Cottage Cheese Is The Secret To Higher-Protein Banana Pudding

Are you struggling to hit your daily protein intake? Let me tell you, you sure as heck aren't alone. Sure, you can stock up on the best high-protein bars or add protein powder to oatmeal to get in some extra grams along with your daily fiber (which is also super important for your overall health), but sometimes, you want something a little more natural. In this case, why don't you take some banana pudding and use cottage cheese to make it a tasty, high-protein snack to keep coming back to?

Making a good banana pudding really only takes a few minutes out of your day. If you're feeling particularly burned out and low on time and energy, you can always buy some Jell-O banana cream instant pudding and add your cottage cheese to it directly. But if you want to whip up a batch totally from scratch, you just need ripe bananas, some sweetener such as maple syrup or honey, and your favorite cottage cheese.

The most important step when making your cottage cheese pudding is mastering the texture by dumping it into a blender or food processor and blending it until smooth. This takes the signature lumps right out of the cottage cheese, which just aren't a welcome texture for most when eating pudding. It also aerates the cottage cheese, making it more whipped, light, and fluffy. As far as puddings go, those textural combos can't be beat. You can also add your bananas in with the cottage cheese if you don't want any lumps at all, though you should put a few fresh banana slices on top as a garnish to break up the textural monotony a bit.

Next, let's talk about dressing this bad boy up. Cottage cheese, sweetener, and bananas are the only things you definitely need, but you can really go all out with other mix-ins or toppings. Chocolate chips make for a little kick of decadence and can take this to the next level, dessert-wise, or add cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to bring about a new depth of flavor and richness, evoking the warm, spiced flavors of autumnal food. Candied nuts provide excellent textural contrast and vitamins and nutrients, including manganese and vitamin E. If you really want to splurge, you could even add a caramel swirl. The options are endless and entirely in your hands — don't be afraid to make this high-protein cottage cheese banana pudding a real treat.