These soft and fluffy rhubarb muffins have a crunchy sweet sugar topping and just the right amount of tang. They have a lovely vanilla flavor and they’re loaded with pretty pink chunks of fresh rhubarb.
My awesome neighbor gave me a huge bunch of fresh rhubarb from her garden. I was absolutely thrilled and wanted to make a gorgeous lattice rhubarb pie. The pie turned out to be a total fail. The filling was runny and goopy – I was crushed, but I had enough rhubarb left to make something else, so all was not lost. I decided to try this recipe from Chatelaine. The headline was “We’ve never been more excited to break out the muffin tin.” and since I’m a sucker for good marketing, I decided to give it a go.
The recipe uses melted butter which I prefer these days because it means I don’t have to bring out my electric mixer. Just 2 bowls, a whisk and a spatula is all you need to prepare this recipe. There’s a whole lot of rhubarb in this recipe which means there is a tangy zip in every bite. The only changes I made were upping the vanilla because as lovely as rhubarb is, it has a very mild taste, so you need something to pair and carry the flavor. I increased the sugar by a quarter cup because I didn’t think one cup of sugar was enough to counter balance the amount of rhubarb in the recipe. I also ended up with 14 muffins instead of 12.
The texture is extremely soft and fluffy with a delightful crunchy sugary top. The natural juices from the rhubarb makes these muffins so tender and moist. The taste is tangy and sweet with a warm vanilla scent.
Little Sweet Baker TVFresh Rhubarb Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 14
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 (285g) cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp (12g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (5g) baking soda
- 1/2 tsp (2g) salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 1/4 cup (250g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (250ml) milk
- 1 tbsp (15ml) vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups (275g) chopped rhubarb, cut into 1/2-in. pieces, divided
- 1-2 tbsp coarse sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 muffin pans with 14 paper liners.
- In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, vanilla and buttermilk.
- Add in wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in 2 cups of the rhubarb.
- Divide batter among the liners. Top with the remaining rhubarb and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Muffins are best the day of. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. Reheat the refrigerated muffins at 350F for 3-4 minutes to refresh them.
You might also like my Straight-Up Rhubarb Pie, Rhubarb Coffee Cake, and Rhubarb Crisp. Click here for all rhubarb recipes.
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Erin says
Super soft and yummy!
★★★★★
Judi pepin says
A fiend gave me about 5 lbs of rhubarb but I couldn’t bake right away so I cooked it down and froze it and I have a thick sauce ready to use. Any idea which recipe I should follow? This one or maybe banana muffin since the mash from banana has a similar texture to the rhubarb sauce? Thanks
Lily Ernst says
Hi Judi,
I would go with the banana nut muffin recipe because just as you said, the texture of the mashed bananas is similar to the rhubarb sauce. Adjust the sugar accordingly depending on how sweet you made your rhubarb sauce. I hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions. Enjoy:)
Jolynne says
Going to attempt this recipe today! Does it have to be buttermilk or is milk okay to use??
Lily Ernst says
Milk is okay to use in this recipe. Enjoy:)
Bona says
Can fozen thubarb be used and if so should it be thawed and drained first? Thanks
Lily Ernst says
Hi Bona,
Fresh is best, but if you prefer frozen, I would not thaw it. Add it to the batter frozen and bake for a few extra minutes until done. I hope that helps. Enjoy and have a great week:)
Pernille says
I just made this, half the recipe because I only had 1 egg, and I got 9 out of that, but witout the “muffin top”, haha. They are super delicious, nice and tangy and sour and then super sweet at the same time, so lovely!
★★★★★
Lily Ernst says
Hi Pernille,
I’m glad you enjoyed them so much. Thank you for your feedback and kind words:)
Cori @ Sweet Coralice says
These look delicious even though I have never had rhubarb. I always think of pink celery when I see it lol. I’m going to have give it a try one of these days because these muffins look too good to pass up 💕
Lily Ernst says
It totally looks like pink celery, and it has a sour green apple taste. It’s definitely has character for a vegetable:)
Susan says
These little muffins are so beautiful! I love rhubarb too, and it’s defintitely the season! thanks for bringing to the party this week!
Funfuncook says
Wow! It looks so yummy!