These strawberry rhubarb streusel muffins are just the right balance between sweet and tart and are a perfect treat for that late spring/early summer vibe. These muffins are super moist, full of flavor, and the streusel topping gives them a perfect crunchy texture to balance the super soft interior. If you’re not a fan of the pie version of this combination, you may want to try these muffins instead.
I love muffins, not only are they easy and somewhat quick to make, but they can fill a variety of dish options, such as a quick breakfast, an anytime snack, or even a dessert. While some of my favorite muffins of all time include blueberry muffins and pistachio muffins, these strawberry rhubarb streusel muffins were incredible as well.
I never thought I would be a fan of rhubarb bakes, but this year I tried strawberry rhubarb pie for the first time and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Since I bought some extra strawberries and rhubarb pieces, I decided to try another recipe utilizing those ingredients. I considered several options, but eventually settled on muffins, and I was not disappointed.
Using my blueberry muffin recipe as a base for these strawberry rhubarb muffins, and changing the topping to a streusel, they came out great with just a few other tweaks. As mentioned above also, if you find strawberry rhubarb pie a little too sour for your taste, you might love these muffins as there’s not nearly as much of that typical tartness to be found here.
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🥘 Ingredients
The list may seem like a lot of ingredients, but muffins typically use a lot of pantry staples, with the addition of the specific fruits or other fillings needed.
Flour – All-purpose flour is fine here. Use for both the muffins and the streusel.
Leaveners – A pinch of baking soda and some baking powder in combination help to give muffins their rise.
Fat – A combination of both unsalted butter and neutral oil works well in muffins. The butter adds flavor, while the oil adds more moisture without developing too much gluten formation. Also add melted butter to make the streusel.
Sugar – Both white granulated and brown sugar help to sweeten these muffins, plus some extra for the strawberry and rhubarb to pull out moisture. Use a little of both for the streusel topping as well.
Eggs – Two large eggs at room temperature for moisture.
Milk – Adds moisture as well. Any milk is fine here.
Sour Cream – Adds both moisture and tang, could also substitute with additional milk or unflavored yogurt instead. Use full-fat sour cream or yogurt for the best results.
Extract – Where I typically use vanilla extract in most muffins, almond extract works well here.
Lemon – A little bit of both zest and juice adds a nice flavor and balance to the strawberries and rhubarb.
Rhubarb – One cup of rhubarb diced to a ½” is all you need here, roughly a ½ pound.
Strawberries – One and half cups of chopped strawberries, so slightly more than the rhubarb. Roughly ¾ pound.
Cinnamon – Just a pinch for the streusel topping, not in the muffins.
🥬 What is Rhubarb?
Without getting overly scientific, rhubarb is a vegetable that has been around for quite a while. Even though it is a vegetable, it is typically used in the culinary world as a fruit would be. Because it is so tart, it is typically cooked down with a decent amount of sugar and sometimes mixed with other, sweeter fruits.
Rhubarb usually looks like a crimson stalk of celery, but larger and flatter. Unlike celery, it is usually sold in single pieces with the leaves removed. If you do buy it with the leaves intact, be sure to remove them before usage, as rhubarb leaves are toxic.
The leaves contain a high level of oxalic acid, and while a lethal amount would require eating literally pounds of leaves, even mild consumption can cause kidney stone formation.
While rhubarb is grown around the world and can be found almost any time of the year, it is typically harvested in late spring and early summer, especially in the US. That’s why you’ll typically see a lot more recipes for its use pop up around April and May.
🔪 How to Make
Preheat your oven to 425°F / 220°C and prepare a muffin pan with either liners or baking spray.
Start by cutting the strawberries and rhubarb. Both can be cut into a large dice, roughly in ½” pieces. Once chopped, add to a bowl and toss with a little sugar and set aside.
Next, make the streusel topping. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, and a bit of cinnamon. Add melted butter and toss with a fork until you have moist but not wet mixture that has a coarse and crumbly texture. Set it aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. In another mixing bowl add the sugar, brown sugar, melted butter, and oil and whisk to combine until the sugars are mostly dissolved. Now whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Finally, add in the sour cream, milk, lemon juice, and almond extract and whisk to combine again.
