Strawberry Cottage Cheese Bagels
Published 7/13/2025
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These strawberry cottage cheese bagels are so chewy and delicious! Make them super easily in the air fryer or oven with no kneading or rise time required. Packed with 10g of protein per bagel thanks to blended cottage cheese — I hope you love these as much as I do!
I love when social media trends actually SLAY — like the 2-ingredient bagels that I recreated into our air fryer protein bagels! I’ve been making them on repeat and the team even created more variations like these pumpkin bagel bites. But today, I’m so excited to share these strawberry bagels! My toddlers love ’em, and I love knowing they’re made with protein-packed simple ingredients and a yummy strawberry flavor (and pink color to boot!).
The gist of this recipe is just like my OG protein bagels — you only need a few ingredients to make yummy strawberry bagels with 10g protein per bagel. There is no rising or boiling involved, just kneading and air frying or baking!
recipe highlights ⤵️
It’s a healthy breakfast or snack option: I’m always looking to add a little more protein to my mornings, and these bagels achieve that with 10g protein per bagel.
They’re PINK! You can thank these freeze-dried strawberries for the natural pink color of these bagels, which are obviously a hit with my toddlers 😋
Make ’em in the air fryer or oven: I’ve made these in both the air fryer and the oven, and both work great! If you’re making a larger batch, the oven is the way to go.
Featured Ingredients
- Cottage cheese: my protein powerhouse! This recipe uses blended cottage cheese in the bagel dough. It’s creamy, delicious, and obviously, protein-rich.
- Freeze-dried strawberries: that’s what gives these bagels their gorgeous PINK color! I also added some fresh strawberry slices to the cream cheese which adds great color, too 🌈. You’ll buy sliced freeze-dried strawberries and then blend them into a powder in either a (clean) coffee grinder or small food processor.
- Brown sugar: the only sweetener used in these bagels is brown sugar! They are on the sweeter side (how strawberry bagels should be IMO), so if you want a less sweet bagel, feel free to reduce the brown sugar.
Find the list of full ingredients in the recipe card below.
try it!
Air Fryer Protein Bagels
Want to Make These In the Oven?
Great! I tested these in the oven as well, and they turned out perfectly. This is definitely the move if you want to make a large batch of bagels at one time.
Oven instructions: preheat the oven to 400℉, follow steps 2 through 5 in the recipe card, and bake for 12 minutes.
Don’t Have Freeze-Dried Strawberries?
No problem! I tested this recipe with both fresh and frozen strawberries, and both also worked well. Replace the freeze-dried strawberries with 1 cup or diced fresh or frozen strawberries.
How long do cottage cheese bagels last?
These bagels are best stored in the fridge, and will typically last for up to 2 days. Just make sure to let them cool completely before transferring them into an airtight container and refrigerating. Wait to cut them until right before you’re ready to enjoy.
How to Freeze
These freeze and reheat REALLY well. Let them cool completely. Then, place in an airtight container or wrap tightly in aluminum foil freeze for up to 3 months.
How to reheat: air fry at 400ºF for 1-2 minutes.
Strawberry Cottage Cheese Bagels Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup blended cottage cheese
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberry powder
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 350℉.
- Place the blended cottage cheese, flour, baking powder, sea salt, freeze-dried strawberry powder, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Using a silicone or wooden spoon, stir until combined. Using your hands, press together until a dough ball has formed.
- Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Knead until smooth. You may need to sprinkle flour on the tops and bottoms so that it is not super sticky.
- Divide the ball into 4 equal pieces. Roll into a ball and lightly flatten. Use the end of a rounded spoon or your finger to poke a hole in the center of the flattened dough. Stretch the center so the whole does not close while air frying.
- Brush the tops and bottoms of each bagel with egg wash.
- Line the air fryer basket with parchment paper and air fry the bagels for 6 minutes, flip and air fry for 6 more minutes. You may need to do this in two batches.
- Remove from the air fryer and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve with your favorite bagel toppings.
Tips & Notes
- Oven instructions: Preheat the oven to 400℉, follow steps 2 through 5, and bake for 12 minutes.
- I also tested this recipe with fresh and frozen strawberries, and both work. Replace the freeze-dried strawberries with 1 cup diced fresh or frozen strawberries.
- You can make this recipe less sweet by using less brown sugar.
- To make freeze-dried strawberry powder we grind them up in a clean coffee grinder or small food processor.
- I also tested this recipe using 1 cup of skyr yogurt in place of the blended cottage cheese, and it worked great.
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 Erin from The Wooden Skillet.
