These strawberry & cottage cheese muffins are soft and moist, and made without any sugar. Great for snacking, lunchbox and days out!
It's strawberries season and the kids requested strawberry muffins. If you've checked out my other muffin recipes, you know I love creating guilt-free sweet treats that both the kids and I can enjoy.
For these strawberry muffins, I used dates as a natural sweetener instead of white sugar and added cottage cheese for a boost of protein and nutrition. The result is soft, moist muffins with just the right sweetness and a refreshing burst of flavor from the strawberry pieces.
Jump to:
👩🏻🍳 Why you should try my recipe
- Sugar-free muffins that you and the kids can enjoy guilt-free.
- Suitable for babies, toddlers and kids of all ages.
- Freezable for busy days.
- Easy to pack for lunchboxes.
🥘 Ingredients
To make these sugar-free strawberry muffins, we are going to use whole wheat flour, baking powder, eggs, cottage cheese, butter, dates and strawberries.
- Flour: I'm using whole wheat flour for extra fiber and goodness.
- Cottage cheese: Instead of milk, these strawberry muffins have full-fat cottage cheese in them for extra protein and nutrients.
- Strawberries: I'm using strawberry pieces in the batter and leave some for adding on top.
- Dates: I'm using pitted dates to natural sweeten the muffins. For a sweeter muffin, you could increase the number of dates.
For full quantities and to print the recipe, see the recipe card below.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
So get your ingredients ready and let's get started!
01. In a bowl, I add the pitted dates cut in half and a third cup of hot water. I leave the dates to soak in the hot water and get soft for about 10–15 minutes. This is going to help with blending.
02. While the dates soak, I thoroughly wash the strawberries. I like to fill a bowl with water, add a tablespoon of vinegar, and let them sit before rinsing well with fresh water. Then, I roughly chop the strawberries into small pieces and set them aside.
03. In a blender, I add the soaked dates with the water and the cottage cheese. I blend everything together until it becomes like a thick paste.
04. I empty the content of the blender to a bowl and add the eggs, softened butter and vanilla extract. With a whisk, I combine everything well.
HealthyBitesForKids Product Picks
Great for Mincing, Chopping, Grinding, Blending and Meal Prep.
Buy On Amazon05. Next, it's time to add the dry ingredients. I mix the whole wheat flour and baking powder into the bowl, then use a spatula to gently combine them with the wet ingredients.
06. I add all the strawberry pieces but a quarter cup to the bowl and incorporate them in the batter.
07. Next, I divide the batter evenly into the muffin cases, filling them to the top. This recipe makes about 12 strawberry cottage cheese muffins. To finish, I place a few strawberry pieces on top of each one.
08. I bake the strawberry muffins in a preheated oven, then let them cool on a wire rack for a few minutes—if I can keep my kids from grabbing them right away!
🍽 Serving suggestions
We usually have these strawberry cottage cheese muffins as a snack or for breakfast. The kids love them with a glass of milk or some more fruits on the side.
If you are looking for more sugar-free muffins then make sure to check my peach muffins and my apple muffins, both suitable for babies that follow BLW and older kids.
🧰 Storage
The recipe yields 12 strawberry muffins. We love them when they are still fresh and warm but they are also good on the next day. You could warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds if you like them warm.
The muffins are also freezable for up to 2 months. It's best to freeze them as soon as they cool down in freezable bags or containers.
❓ FAQ
Yes you could use frozen strawberries instead of fresh ones. Chop into smaller bits without thawing them and toss them in flour to avoid sinking to the bottom of the muffin case.
📋 Recipe
Strawberry Cottage Cheese Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 pitted dates
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (295gr)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 big strawberries
Instructions
- Cut the pitted dates in half and place in a bowl with ⅓ cup hot water. Soak for 10 minutes.
- While the dates are soaking in the hot water, wash the strawberries really well. Cut roughly into smaller pieces and set aside.
- In a blender, add the dates with the water and the cottage cheese. Blend together until you have a thick paste.
- In a bowl, add the 3 eggs. Whisk the eggs and then add the dates and cottage cheese paste to the bowl.
- Add the softened butter and mix everything to combine.
- Add the whole wheat flour and baking powder to the bowl, then use a whisk or spatula to gently mix them in with the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the strawberry pieces to the batter leaving aside about ¼ cup to decorate.
- Add the batter to the muffin cases filling them to the top. Add 3-4 strawberry pieces on top of each muffin.
- Bake in a preheated oven to 350℉ / 180℃ for 23-25 minutes.
Video
Notes
- You can use frozen strawberries instead of fresh ones. Just keep them frozen, cut them into pieces, and toss them in a bit of flour before mixing into the batter to help prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
- To increase the sweetness, you could add more dates.
- Freeze them as soon as they cool down if batch prepping.
Nutrition
🥣 More to try
If you liked my strawberry & cottage cheese muffins, you should try some of these recipes too:
Julia Droulia
My kids love these strawberry cottage cheese muffins. We have them for breakfast or as a snack and place some in the freezer for busy days. If you try them and like them as much as we do, leave me a rating here!