Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

Ah rhubarb season. One of my absolute favorites! It seems like every season I have more ideas tumbling around in my head than time to bring them to fruition and this year’s no exception. I haven’t yet, but I’ve also been wanting to dabble in making something more savory with rhubarb like pickling it or adding it to a salad or something. We’ll see.

You guys LOVED this pound cake recipe from last year so I thought it would be fun to do another quick-bread type recipe featuring rhubarb. These are a pretty straightforward muffin studded with juicy and tart rhubarb and spiced with cardamom. Then topped with a crispy, buttery streusel topping cause why not. They’re simple to make and so tasty for breakfast or just a snack!

makes about 15 muffins

2 1/3 c + 1 T all purpose flour, divided
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t Himalayan pink salt
1 t ground cardamom
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 c plain whole milk yogurt (preferably not greek as it's too thick)
2 c rhubarb, washed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

streusel topping
4 T firm butter, cubed
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c rolled oats
1/4 c light brown sugar
pinch of Himalayan pink salt
1/4 t cardamom
2 T Swedish pearl sugar (optional, it’s pretty!)

make the streusel topping
Preheat oven to 350 °F. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, cardamom and salt together. Add in the butter and use your hands to break the butter up into the flour mixture until course and crumbly. Set aside.

bake the muffins
Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 1/3 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Set aside while you mix the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and well incorporated, a minute or so. You can also totally do this by hand with a wooden spoon: you’ll just need to put in a little elbow grease. Add in the eggs and beat again to incorporate. Add in the vanilla and yogurt and mix to combine. Add in the dry ingredients all in one go and gently mix until most of the flour is gone but a few streaks are ok. Add in the rhubarb and fold it in the batter by hand using a rubber spatula just until all the flour is incorporated and rhubarb is evenly distributed. This is thick batter too.

Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill the muffin cups up about 3/4 of the way full. Top each with a generous sprinkle of the streusel mixture and a sprinkle of Swedish pearl sugar if you want. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool then enjoy!