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These cottage cheese cookies are lightly sweet, crisp and crumbly. They are just right with a piping hot cup of tea (or coffee). They are also excellent with milk.
I took them to my sisters house tonight and we spread raspberry honey creme
I love discovering new blogs. I especially love finding European-type blogs because it’s very likely that we have foods in common. Last week, I came across One Turkmen Kitchen and that is where I found the original cottage cheese cookies recipe.
My only changes: I converted everything to US measurements and added lemon zest (because I have like a gazillion lemons from our trip to California).
Ingredients for Cottage Cheese Cookies:
2 sticks or 16 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
8 oz small-curd cottage cheese
zest of 1 lemon
2 1/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour *measured correctly
1/4 tsp baking powder
5 Tbsp granulated sugar
How to Make Cottage Cheese Cookies:
Preheat your Oven to 350˚F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together your softened butter, 8 oz small-curd cottage cheese and the zest of one lemon. Mix on Medium/high speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
2. Sift in the 2 1/4 cups flour and 1/4 tsp baking powder (or whisk together flour and baking powder instead of sifting) and knead it together with your dough hook or by hand until your dough is soft and not sticking to your fingers. If you find it is still sticking to your fingers, add another Tbsp of flour.
3. Roll the dough into a ball and then roll it out on a smooth, non-stick surface until it is 1/4″ thick.
4. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out your cookies, cutting as many as you can out of your dough.
5. Pour your sugar into a flat plate. Dip one side of your cookie into the sugar and gently pat it down to coat generously with sugar. Fold it in half with the sugar on the inside. Dip one of the folded sides of your cookie in the sugar again and fold it in half with the sugar on the inside. When you fold, the sugar will always be on the inside.
If you accidentally dip both sides of your cookie in sugar (I did a couple times) don’t panic, it will still be edible. Place the finished cookies on the baking sheet, fairly close together, since they don’t expand very much. Make a ball of dough out of the remaining scraps and roll it out again and again until you’ve used up all of your dough.
6. Bake at 350˚F for 32-35 minutes or until the edges and tops are golden brown.
Are you making any any new cookies for the holidays?
Cottage Cheese Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 sticks or 16 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz small-curd cottage cheese
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 5 Tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your Oven to 350˚F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together your softened butter, 8 oz small-curd cottage cheese and the zest of one lemon. Mix on Medium/high speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
- Sift in the flour and baking powder (or whisk together flour and baking powder instead of sifting) and knead it together with your dough hook or by hand until your dough is soft and not sticking to your fingers. If you find it is still sticking to your fingers, add another Tbsp of flour.
- Roll the dough into a ball and then roll it out on a smooth, non-stick surface until it is 1/4" thick. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out your cookies, cutting as many as you can out of your dough.
- Pour your sugar into a flat plate. Dip one side of your cookie into the sugar and gently pat it down to coat generously with sugar. Fold it in half with the sugar on the inside. Dip one of the folded sides of your cookie in the sugar again and fold it in half with the sugar on the inside. When you fold, the sugar will always be on the inside. If you accidentally dip both sides of your cookie in sugar (I did a couple times) don't panic, it will still be edible. Place the finished cookies on the baking sheet, fairly close together, since they don't expand very much. Make a ball of dough out of the remaining scraps and roll it out again and again until you've used up all of your dough.
- Bake at 350˚F for 32-35 minutes or until the edges and tops are golden brown.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Thank you for recipe. I bake them one hour ago and I ate 10 with cold milk. Yami
It’s hard to stop once you start, especially with cold milk :).
Thank you Natasha for the recipe. I did your cookies and I ate 15 with cold milk. They are so good
love the pictures 🙂 brings memories of childhood 🙂 great job Natasha 🙂
Thank you Katie 🙂 That’s awesome that these bring back memories for ya 🙂
I remember those cookies from childhood. Now I’m trying to remember what shape did my mom make them. I think triangles too. Looking good.;)
Thank you! What did you call them growing up?
Um…Don’t remember. Tvorozhnoe pechen’e?:) What did you call them, guys?
You can add cinnamon in the sugar, I wonder if that would be yummy too 🙂
That’s a good tip, thank you for sharing. I would like to try that next time I’ll make those cookies.
I bet it would be!
I have never had cookies made with cottage cheese. these look delish. i’d love to try them!
Let me know how they turn out when you make them :).
Oh, I love these! I think we used to call them “sochniki”. My mom used to make these and then we would take them to school as snacks. It’s always been on my to-do list to make them!
I took them over to my sister’s house and they were all gone shortly :).
I think the higher temperature does make them rise quicker..they are crumbly and at the same time flaky..just heavenly!
