High Protein Cottage Cheese Soft Pretzels - the most delicious high protein pretzel recipe. You CAN NOT tell these are healthy or made with cottage cheese at all. My skeptical fiance was a big fan of these. Each pretzel is less than 400 calories and has 18 grams of protein so that is a win in my book.
I love cottage cheese. For more yummy cottage cheese recipes try my cottage cheese burger buns or my cottage cheese pizza rolls.
Why you'll love this recipe
It is easy make and ready in less than 35 minutes.
Thanks to the cottage cheese these rolls are higher in protein than your average pizza roll.
They are made without any sketchy ingredients unlike
Ingredients for healthy soft pretzels without yeast
- cottage cheese
- salt
- baking powder
- flour
- butter
- egg
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
- cottage cheese - greek yogurt is a good substitute. A thick vegan yogurt such as coconut yogurt would also work.
- all purpose flour - I do think an all purpose gluten free flour would work however it may alter the texture of the pretzels and make them more dense. Please do not sub any other type of flour as it will ruin the recipe.
Equipment
You need a food processor for this recipe.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1
Blend cottage cheese.
Step 2
Knead together cottage cheese with flour, salt and baking powder.
Step 4
Roll up dough into pretzels, coat with egg and salt and then bake.
Step 4
Serve and enjoy.
Storage instructions
You can store the buns in your fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days or in your freezer for months.
Recipe Pro-Tips
A good quality cottage cheese will make this recipe. I always recommend using grass fed dairy as it has more nutrients and tastes a lot better. My favorite brands are Kalona or Good Culture.
Recipe FAQS
Cottage cheese is rich in protein and healthy fats. It also has vitamins like calcium and gut healthy probiotics.
Yes, you could use a thick vegan yogurt like coconut. You would have to forgo the egg wash which would make the pretzels less crisp and brown but they would still be tasty.
Cottage cheese has a lumpy texture and more salt than greek yogurt. Cottage cheese is also usually costs less than greek yogurt.
Yes, air fry them at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Other high protein recipes
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High Protein Cottage Cheese Soft Pretzels
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 egg** - beaten for an egg wash
- flaky salt to taste I used about 1 teaspoon
- 1-2 tablespoons melted butter optional but recommended
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Add cottage cheese to a food processor and blend until smooth. You can use a blender for this but it is much easier to blend it up in a food processor.
- Add flour, salt and baking powder to a bowl and mix together. Pour in cottage cheese and mix again. Knead with your hands until everything is fully combined.
- Wash your hands so they aren't sticky and add a little flour to a cutting board. Roll out the dough into a long rope about 12 inches long. Cut the rope in half.
- Shape each rope into a U, cross the ends over each other, and press them down at the base of the U to form a pretzel shape.
- Add pretzels to a baking sheet lined with silicone or parchment paper. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle over salt. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until pretzels are golden brown.
- Brush pretzels with butter. Serve with mustard, your favorite dipping sauce, or enjoy as is.
MM says
I used 130g fresh milled soft white wheatberries, 4% cottage cheese, salt, and baking powder. I did need a little water (couple of tablespoons) to get the dough to come together. I baked them in the air fryer for 8min at 375. They came out delicous! Thanks for giving me a basic recipe to start with. I love the simplicity. It came together very fast!
Kristi says
Thank you so much MM! I'm glad you liked the recipe
Max Jaros says
Baffled, but I'll be concise. More of a doughy texture than normal pretzel, extremely good with Gruyere cheese on top, pre-baked dough will look super tiny but it ~3x+ I'd say after cooking, 2 pretzels made are good enough for 1 person, super sticky so be ready to powder the counter with flour just enough to roll this out but not too much extra flour, had to wait ~30 w/o egg wash and wasn't pretzel brown but that brown that indicates cooked, I'd give it a 2 cottage cheese pretzels:3 normal home-made pretzels volume ratio, works with non-fat cottage cheese, would 100% make again and no oil is necessary, water works for the temporary anti-stick tactic.
Kristi says
Thanks Max!
Bubbe57 says
Very successful! I would recommend making the ropes pretty thin and fashioning the pretzels so they look very scrawny because mine rose and puffed up (yay), so kind of lost the pretzel shape. I doubled the recipe and I used King Arthur keto flour which greatly reduced total carbs and boosted protein. I also used a “bullet” type blender and blended the cottage cheese to a fair thee well to make a silky smooth pourable mixture. I did not need to flour my bread board very much at all. Dough was easy to handle. I used the dough hook in my stand mixer which kneaded it for me. I used flaky sea salt.
Kristi says
Glad to hear that the keto flour worked!
LB says
I air fry these at 375 for eight minutes they come out perfect. My kids like cinnamon and sugar. So when it’s done, I bought them and roll and cinnamon sugar.
Kristi says
Yumm I need to try the cinnamon sugar version!
Deborah Bloom says
Have you ever tried this with almond flour? Just curious! Yours look delicious!
Kristi says
I haven't but I wouldn't suggest it. Almond flour is too oily and I don't think the recipe would work with it. Thank you!
Andrea says
I want to make these pretzels but instead of regular flour, can I use almond or some other non Guten flour instead?
Kristi says
You could use GF all purpose flour but I wouldn't suggest almond flour as it is not starchy enough.
karen says
These are so delicious! Taste just like "real" soft pretzels.