Quick Cottage Cheese Buns are light in texture, quick to prepare (only 15 minutes of prep!) and so delicious. You will be in love with these buns at first bite.
If you love this recipe, you will also love our brioche buns recipe.
Quick Cottage Cheese Buns might sound a little strange to you. Cottage cheese? In a dessert?! Oh yes! Eastern Europeans have been baking with cottage cheese (or farmer’s cheese) forever. Be prepared to become addicted!
Cottage cheese buns are so light and creamy — they will just melt in your mouth! Pair them with a hot cup of coffee or tea and let your worries melt away too…
These yeast-free buns are as low-maintenance as it gets. When a sweet tooth calls, nothing is worse than leafing through recipes trying to find a recipe that you have the time to make. Not having to wait for the dough to rise makes these buns a no-brainer.
Tips for Cottage Cheese Buns
Here’s all the top tips to nailing cottage cheese buns each time:
- Dough Texture: Your dough should be sticky, but still workable on a floured surface. You may need to adjust the amount of flour, as some brands have more protein than others. Simply add a cup at a time until you have the texture just right.
- Use a Mixer. To make the dough batter smooth, use a mixer instead of a whisk or spoon.
- Choose Small Curds. Use small curd, full-fat cottage cheese if you can. The smaller curds are easier to blend and make for a more well-incorporated dough.
- Savory Cottage Cheese Buns: In the mood for savory? Skip out on the sugar and vanilla and sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the buns.
- Add a Filling: While the dough is sticky and you can still work it with floured hands, add any of your favorite jams on the inside. Make sure to seal it perfectly to prevent any leaking.
- Brush the tops. Brush the tops with egg wash to create those bakery-perfect browned tops. Then, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Cooking with Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese isn’t a boring diet food! In fact, it adds a TON of great health and texture benefits to cooking. I am always trying to look for new ways to add it to my food. Try substituting it for yogurt, sour cream or ricotta in some of your favorite recipes. It’s lower in calories, higher in protein and lends a really nice, creamy texture.
Cottage Cheese Recipes
At this point, you probably can see that we absolutely love cottage cheese. Check out these other recipes:
- Cottage Cheese Pancakes – My son’s love cottage cheese pancakes. Drizzle them with a little honey or your favorite jam.
- Spinach Cottage Cheese Lasagna Recipe – Cottage cheese acts as a substitute for ricotta in this recipe.
- The Best Crepes with Cottage Cheese – Watch this baked crepe dish get gobbled up! It’s that delicious and decadent.
- Ziti Pasta – Creamy ziti is made a touch lighter with cottage cheese. That being said, this tastes as indulgent as the full-fat version.
Storing Cottage Cheese Buns
If you have leftover cottage cheese buns (go, you!), here’s how to store them:
- Room Temperature: Keep the cottage cheese buns in a sealed container on the counter. When you’re ready to eat one, reheat them for about 15 seconds in a microwave before serving them.
- Freezing: First, allow your buns to completely cool to room temperature. Pop them into a Ziploc bag and into the freezer. When you’re ready to eat one, thaw at room temperature and microwave for 15 seconds before serving.
Hot Tip: You always want to reheat them for at least a few seconds before serving again because they are soft and delicious that way.
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup cottage cheese (small curd, full fat)
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
- 4 cup flour
- 1 egg (to brush the tops)
- 1/4 cup sugar (to sprinkle to tops)
Instructions
- Combine together cottage cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Blend using a blender, mixer or a food processor.
- In a small bowl, combine baking soda with vinegar and add to the mixture. Continue by adding baking powder and flour.
- Flour the work area well, as the dough will turn out sticky. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces.
- Form round shapes out of each piece, placing them apart on a baking sheet. Brush the tops with egg and sprinkle some sugar.
- Bake buns at 350 °F for 20 minutes until they become golden brown. Let them cool to room temperature before serving. Keep the remaining portion fresh, by sealing them in an airtight container.
Hi Natalya, can I make the dough for these buns the night before and bake in the morning? Thank you so much!
