenient! May I suggest one more variation -- cilantro! My DH suggested throwing in some that we had left over, and it was delicious! I'm sure you'll agree. :-)
Oh, and a comment about subbing cottage cheese: I ran out of cottage cheese in the middle of making these, and used reduced fat sour cream in place of about 1/3 of the cottage cheese called for. It worked great and didn't make the muffins taste or feel any different than when I made them before with the full amount of cottage cheese. However, I don't know if it would be as successful if you replaced 100% of it with sour cream.
Also, I made both versions with regular whole wheat flour (not white whole wheat) and they came out great.
Second week, second batch. These are a great, quick breakfast! I even found the almond meal! Love them.
Glenna, too funny.
Zoe, thanks for the sour cream idea. I always have that even if I might not have cottage cheese so I'll probably try it.
Megan, so happy to hear you like them so much. Me too! I read a post from someone who didn't like the "texture" but I love the slightly chewy aspect of the almond meal.
I just wanted to thank you for the recipe. I make these for my fiance on weekends in place of the usual junk he'd rather be eating (bacon, toast with butter...etc.) and he absolutely LOVES them. He always asks for extra to take to work during the week :)
TC, you're welcome. Glad you are enjoying them!
I made these today and since my man person needs low carb and low fat (arrggh!) I used soy flour instead of almond flour. I also used turkey pastrami rather than ham and put a little less cheese in them. All in all they turned out okay but didn't have much flavor and mine aren't nearly as pretty as yours! Mine are misshapen and kind of leaning. lol I think I'll try them again with the almond flour and see if those taste better. Methinks they will! Thanks for sharing this, though. I heart your blog!
CookinsForMe, I do think soy flour is much less dense than almond flour, so it would make quite a difference. You could add more egg to replace some of the almond flour, or just make regular Egg Muffins without any flour if you want less fat.
Thanks for the nice words about the blog, always appreciated.
Thanks for the input! I'm going to try them again with the almond and see if that goes better and I'll try the other egg muffins too. I've made a similar dish a few times and it's gone over well with him but yours just look better so I'll try your recipes. :)
These sound great! I just found your site and am enjoying seeing some gluten and sugar free cookies! I did the 6 week body makeover, which doesn't do gluten or sugar and am glad I can find some yummy cookies while keeping the weight off!
These look delicious. I have never heard of or seen almond meal. How crucial iss it to the recipe and where would I find it?
thanks!
Daryl, I've never tried making this without almond so I don't know what would happen. It is finely ground almonds, and I think it's pretty readily available, maybe in the health foods section of a large grocery store, and certainly at a place like Whole Foods you can find it.
Love cottage cheese mixed in scrambled eggs, baked oatmeal & omelets, but who would have thought to add it to breakfast muffins as well? Genius, Kalyn...just genius! (I suppose it makes baked goods as moist as sour cream does?)
Sandie, it is a great idea, but credit goes to Rose Elliot who came up with the original recipes. I love the combination of cottage cheese and almond meal in these muffins, they're one of my favorite breakfasts!
I love your description of omelet and biscuit genes! And I think these would be great made with the leftover ham we'll have from Christmas.
Mrs. L., thanks! That was the best way I could think of to capture what they're like!
Oh my. That looks good. And sounds delicious. Might be problematic finding almond meal though.
I will sure try this one out tomorrow! I love how it is being made..really healthy and delicious.
I can feel its taste in my tongue!
All I can say is, "yum!" thanks for sharing the recipe.
Stephanie, so glad you liked it!
I made this yesterday. Tasted eggy and not very appetizing. I had high hopes on this one... probably not my cup of tea.
Susan, I like these a lot, so sorry to hear you didn't like it.
Mmmm, I can't wait to try these. Winter leaves me starving in the morning, and my regular bowl of cereal just isn't cutting it anymore. Thanks Kalyn!
Claire, I love these muffins; hope you enjoy them.
These are absolutely delicious. So light and fluffy and savory! I ground up my own almonds to make the almond meal because I can't be bothered to drive 20 minutes to my local health food store, lol. I also didn't feel like ham this morning so I added some sun dried tomatoes. Seriously amazing.
One of my favourite recipe .. i have a website about cottage cheese recipes too .. just love this type of cheese
Wow that looks amazing
Sarah, glad you like the idea. I can't publish comments with links to other food sites though or my blog will get over-run with spam comment links.
I have to tell your I found your recipe a few months ago and have been making it every week or two since. I even made them in a mini muffin tin and served them as appetizers. I've made many variations but my favorite is turkey and swiss cheese. My boyfriend, who is the pickiest eater I have ever met, gobbles them up. THank you! These are seriously good!
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