Reserve a tablespoon of the dry mixture, and then add the rest to the wet ingredients. Whisk until just combined. Toss the strawberries and rhubarb with the reserved flour mixture and then add to the muffin batter. Gently fold them into the batter.
Fill the prepared muffin pan with the batter, all the way to the top, then top off each muffin with a tablespoon or so of the streusel topping. Place into the oven and bake for 5 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350°F / 180°C and continue baking another 18-20 minutes.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
📖 Variations
The base of the recipe is open to several variations on the strawberry rhubarb streusel muffins, and the fruits and toppings used can be swapped or modified easily.
Fruits – If you just don’t like rhubarb, you could add more strawberries instead. You could also mix it up and swap the strawberries for an equal amount of raspberries or blackberries instead.
Toppings – If you don’t care for a streusel topping, you can omit it altogether, or for even more crunch, you can add in some chopped walnuts or pecans to the streusel.
You could also swap the streusel for a simple sugar topping with demerara or turbinado sugar also.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Strawberry and rhubarb are a classic pairing because rhubarb tends to have a tart and sour taste, while strawberries are sweet. The combination leads to a flavor that isn’t too sweet or too tart and that many people enjoy.
If you have or have had kidney stones, I recommend not eating rhubarb. Although the oxalic acid is concentrated in the leaves, the stems still have trace amounts that can be harmful to people with a history of kidney stones. Rhubarb is also not recommended for people that have liver problems.
While it is safe to eat, it’s also quite bitter when raw. This is why rhubarb is often cooked and paired with sugar or sweeter fruits. While cooked and raw rhubarb is safe for humans, it is highly toxic for dogs, so do not feed it to your pet.
🍽 Equipment
While most equipment is standard kitchen tools, I wanted to point out just a handful of items I prefer to use here.
Non-reactive bowl – Whenever you cut fruits or vegetables for use in a recipe, I prefer to use a non-reactive bowl to keep those ingredients in. Basically, this means anything besides a metal mixing bowl. I prefer to use glass mixing bowls, but even a serving bowl or plastic mixing bowl is fine as well.
Whisk – While I like using a balloon whisk for most of the mixing, Danish dough whisks are perfect anytime you need to fold in softer ingredients like the strawberries and rhubarb here.
Muffin Pans – In the photos I use a hand-me-down set of muffin tins, but if you need to buy new ones, I recommend this 12-count muffin pan from USA Pans, or this 6-count jumbo muffin pan from the same company.
❄️How to Store
Muffins can typically be stored at room temperature for about 2 days. If you store them in an airtight container, they’ll last 5 days or so in the refrigerator.
For longer storage, you can store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months as well. Can thaw overnight in the fridge.
📋 Recipe
Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel Topping:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Muffins:
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ cup granulated sugar, plus 2 teaspoons for the fruit
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup milk, at room temperature
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup ½” diced rhubarb, about ½ pound
- 1 ½ cups chopped strawberries, about ¾ pound
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F / 220°C and prepare a muffin pan with either liners or baking spray.
- Start by cutting ¾ pound of strawberries and a ½ pound of rhubarb. Both can be cut into a large dice, roughly in ½” pieces. You should have about 1 cup of rhubarb and 1 ½ cups of strawberries. Once chopped, add to a bowl and toss with 2 teaspoons of white sugar and set aside.
- Next, make the streusel topping. In a medium mixing bowl, combine ½ cup all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and a ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Add ¼ cup of melted butter and toss with a fork until you have moist but not wet mixture that has a coarse and crumbly texture. Set it aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. In another mixing bowl add ½ cup white sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup melted butter, and ¼ cup vegetable oil and whisk to combine until the sugars are mostly dissolved. Now whisk in the 2 eggs, one at a time, until combined. Finally, add in the ½ cup sour cream, ½ cup milk, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon almond extract and whisk to combine again.
- Reserve a tablespoon of the dry mixture, and then add the rest to the wet ingredients. Whisk until just combined. Toss the strawberries and rhubarb with the reserved flour mixture and then add to the muffin batter. Gently fold them into the batter.
- Fill the prepared muffin pan with the batter, all the way to the top, then top off each muffin with a tablespoon or so of the streusel topping. Place into the oven and bake for 5 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350°F / 180°C and continue baking another 18-20 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
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