Savoury cottage cheese muffins with ham and chives
37 min · 23 g protein · 219 cals / serving
Soft, cheesy breakfast muffins you can eat on the way out of the door: a batter of cottage cheese and eggs with just enough flour to hold it, studded with diced ham, spinach, chives and a little cheddar. Soft, moist and savoury, closer to a cheese soufflé than a bread roll, and they freeze well.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups cottage cheese (1%), 1 % milkfat
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup liquid egg white, or 2 egg whites
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 7 3/4 oz deli ham, diced
- 4 big handfuls baby spinach, chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh chives, snipped
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp grated reduced fat cheddar cheese, 28 g in, 12 g on top
- a light mist cooking spray
Steps
- Heat the oven to 400°F and spray a 12-cup muffin tin well (or use paper cases and spray those). Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
- In a second bowl, whisk the cottage cheese, eggs and egg whites together. You can leave the curds whole for little cheesy pockets, or blend them smooth for an even crumb.
- Stir the wet mix into the dry just until no flour shows, then fold in the ham, spinach, chives and two thirds of the cheddar. The batter is thick and lumpy; do not overmix.
- Divide between the cups, scatter over the remaining cheddar and bake 20–22 minutes, until risen, golden and firm when pressed. Cool 5 minutes in the tin before lifting out. Two muffins make a breakfast.
Good to know
How do I store them?
Three days in the fridge, or freeze them on a tray and bag them. Reheat 30 seconds in the microwave or 5 minutes in a warm oven.
Why are they so moist?
The cottage cheese makes up most of the batter, so they bake up soft and almost custardy rather than bready. That is also why they need the full baking time to set in the middle, and why they sink a little as they cool.
Can I make them vegetarian?
Swap the ham for a diced roasted red pepper and a handful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes; or simply leave the ham out and add an extra 30 g cheddar.
Per
- Calories
- 135
- Protein
- (44%)
- 14 g
- Fat
- (29%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (27%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 577 mg
More breakfast
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1316 kcal goes into the pot and 1115 g of ingredients comes out as about 975 g of food: 135 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.