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.
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 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.
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.
I tried them today, but without the sugar and vinegar. Instead of vinegar I used lime juice as suggested. My buns came out puffy and soft, and I used target's market pantry all purpose flour. Also I used the Good Culture low fat classic cottage cheese, and they were perfect. What I missed though was salt, so if you opt for a non sweet variety, I'd suggest to add some salt to the dough. Otherwise I love them and I will definitely use the recipe for game night home made burger buns or sliders!!! Love it!
Hey Jane, typically my cheese is a bit salty so it adds a savory factor. I am so happy that you still enjoyed them and thank you for such detailed feedback! Thank you!
Very tasty!
Mary, so glad you liked them.
Can you freeze them well?
Yes, just keep them in a ziplock. Allow them to thaw in a room temperature. Enjoy
I am very disappointed I followed the recipe and they are very very dense . No fluffy almost like brick 😥.
Had the same problem. Solution???
What brand of flour did you use?
Can we make it without egg?
They wouldn’t hold up well with our egg. But you can try.
any one tried making theses with a gluten free flour ? cup 4 cup or something similar?
Hey Helen, We haven't but I think recipes should work because it worked great with almond flour for us.
I tried this recipe with 3 eggs and 3 cups flour. I am in South Africa, I used cake flour and cottage cheese Woolworths brand. It was a hit hubby and kids really liked it.
Hey, I am so happy that it turned out great for you. Thank you for sharing!
Oh wow, these are fantastic!! I can't wait to try this recipe!!
Thank you Katerina.
I can't believe I have never heard of these before! They were so easy to make and absolutely delicious!
Jen, yes, they are so good. Glad you got to try them.
I loved how puffy and soft these turned out! So good!
Thank you Suzy, so happy to hear this!
Thank you!
You are welcome, anytime! 🙂
I added blueberries and a bit more sugar to make a sweet muffin/bun. Ah-Amazing!
Hey Jess, that actually sounds so good! I will try it next time, thanks for sharing.
Hi, there! I tried this tonight but it turned out like scones. A little crispy on the outside but soft and tender in the inside. And it tastes good, not to sweet! I was just wondering if I did it right, or was it supposed to be soft and fluffy like a dinner roll? Thanks!
Hey Shanica, they wouldn't be like dinner rolls because they are not made with yeast dough. They should still be pretty soft. Maybe they were baked for a bit too long. I hope you still loved them!
All I have is fat free cottage cheese, can you use this or does it have to be full fat and why?
Hey Anastasia, the consistency of the dough will change. I tested and it works best with full fat cottage cheese.
I made these with my mixer (I saw in the comments that it should work) which was the only thing I did different in the recipe. Followed step by step and it turned out dense like some of the other comments state. It was still okay, kind of tasted like muffin bread and we ate it with butter and raspberry jam. Not sure why they wouldn't fluff up like yours. I may attempt this again and use a food processor this time to see if that might have affected it. Also, I'm thinking it may be the flour brand? Your picture in step #3, is that the consistency after you have already added the flour in? My dough was sticky but maybe if i added less flour it would have fluffed up?
Any insight would be helpful! Thanks in advance!
Hey Olesya, I made them again this week after a few comments. I used a blender and a few things will affect the outcome. You got to use full-fat cottage cheese, small curd. Another thing is the brad of flour, Bobs Red Mill or Canadian brand would work great in this recipe. I plan to add a few more photos to the recipe.
Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to the updated recipe. ☺️ I love all of your bread/pirozhki/dough recipes; they turn out perfect every time, which I why it came as a surprise when these didn't turn out. I'll definitely try it in the blender next time. ☺️
Olesya, the dough is definitely not as fluffy as the yeah dough would be. But they did come out nice for us.
I was just this morning wondering what I could make to use up a bunch of cottage cheese I have in the fridge, and was thrilled that this popped up on my screen before 8 even began searching for recipes! Kismet!:). Anyway, can’t wait to try this recipe, but wondering if you’ve ever made them without sugar (so a savory variety)? Would leaving out sugar affect the recipe? Thank you so much!
Hey Suersday, I am glad you found this recipe at a perfect time. The sugar wouldn't affect the overall recipe, you can skip out on the sugar.
Okay am I missing something there is 2 listings of sugar up in the top and the last item.
Hey Demii, if you look at step 5, you will notice that we use sugar to sprinkle to tops of the buns too. 🙂
Hello, I want to make your recipe but I do not have vinegar, can I substitute it or remove it from the recipe? and can I substitute milk for almond or soy milk? Thanks
Hey Yolanda, I have never baked them with almond or soy milk so I cant make a recommendation. Vinegar can be replaced with lemon juice. Enjoy!
I cut the recipe in half because I just want to try it out. I used half flour and half almond flour instead. The dough is super sticky and I have problem rolling it into a dough too. Finally I just spooned out small portion and roll it on a flour surface to form a ball. That worked. I need to increase the baking time until I inserted a knife and it came out clean. The bun is delicious and have a nice texture. I keep it in an air tight container. It is still the same texture and yummy like coming out from the oven the next day. Thank you for the recipe.
Hey Loretta, thanks for sharing your tip with almond flour. The flour would definitely change the texture of the dough but I am glad they still came out great. Enjoy!
My dough definitely was sticky, but sticky was understatement. It was running, you can’t hold up the dough to make a ball because the dough literally run out of your fingers. I ended up adding another cup of flour to it and it was still so sticky that I can’t roll it into a ball. I was frustrated bc of wasting all the eggs and cheese..... anyone who tried this and have the same problem?? How did you all successful baking this?
Hey Tin, what brand of flour and brand of cottage cheese did you use?
I used Friendly Farm cottage cheese. I don’t remember which flour
Sometimes the cottage cheese has a lot more liquid than other brands. I am not familiar with this brand.
Thank you for the fantastic recipe! I was looking for a way to use up a brand of cottage cheese my family wasn’t crazy about. This fit the bill! I used cake flour as it was what I had on hand. These were a huge hit!!! Everyone loves them! Thank you so so much!!
Hey Jamie, I am so happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing about the cake flour, this will be useful for others.
I just tried your recipe. I used a blender to mix the ingredients. The dough was super sticky and 1/4 cup flour wasn't enough at the end as I couldn't roll into balls. I cooked them for the required time but had to cook them an extra 15 minutes as the inside was still uncooked. They were ok hot but now they are very hard.
Hey Linda, the dough does come out sticky. I would recommend to flour the working surface. 12 minutes of cooking time was enough for me because my buns were pretty small. I am sorry that the recipe didn't turn out perfectly for you.
Is it ok if I just use baking soda instead of baking powder?
I haven't tested it with baking soda but I believe it should work. The only thing is you will need to add much less.
These rolls are perfect!!! I am no good at baking, but these rolls are so easy to make and they turn out great! I follow the recipe, and I just add 3 cups of flour instead of 4. Thank you for sharing this deliciousness!
I add 5 c of flour and the dough was still too sticky to roll. How did you add 3 c and it’s not liquid? My was almost a liquid with 4 c.
Luciana, thank you for sharing your feedback! It means the world to me that you loved them!
I wanted to like these and maybe they will taste better tomorrow but right now I don't care for them. Mine turned out heavy and dense and the vanilla flavor just didn't seem right in bread. I wouldn't make them again