Hi Natasha,
Cookies look awesome. I would try this soon. I have another question to you. I made kiev cake one time and the meriung became soft when I served. I assembled the cake a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator. Can you tell me, what should I do to keep the meriung crunchy.
Did you make sure not to get the fruit spread on the meringue? I think if you want it to sit for awhile, it’s best to use a buttercream frosting. I’ll have to update the recipe soon with better pictures and I want to test it with a new frosting. Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your post this afternoon, because I was munching on these cookies. I made a gigantic batch this weekend:). We’ve been making these cookies in our family ever since I was a little girl, although we make them with farmer’s cheese instead of cottage cheese. They are one of my favorite cookies – so simple to prepare but are soft, and remind me slightly of puff pastry. I just love them. Great pics!
I didn’t know they were popular with Russian/Ukrainian folks too! These are more crumbly. Now I really want to try yours because I have a whole bowl of tvorog in the fridge right now! I work for the next couple of days though so I have to wait 🙁 Anyway, are they called “ducks feet” cookies?
These are SO good…dangerous because you can easily eat like 10!!
Is that what happened when I left them at your house? Did you finish up the jar of raspberry honey creme?
Hi Natasha, love your blog 🙂 thank you for sharing all these wonderful recipes! Did you use American version of cottage cheese or russian (tvorog)? Thank you!
I used the American version; plain cottage cheese. I wonder how it would taste with tvorog. I actually have some in the fridge!!
I am going to try with tvorog tomorrow I will let you know the outcome 🙂
Please do let me know!! 🙂 Please post a picture somewhere so I can see how they turned out.
My version of these cookies…so delicious!
1 cup of farmers cheese
1 stick of cold shredded butter (cold butter makes the pastry flakier)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tea sp vanilla
mix all together then add
1/2 tea sp baking soda mixed with 1 table sp vinegar
then add 3/4 cup flour
dough will be sticky (you can add more flour if you want to roll out dough and make circles with cookie cuter)
take about 2 table spoons of dough and dip into flour so it won’t be sticky, make a circle with your hands dip into sugar fold in half dip into sugar fold in half again and dip top into sugar, put on parchment paper on baking sheet bake at 375 degrees for about 20-23 min till golden
I’ll have to try your version Marina! I wonder if the higher heat makes them flakier too?
If you want them flaky, instead of creaming the butter, try cutting it into the flour 🙂
I love the pictures, just so so homey looking 🙂
Thank you for the tip Marina, I should try that next time :).
These cookies have being my family’s favorite for years! The only difference in my way of making them is that I also dip the top of the cookie into the bowl of sugar. It makes a nice crisp top and looks glossy too. Thanks, Natasha, for posting these cookies, now my 16 year old daughter will have an old time favorite recipe with your pictures for her cook book 🙂
You are welcome Natasha, I should try your version as well :).
Oh, and I forgot to mention I use Farmers cheese instead of cottage. Homemade works best, but store bought is good too.
Your recipes are endlessly delicious !!! You know what I’m talking about 😉
Thank you Karolina :).
I love cookies! These look similiar to Olga’s “geese feet” cookies. I plan to try both of your recipes sometime in the future and see how they differ from each other. Also, do you happen to have a Sharlotka recipe?
Wow, I guess this is a more common cookie than I thought! Hers does look delicious. I would love to hear the outcome of your testing :). Currently don’t have a Sharlotka recipe.
I like this recipe. Thanks Natasha and by the way every recipe I try from your site, turns out always yummy.
That’s music to my ears 🙂 well, technically my eyes since I’m reading it. Oh nevermind. Thank you! It makes me very happy 🙂
Oooooo, these look delicious. I’ll be making them soon. Thanks Natasha!
You’re welcome! I hope you love ’em.
This is so awesome! I would never be brave enough to attempt a baking recipe in metric because everything needs to be converted so exactly, but I will certainly try these!
And the conversions aren’t exact; they are a little weird and hard to convert to the standard things that we use.
metric recipes are not very difficult if you take the time to practice a few times. Most of the best recipes that I’ve ever made are scaled by weight instead of volume. They always turn out exactly right and it is a revelation once you start baking with a scale instead of measuring cups. It only takes a few minutes more to prepare your ingredients, but the result is absolutely worth it in the end. You’ll never be intimidated by your recipe again! Good luck!
Last time I made theses I was probably 10 or 11. 🙂 They’ve been on my “recipes to re-visit” list for ages but I’d lost the original recipe! Pinning this one! 🙂
Thanks for pinning! 🙂
These cookies are so sweet looking! Cottage cheese would make for a beautifully light, crumbly cookie, I’m sure.
They were nice and crumbly and borderline flaky. This was the first time I put cottage cheese in cookies and was pleasantly surprised 🙂