Use up that rhubarb in these Streusel Topped Rhubarb Muffins!!

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If you know me at ALL, you know I advocate for using all the rhubarb, all the time!! And here’s a new one for our family, and maybe yours?? This recipe for Rhubarb Muffins with Streusel makes rhubarb season so much more enjoyable. And don’t worry if you struggle with making great muffins I’ve got a whole section on making foolproof muffins and how to avoid the most common mistakes when making muffins.

Tender moist muffins full of tangy chopped rhubarb and topped with a crumbly streusel topping are the perfect balance of lightly sweet and sour. My family really liked the fact that this rhubarb muffin recipe is not overly sweet and that you could taste the rhubarb. But then the brown sugar streusel offers just the right sweet component to every bite of these muffins!

Rhubarb muffins with streusel on a wooden board and one on a plate.

Rhubarb Season

Welcome to rhubarb season, when the first stalks of rhubarb make their first appearance, and we all get wild, making delicious rhubarb recipes! These tangy rhubarb muffins with streusel topping are a great way to celebrate the arrival of rhubarb season.

A split rhubarb muffin on a plate with a knife.

In this easy recipe, we’ll explore how to make tender rhubarb muffins with a delightful streusel topping. These muffins strike the perfect balance between tangy rhubarb and sweet desserts, making them a family favorite and a delicious snack for any time of year.

A board with muffins and plates with muffins.

Our other favorite Rhubarb Recipe for Rhubarb Season!!

We’ve got the OG rhubarb recipe that was possibly my first favorite rhubarb dessert, Rhubarb Bars. And this Magic Rhubarb Dump Cake is a hit and can be made with fresh or frozen rhubard. Rhubarb Curd is a nice different recipe that can be used in so many ways. Or try my Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, an old-fashioned favorite!!

Got a rhubarb plant?

My post about all things rhubarb, including picking, freezing, and using rhubarb, is a super handy guide to knowing and loving rhubarb.

All the ingredients lined up for rhubarb muffins.

What you need to make rhubarb muffins

flour
brown sugar
white sugar
salt
butter
oil
baking powder
milk
vanilla extract or vanilla paste
egg
fresh rhubarb, never frozen rhubarb for this recipe, frozen rhubarb is soft and mushy and will make for wet muffins
4 bowls, a large bowl, a medium bowl, and some small bowls
whisk
wooden spoon or spatula
muffin pan
paper muffin cups

By all means change up these muffins! Add cardamom, cinnamon, ginger or other warm spices to give rhubarb muffins a little kick.

If you want you can add a handful of chopped pecans or walnuts to the muffins themselves or to the streusel. Coconut might be a nice addition as well.

Rhubarb muffin split in half with butter on it.

What kind of rhubarb??

All fresh rhubarb works for this recipe but I think for these rhubarb muffins specifically, smaller stalks of rhubarb work best, if you have access to them. If you don’t and your rhubarb is chunky big boy style, just cut it in chunks. Then finely chop those chunks.

The small pieces just work best in these muffins because they have SUCH a short bake time. Big chunks work fine in something that bakes for an hour. 20 minutes means you have to have small pieces.

If your rhubarb is stringy like the bigger older stalks, you can also peel it. Just use a vegetable peeler to remove the stringy layer. OR break a piece off and lightly pull down, and the strings will pull off as well.

Fresh rhubarb is what you need to make these muffins. Frozen rhubarb tends to get really soft and juicy as it thaws and bakes and that can throw off the chemistry of baked goods like a muffin, or a cake, or quick bread.

Rhubarb muffins with streusel on a wooden board and on two plates.

Baking Tips For Rhubarb Muffins

First of all, just like quick breads, muffins need fresh leavening agents whether that’s baking soda, baking powder, or both. If your your rhubarb muffins are dense that may be the reason why.

If you’re muffins are tough, and not tender then you may have over mixed them. When mixing muffins, again, just like quick breads, stir to combine just until the flour is mixed in. Never beat it with say, a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, if you do that, you’re going to develop the gluten and you’ll have tough muffins.

Rhubarb muffins can get soggy because rhubarb is naturally moist and if the muffins are even slightly underbaked they can be a wet mess inside. Don’t open the oven to look at the muffins, let them bake until almost done. Opening the oven can cause them to collapse and stay soggy. Check for doneness with a toothpick when the timer goes off for best results.

If you use frozen rhubarb for these muffins they will be an absolutely soggy mess. When you freeze and thaw rhubarb it will defrost into a very wet liquid rhubarb product. That is perfect for rhubarb lemonade but not for muffins.

One more tip for the best rhubarb muffins is to toss the chopped fresh rhubarb in a little flour before adding it to the batter. This helps keep the rhubarb from sinking and clumping up, even distribution of the rhubarb helps make better muffins.

Baked muffin with streusel on top of it.

Muffins We Love!

We love fresh muffins especially pumpkin muffins for fall mornings, they’re perfect with a cup of hot coffee. Pistachio muffins use instant pudding mix which makes them quick and easy to make. And we also make and love the best dang blueberry cheesecake muffins, they’re perfect all year long!

All muffins taste great with butter but have you ever added something like a compound butter? Try strawberry butter or strawberry cream cheese to add a splash of strawberry to your muffins.

How To store rhubarb Muffins

Store any leftover muffins lightly covered for the first day. You can store them in an airtight container if desired, but the streusel will get soft. That’s not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.