Cottage Cheese Brownies
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These 4-ingredient cottage cheese brownies are super fudgy and gooey with crinkly tops. They bake in minutes and use good-for-you ingredients.
Is cottage cheese still having its moment? Let’s hope so, because I’m finding fun and creative ways to use it, and these brownies with cottage cheese have been such a hit.
Now, I know the thought of adding cottage cheese to brownies sounds odd, but it adds some extra moisture and richness, making the brownies much more fudgy. It’s also quite nifty that there is a little bit of extra protein.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Cheap and easy. Like my Greek yogurt brownies, these brownies have no oil, no butter, and no milk whatsoever. Just four pantry staple ingredients.
- The BEST texture. The brownies are super fudgy and gooey, with those gorgeous crinkly tops.
- Ready in under 30 minutes. This is the kind of chocolate dessert you can whip up when the cravings strike.
If you love baking with cottage cheese, try my cottage cheese banana bread, cottage cheese cookies, cottage cheese muffins, cottage cheese chocolate mousse, or cottage cheese cheesecake next.
Key Ingredients
- Cottage cheese. I liked using whipped cottage cheese because it mixes easily into the batter. Full-fat cottage cheese is best as it adds richness, but low-fat cottage cheese works well.
- Sugar. White sugar or brown sugar.
- Almond butter. Smooth and creamy almond butter with no added sugar or salt. I like to make my own almond butter.
- Cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa powder. If I want richer brownies, I sometimes use dark cocoa powder.
- Mix-ins. Optional, but I LOVE to fold through some chunks of chocolate chips for those gorgeous pools of chocolate.
How to make cottage cheese brownies
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Make the batter. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix until smooth. Fold through any mix-ins.
Step 2- Assemble. Transfer the batter into a lined pan and cover with more chocolate.
Step 3- Bake the brownies for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean from the center.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Don’t overbake the brownies. Like most baked goods, the brownies will continue to bake as they cool down. I recommend removing them from the oven once the edges firm up.
- For cakey brownies, bake an extra 5-6 minutes (minimum 30 minutes).
- Cool before slicing. I know it’s tempting, but wait until the brownies are baked before slicing and serving. If they are too warm, the brownies will be too gooey in the middle to enjoy.
- To make these healthier, swap out the sugar for allulose or your favorite sugar-free sweetener.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover cottage cheese brownies will keep well at room temperature, covered, for up to three days. If you want to keep them longer, cover them and store them in the fridge for up to one week.
To freeze: Place the brownies in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More healthy brownie recipes
Cottage Cheese Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whipped cottage cheese See notes
- 1 cup almond butter
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the whipped cottage cheese, cocoa powder, almond butter, and sugar until smooth and glossy. If adding chocolate or chocolate chips, fold them through.
- Transfer the brownie batter into the lined pan. Top with extra chocolate chips.
- Bake the brownies for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Let the brownies cool in the pan completely before slicing.
Best brownies and best use of cottage cheese.
Thanks for the comment and star rating, Danny. I appreciate you making this recipe!
Trusted the process and I wasn’t disappointed. These were so fudgy.
what can i use in place of almond butter?
Hi Becky- any nut or seed butter works very well. I’ve made this with tahini (niece is nut-free) and it was delicious 🙂
Do you think it would work with peanut butter powder mixed with water to make the cup of nut butter?
Hi Sharon- I haven’t tried that, but I feel like it might dry out the brownies. If you try it out, please let me know how it goes!
I would like to know if I can make this with Ricotta instead of cottage cheese thank you so much
Hi Paige- I don’t see why not. When testing these brownies, I actually did a batch with Greek yogurt and it worked very similarly, so ricotta should be quite similar 🙂
Can you substitute ricotta cheese instead of the cottage cheese?
Hi Paige- I don’t see why not. Ricotta cheese and full-fat yogurt are two alternatives to cottage cheese 🙂
I was unsure how these would go but i was pleasantly surprised. Thanks.
I just tried making these. Used peanut butter instead of almond butter. The batter came out doughy like a cookie not smooth like a brownie. Followed everything else the same. What did I do wrong?
Hi Rob- I’m sorry to hear that happened. I’m wondering what kind of peanut butter you used as I did a test batch using smooth peanut butter and it worked fantastically. Feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll troubleshoot for you.
I love these brownies and could not tell there was cottage cheese in it. So easy and so good.
Thanks for the lovely comment and review, Brindha. Glad you enjoyed it!
So delicious! This is my second time making these brownies. Everyone loved them!
This is so good I have eaten every night before bed for a month! I couldn’t rave about it more. Thank you. I have finally found the recipe I have been looking for for those pesky chocolate cravings.
I cup cocoa powder and 1 cup almond butter???!?
Should my badder be thick? I followed the directions as provided. I measured and mixed the “creamed” cottage cheese. Maybe I should of measured before? I’ll put them in the oven and see what happens.
Yes it is quite thick!
I tried it tonight with monk fruit sweetener instead, and subbed with peanut butter. Tasted great!
Wondering if anyone has tried substituting Monk fruit for the sugar? Or part of the sugar?
I’m going to try Monkfruit! Fingers crossed!!
I tried it tonight with monk fruit sweetener instead, and subbed with peanut butter. Tasted great!
what was the amount of monkfruit did you used.? Thanks
Delicious flourless brownies! Thank you