Cottage Cheese Ice Cream: Tasty Trend or Dessert Disaster?

Just in case you haven't noticed, cottage cheese is making a comeback. But this isn't your grandma's bowl of cottage cheese mixed with canned pineapple; there's a whole social media newsfeed full of viral recipes that are cashing in on the demand for high-protein snacks and meals. There are cottage cheese pancakes, breads and egg bites, among others. With 14 grams per half-cup, the curd-forward dairy staple is an easy way to pack in the muscle-building protein and these recipes are adding the flavor to an otherwise moderately bland scoop of sustenance. Now, unlike many people, I'm unbothered by the texture of cottage cheese and legitimately enjoy its versatility as a protein source. I can eat it on a garden salad or mixed with a bowl of fresh fruit and be perfectly happy. Taking it to the next level as an ingredient is an intriguing concept, though, so I recently gave one of these cottage cheese trends a shot: ice cream. Logically, it makes sense, right? They're both dairy products and creamy so the concept should work. Because I'm fond of sticking to recipes with high reviews, I used the one I found online at feelgoodfoodie.net. Truthfully, it's a super-simple recipe: The base is simply a 15-ounce container of cottage cheese blended with 1/4 cup of sweetener, like honey or maple syrup. Agave would probably work just as well, or an artificial sweetener to make it a sugar-free dessert might be worth experimentation. The experts do recommend using a full-fat cottage cheese for its creaminess level, though. Like with typical ice cream, it's the mix-ins that make the recipe fun and customizable, but for my initial run I stuck to a few drops of vanilla extract. Blend until smooth and then fold in your extras of choice, such as strawberries, peanut butter and chocolate chips, or any of your favorites. Check its sweetness level after blending and adjust as necessary. It's likely to need adjusting, but that seems to vary and might be dependent upon the brand of cottage cheese being used, its level of saltiness and personal preference. Freeze in an airtight container for four hours, mixing every half-hour or so for the first 90 minutes to distribute the liquid evenly. When it's completely frozen it will be quite hard and should be allowed to thaw on the counter for 10 or more minutes before scooping. We found the end result to be a tasty bite, but certainly not an identical copycat of ice cream. It was a tad bit icier in consistency than ice cream (even with the stirring) and had a texture that was perhaps closer to a dairy-free sorbet. The website gave a suggestion to try eating it when completely chilled but had not yet frozen through. Eating it earlier in the freezing process allows the cottage cheese ice cream to stay at a creamy consistency, making it more like a soft-serve ice cream than a hard-serve. The flavor was good, and we found that with the added vanilla it had a taste that was similar to cheesecake, not overly sweet and somewhat tangy, which we liked. I drizzled mine with chocolate syrup and my son topped his with crumbled graham crackers and diced strawberries. Perhaps the perceived tang was due to the low-sugar content combined with the vanilla and the flavor would probably be much different with more sweetener added. I'm sure the flavor also changes drastically depending on the mix-ins of choice. Was it rich and decadent? Not really. But it definitely wasn't a dessert disaster for us either. Overall, it was an enjoyable and fairly healthy snack that gave most of the summertime vibes we were looking for, making cottage cheese ice cream a protein-packed frozen treat. I just may try the pancakes next.