Rhubarb Crumb Muffins
Would you believe that before this past weekend I had never tried rhubarb? I’d heard enough people say they don’t like it, or mention its tartness that I was a little intimidated by it. However, this past week, a very kind coworker who has a rhubarb plant in her backyard brought some into work and I decided it was time to give it a try. I had recently stumbled across a rhubarb crumb muffin recipe in a cookbook, and I figured this was the perfect time to try it.
Surprisingly (to me at least), I loved the muffins and the rhubarb. The tartness really wasn’t as noticeable as I expected, and it was a nice contrast to the sweet crumb topping of the muffins. The muffins themselves were light and fluffy, and very moist from the rhubarb. Overall, these were a hit, and a great first experience with rhubarb. Mike would rather have blueberry muffins (always his muffin of choice), but I actually prefer these. I have enough rhubarb left for another recipe, but now I’m not sure if I should try something new or just make these muffins again since I liked them so much! Does anybody have any good rhubarb recipes I just have to try?? Leave a comment or send me an email – I’d love to try your favorite recipes! 🙂
Rhubarb Crumb Muffins
Yield: Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 Tbsp salted butter, kept cold, and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
Muffins:
2 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin wrappers.
Make the crumb topping: Mix together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture forms small crumbs. Set aside.
Mix the rhubarb and confectioners sugar together in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. Slowly mix in half of the flour mixture until it is incorporated, then half of the milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then repeat. Gently fold in the rhubarb mixture.
Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle the crumb topping on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a center muffin comes out with moist crumbs.