Hi Irina- I haven't tried doing that before so I'm not sure how it would turn out. I don't see why it wouldn't work though! My tip would be to refrigerate the balls of dough (covered) overnight, and then bring to room temp before baking. Good luck!
Can I add yeast to this recipe to make them more chewy? If so what do you recommend?
Hey Ellie, I have not tried adding yeast. I think the whole process would change. You would need to allow for the dough to rise. If you do try it, can you share how it goes? Thank you!
Can you substitute Greek Yogurt for cottage cheese?
Hi, I have never tried using Greek yogurt instead of cottage cheese. I dont think that would actually work in this recipe. Hope you get to try them.
Could these be made with almond flour?
Hi Jeri- personally I haven't tried substituting with almond flour so I can't say how it would turn out, but I did see another commenter mention using 50/50 regular flour and almond flour. They took a bit longer to bake but she was still satisfied with the results. I hope this helps. If you go with just the almond flour route, please let us know how they turn out, it'll be valuable feedback for other readers!
Absolutely delicious and crazy easy. It just needed some salt
Thank you for the feedback, Mo!
Wait no I take it back I see where it said it I was blind sorry
Ah, no worries! It happens to us all. Enjoy!
So you mention baking soda and powder in what you need but then you don’t say where it goes or when, I am I’m the middle of making them and confused
Hi Lily- it's listed in step 2 of the recipe. "In a small bowl, combine baking soda with vinegar and add to the mixture. Continue by adding baking powder and flour." Hope this helps!
Never really browned. Had to bake 29 minutes longer.
Hi Charlotte- I'm sorry to hear they didn't brown. Did you use an egg wash before baking? How did the buns come out otherwise?
So excited to try these tomorrow! My kiddos will be pumped! They love cottage cheese ANYTHING. haha.
Any experience in making them with coconut flour? Id assume the quantity My husband eats low carb and I'd love to throw it in his meal prep I do!
Also side note: I stumbled upon your website randomly so this is just as random 😆 any tips for Russian buttercream? I'm trying it out for the first time tomorrow and hoping it's stable enough for travel the next day not being refrigerated. 😬
Hi Jodi- I love your enthusiasm! 😄 We have quite a few cottage cheese (and farmers cheese) recipes here on the blog, so your kids are in luck, haha! In regards to the coconut flour- no, I haven't tried using any alternative flours so I can't guarantee the results. I did see another commenter mention using 50/50 regular flour and almond flour, and thought they took a bit longer to bake she was still pleased with the outcome. Otherwise, if you try the coconut flour please let us know how the buns come out!
Regarding the russian buttercream- i'm not sure. I hope it comes out and travels well for you though!
Pancakes were super delicious, had them for dinner with maple syrup and greek yogurt. Thank you, will be making them again for sure.
Sounds like a lovely dinner, Giorgia. Thanks for sharing!
So glad I found this recipe! I'm a baker and also counting my macros for fitness. Cottage cheese is high in protein so this is a perfect addition to my meal preps. I also love that you are so responsive to other commenters. I'm looking forward to using this recipe as a base to tweak to fit my needs. Thank you!
Summer, you're welcome! I'm glad you found this recipe! 🙌🏻
Hello, will this recipe work with ricotta instead of cottage cheese? If so, are there any adjustments?
Hello, Luda. Yes, I think you could use ricotta instead! You wouldn't have to modify the recipe in any other way. Enjoy!
Can you freeze these?
Hi Barb - Thanks for reaching out! You can freeze these buns. To do so, allow your buns to completely cool to room temperature. Pop them into a Ziploc bag and into the freezer. When you’re ready to eat one, thaw at room temperature and microwave for 15 seconds before serving. Hope this helps!
What a mistake!! I used my hand mixer because of the directions. It didn’t specify a bread mixer. I hope I didn’t ruin the mixer, as the doe crept up the nozzles. I had to stop, as it smelled but didn’t yet smoke, luckily!
The buns are in the oven, so I’m not sure they’ll be ok. But… a mess!
