Blackberry Cheesecake Cottage Cheese Ice Cream
Published 5/6/2023 • Updated 3/17/2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Cottage Cheese Ice Cream is a viral dessert here to stay. Try this blackberry cheesecake variation. It tastes just like a cheesecake filling churned into ice cream and 18g protein/serving!
High-Protein Cottage Cheese Ice Cream
If you’ve been anywhere on the internet lately, I’m sure you’ve heard of the viral cottage cheese ice cream.
I know what you’re thinking, this sounds a little bit, odd, but hear us out. It’s actually quite spectacular!
Cottage cheese ice cream is made by blending cottage cheese and a sweetener such as honey or maple syrup and then freezing it until it reaches ice cream consistency. It truly tastes like a rich cheesecake ice cream and if you flavor it properly, you’ll never miss ice cream again!
Oh, and, did we mention that cottage cheese ice cream has 18g protein/serving?!
Today, we’re sharing our very own high-protein ice cream recipe made with cottage cheese, blackberries, honey, and graham crackers for a blackberry cheesecake cottage cheese ice cream variation.
Why you’ll love it!
18g protein/serving
Minimal ingredients
Tastes just like cheesecake!
What You Need for Cottage Cheese Ice Cream
- Cottage cheese: the star ingredient of cottage cheese ice cream is obviously cottage cheese. We recommend a full-fat cottage cheese such as 4%.
- Honey: we’re using honey as our sweetener, but you can also use maple syrup, agave, or cane sugar.
- Blackberries: since we made a blackberry cheesecake flavor, you need fresh blackberries.
- Graham crackers: it wouldn’t be a cheesecake without graham cracker crumbs, would it?!
What kind of cottage cheese should I use?
We recommend using full-fat cottage cheese (~4%) for this recipe for a few reasons.
- Texture: full-fat cottage cheese has less water/moisture, making the texture more like ice cream and less like an icicle.
- Taste: full-fat cottage cheese will give this a true cheesecake taste.
Simple Instructions
- Blend: place cottage cheese, honey, and vanilla in a high-speed food processor. Process on high until creamy. This should take around 3-5 minutes.
- Flavor: add 1 cup of blackberries and pulse to break them up.
- Freeze: transfer the ice cream into a bread pan and then sprinkle on the remaining berries. Crush a few graham crackers on top and cover. Freeze for at least 4-6 hours or over night.
- Serve: remove the ice cream from the freezer. For the frozen yogurt, snip off the corner of the plastic bag, and pipe the frozen yogurt into a cup or cone. Yum! For the ice cream, let it thaw for around 15 minutes and then scoop the ice cream into a bowl.
Freeze time: There is a sweet spot in freezing this ice cream and it’s right around 6 hours. If you freeze it too long, it will be as hard as a brick and need to thaw a bit before eating. But, if you freeze it just long enough, it will have the perfect creamy consistency!
Latest Desserts
Top Tips
- Sweetness: start with 1/4 cup honey and add more, as desired.
- Type of cottage cheese: We suggest using full-fat cottage cheese instead of low-fat cottage cheese. It’s not only richer and more cheesecake-like, but has less liquid, making the texture more like ice cream/custard.
- Berries: The blackberries can be replaced with any type of berry.
- Sweetener subs: Agave syrup or maple syrup can be used in place of honey.
- Freeze time: The time it takes for the mixture to firm up will vary depending on the freezer.
Variations
Instead of blackberries and graham crackers, use:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: add 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips.
Lemon Blueberry: use 1 cup + 1/3 cup blueberries, plus the zest from 1 lemon.
Storage
Store cottage cheese ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months
Blackberry Cheesecake Cottage Cheese Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 22 oz. full-fat cottage cheese, we used 4%
- ¼ – 1/3 cup honey*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + ⅓ cup fresh blackberries, separated
- 3 graham cracker sheets, separated
- Optional: ½ teaspoon flakey salt
Instructions
- Add the cottage cheese, honey, and vanilla extract to a high-speed food processor. Process on high until thick and creamy, between 3-5 minutes.
- Next, add 1 cup of blackberries to the food processor and pulse until the blackberries are just broken up and combined. The cottage cheese will turn a slight purple color.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl or a loaf pan. Crumble two of the graham crackers on top and fold them into the mixture until combined.
- Top with the remaining blackberries and crumble one last graham cracker over the top. Option to top with salt.
- Cover and place in the freezer for at least 4-6 hours or overnight.*
- Serve in a dish or on an ice cream cone.
Tips & Notes
- Honey- start with 1/4 cup honey and add more, as desired.
- We suggest using full-fat cottage cheese instead of low-fat cottage cheese. It’s not only richer and more cheesecake-like, but has less liquid, making the texture more like ice cream/custard.
- The blackberries can be replaced with any type of berry.
- Agave syrup or maple syrup can be used in place of honey.
- The time it takes for the mixture to firm up will vary depending on the freezer.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Don’t forget to tag your posts on social media with the hashtag #fitfoodiefinds, we’d love to see what you’re up to!
Photography: photos taken in this post are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.
Can you add greek yogurt instead of cottage cheese? Or half and half?
What is the serving size?
Could this be made with frozen berries? That’s what they are going to be using fresh.
We recommend using fresh berries for this ice cream! When we tested it with frozen berries, it yielded a more “icy” ice cream because of the retained moisture in the frozen berries.
Turned out great, but I think I’d add more berries next time – or pineapple. Would for sure make again!