Rhubarb Muffins
A light and airy muffin filled with tart rhubarb and topped with a sweet-spicy streusel.
I’ve been impatiently waiting for rhubarb baking season ever since I first saw the tiny green sprouts coming up from the ground way back in the first part of April!
Since then we’ve had several nights where temperatures dropped close to freezing. I feared our precious plants would either die off, or we would be unable to eat the first crop because of the risk of oxalic acid spreading from the leaves to the stalks, which can make you very sick. Thankfully because we didn’t have a hard frost, neither happened and we have once again been blessed with a bumper crop this year!
As I finished up sometime in the gardens this past weekend, I mosied on over to the rhubarb patch to check if any stalks were ripe yet. Happily, I noticed there was enough ready for me to do some baking!
I wasn’t sure what at the time, but later I started to go through my recipe cards and found one my Mom had given me years ago for Rhubarb Muffins.
Although the recipe called for basic ingredients I had in my pantry or refrigerator, it did call for one I didn’t. Vegetable oil. I’m not a fan.
Normally I would have put the recipe back and looked for another without vegetable oil, but not anymore. I’ve learned that there is a substitute (and most of them healthier) for almost anything.
Now I know there is always controversy about these things, but I’m a true believer in good old fashioned butter. Obviously, like anything, we should eat butter in moderation, and I recommend an organic brand if at all possible. But I think butter makes everything, including these muffins better!
One thing to note. Once you have the batter for these rhubarb muffins mixed up well, you will notice that it is quite thick. My first thought was that because it was, the muffins would turn out super dense and heavy.
That definitely was NOT the case. Instead, these muffins turned out light and fluffy and SUPER moist, because they also have a key ingredient for that-buttermilk!
The final step to these yummy muffins before putting them into the oven is to top them with a streusel glaze made of sugar, butter, and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. I LOVE the combination of the tart rhubarb with the warmth of these spices, and I know you will too!
Look at all that scrumptious yumminess! These muffins literally poof up before your eyes and that streusel glaze gets nice and golden brown. And when you bite into them you get that first hit of the warm, tart rhubarb and shazaam!
You have the perfect-portable treat to go along with your morning coffee or tea!
Here’s the recipe! Enjoy!
Rhubarb Muffins
A light and airy muffins filled with tart rhubarb and topped with a sweet-spicy streusel.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups rhubarb diced
Streusel
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter melted
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with paper cups. Set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and egg. Whisk until smooth. Pour in buttermilk and vanilla. Whisk until just combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in rhubarb. Spoon batter into paper cups-filling almost to the top. Meanwhile, combine melted butter, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon over tops of muffins. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
You can find more of my rhubarb recipes here.
Do you bake with rhubarb? What are some of your favorite recipes! Let me know in the comments or send me an email to cdscountryliving@gmail.com
Hope your week is going great!
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