The recipe is an old standard from my childhood and with the delicate lemon flavoring, they would make a great brunch dish. I usually leave out the lemon peel if I'm making them for dinner. My family isn't foolish about cottage cheese, so I keep mum when I make these muffins and just serve them with a smile. You know what they say...
"Ignorance is bliss where knowledge is folly."
I have to be pretty sneaky these days, since my food prep area is now out in the open. I get the butter and sugar creamed, swoop into the fridge for the cottage cheese, toss it in and dispose of the incriminating empty carton before anyone strolls by and catches me in the act.
Cottage Cheese Muffins
Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup cream-style cottage cheese*
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional)
1 egg
1 3/4 cup biscuit mix (Bisquick or other brand)
1/2 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 regular-size muffin tins (18 if you want smaller, tea-size muffins)
Cream together butter and sugar. Add cottage cheese and lemon peel. Add egg; beat well. Stir in biscuit mix just until moistened. Divide among muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don't overbake.
*I have two copies of this recipe; one calls for 1/2 cup and the other specifies a full cup of cottage cheese. I use somewhere in between. I haven't seen cream-style cottage cheese for a long while, but ricotta makes a good substitute if you don't like the texture of the curds in the baked muffins. I purchase small curd lowfat cottage cheese to make lasagna (we prefer it to ricotta), and any remaining cottage cheese typically winds up in a batch of these muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Happy eating,