Hi Sue - I'm sorry you had issues with your hand mixer! I'm not entirely sure what happened, but it sounds like you might have beaten the dough at too high of a speed too fast. I would start slow and then gradually increase the speed as you go. I've used both a hand mixer and a stand mixer and haven't experienced this issue before. I hope this helps!
Can I use farmer cheese instead of cottage? curious because it's even smaller curd than cottage.
Hey Ruthy, you definitely can. Farmer Cheese has less liquid so I would reduce the flour amount slightly. Hope this helps.
Hello! I'm making these on Friday, very excited as I love cottage cheese and bread 😀
For using a stand mixer should I use the paddle or the dough hook?
Many thanks
Roz
Hey Roz, you will most likely be best off with a dough hook. Watch as it goes, it will be easier to decide on the spot. Enjoy
Looks and sounds good . Planning to make these today. Can I use whole wheat flour? Don’t have white flour
Hey Moulikta, yes you can, but whole wheat flour will make them denser.
My mom accidently bought 3 lbs of cottage cheese from Costco! Needless to say I made A LOT of these and they came out great! Do they store well? Thanks for the recipe!
You can freeze them but they are best fresh. Btw, if you still have some more cottage cheese, make our cottage cheese pancakes. They are insanely good.
Wonderful and easy! Left off the egg wash and sugar sprinkle. They were delightful in spite of my forgettable last touch.
Looking forward to going ‘savory’ next time. A seem to always have leftover cottage cheese. Great way to use. Thank you
I'm so glad you enjoyed these buns and that they turned out well! Thank you for commenting your feedback.
Just made this for dinner. I really like them but I feel like maybe I overwork it ,was also very dense
Hey Jennifer, that is possible. I am glad you still enjoyed them.
Love these! I actually made mine egg free using an egg substitute and milk for the egg wash. I had to wet the dough a bit because of the egg substitute with milk but otherwise they are heaven!!!
Dannette, thank you for sharing your tips. I love that this can be useful to others.:)
Let me state clearly, Apple cider vinegar does not take the place of white distilled vinegar!
Thanks for your tips.
In the instructions it says to use a blender or food processor, but in your photos you have the ingredients in a stand mixer bowl. Can you use a stand mixer to prepare this recipe? Thank you.
Hi Suzanne, you definitely can. I also added that to the recipe. Thanks for pointing that out.
Hi, I'm wondering how to prepare the baking sheet?Oil? Parchment?Nothing? Thanks.
Brad
Hi Brad, oil or parchment paper would work great. Enjoy
I was almost about to give up, as I bought cottage cheese with grilled vegetables and thyme. Only when I opened it I realised what it was. I persevered and didn’t use vanilla and cut out sugar. They turned out savoury buns, we sliced them and kids ate them with butter. Thank you for the recipe
Interesting, I love that you created a savory version out of these buns, I'm so glad it worked out, thanks for the feedback!
I used have the recipe and everyone loved it... Guess I'll be making another batch soon lol... Thank You...
Haha yes, I got you hooked on them 🙂 I'm glad you enjoyed them. Thank you for commenting!
Hi Natalya,
I have some cottage cheese that says 4% milk fat minimum - small curd... Can this be used. Also can I use butter instead of egg to brush on the rolls.
Hi Kathryn, yes, you can sue that cottage cheese and butter would work great. Enjoy them!
Can I use egg whites only?
Hey Samantha, I haven't tried making them with just egg whites. I think it should work but I am not sure how much of them you should add.
Can I use a protein flour? Thank you.
Hey Vaselina, I am not sure what that is. I don't know an answer to this question.
I followed the entire recipe and they came out delicious..the only differnt I did was in few rolls I stuffed them kraft cheese 👍 WOW! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Maria, it's good to hear this recipe worked out for you. Interesting idea on the kraft cheese. Thank you for sharing.
I have some in the oven as we speak! I did everything like you said except coating it with egg and sugar... I don’t like tasting the egg. I was wondering if I could freeze some of the dough? Or should I bake them all and then freeze them the way you suggested?
Hey Lyni, see "Storing Cottage Cheese Buns", we have instructions for different ways to store them.