Whipped Cottage Cheese and Hot Honey Peach Crostini

If you haven’t yet gotten in on the whipped cottage cheese trend, it’s time to start. Back in the 1980s, yogurt gained popularity as a healthy dairy product and humble cottage cheese fell out of favor. Fast forward to 2023, when airy, blended cottage cheese recipes became popular on TikTok. Since then, sales of the protein-rich cheese have been growing each year.

In this recipe for whipped cottage cheese and hot honey peach crostini, two fashionable foods meet. Hot honey, flavored with chili and cider vinegar, is another viral video darling, and creative uses for the condiment abound, as in hot honey sweet potatoes and hot honey chicken tenders.

With its combo of tangy, sweet and spicy flavors, this fun crostini appetizer is glorious at a fancy party or as a starter for a romantic dinner. However, it’s also perfectly suited for elevated backyard barbecues.

Ingredients for Whipped Cottage Cheese and Hot Honey Peach Crostini

• French baguette: Long, slender baguettes are the perfect shape for making crostini. Cutting the slices to a 1/4-inch thickness gives you enough bread to support the toppings without making individual portions too large.
• Olive oil: Select a bottle from one of the best olive oil brands to ensure the fat is a delicious complement to the other ingredients.
• Cottage cheese: The recipe calls for low-fat cottage cheese, but you can use whatever type of cottage cheese you prefer. (I make my crostini with the full-fat, 4% version.) Small or large curd doesn’t matter, since you’ll be whipping the cheese in the blender.
• Hot honey: Find a store-bought version of the sticky, spicy spread, or make a hot honey recipe on your own.
• Lemon zest: Zest the lemon before cutting it, and save the lemon juice to use in other recipes (although you can add a splash to the cottage cheese filling).
• Salt and pepper: This recipe sticks with these classic seasonings in the whipped cottage cheese mixture. They let the hot honey flavor shine.
• Peaches: Did you know that there are different types of peaches? The truth is that any kind of ripe peach will work beautifully in this recipe. Look for fruits that are barely yielding to the touch, but not soft or squishy.
• Basil: Many people are used to savory tomato-basil recipes, but the aromatic herb is equally good in desserts like strawberry basil galettes or cinnamon-basil ice cream. There are many types of basil, and this crostini dish would typically be made with Genovese basil, but if you have Thai basil or purple basil, those would be perfectly lovely too.

Directions

Step 1: Bake the crostini

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the bread slices on a large ungreased baking sheet, and brush the tops with olive oil. Bake until golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet.

Step 2: Make the topping

Meanwhile, place the cottage cheese, 1 tablespoon of honey, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a food processor, and process until smooth.

Step 3: Build the appetizers

Spread the cheese mixture over the bread slices and top with the peach slices. Drizzle on the additional honey, and add basil and extra lemon zest if desired. Serve immediately.

Whipped Cottage Cheese and Hot Honey Peach Crostini Variations

• Embellish the whip: There are plenty of fun ways to adjust whipped cottage cheese for variety. To make it more delicate, whip in some ricotta. If you’d prefer it richer, add some cream cheese. A tiny bit of lemon juice squeezed in would contribute some zing. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or star anise would be exciting too.
• Cook the peaches: If you’re working with peak season fruit, raw peaches will be wonderful, but if you’re making this dish with more standard fruit, briefly grilling or broiling the slices will enhance the flavor. You could also use homemade peach jam as a crostini topping with a dusting of cayenne or chipotle powder (skip the hot honey if you go for this).
• Expand the toppings: Want to push the sweet and savory concept to the limit? Add crumbled bacon or thin slices of salty prosciutto to the crostini. Other great additions include crushed pistachios, thinly sliced mint, toasted sesame seeds or a drizzle of balsamic glaze in place of the honey.

How to Store Whipped Cottage Cheese and Hot Honey Peach Crostini

Because composed crostini will get soggy, you’ll want to store the toppings and the bread separately. Scoop the whipped cottage cheese into a small jar to keep in the fridge, and put the bread into a zip-top bag and leave it on the counter. If you can, slice the peaches “to order.”

How long will whipped cottage cheese and hot honey peach crostini last?

You’ll want to use the whipped cottage cheese within three days, and re-crisp any extra toasts by briefly placing them on a sheet pan in a 350° oven. The peaches should be eaten before they become overripe. If you have more fruit than you need for this recipe, check out other farmers market peach recipes.

Whipped Cottage Cheese and Hot Honey Peach Crostini Tips

Do you need to peel the peaches for this crostini recipe?

Whether or not the peaches should be peeled is a matter of personal preference. Because the skin holds many of a fruit’s nutrients, I always leave skins on when possible. (Once the peaches are washed, they will feel less “fuzzy” in the mouth.) If you dislike peach skin, you can definitely learn how to peel peaches and use peeled instead.

What can you serve with whipped cottage cheese and hot honey peach crostini?

This dish is a natural on an elegant appetizer buffet, so consider matching it with things like honey-mint lamb skewers, crackers with bourbon bacon jam and baked oysters with tasso cream.