I think rhubarb is probably one of the ugliest foods out there. My sister Nikki had never had rhubarb before (!!!) so I wanted to make something for her so that she could experience the amazingness that is rhubarb. My normal store didn’t have any when I went grocery shopping last week, so I called around until I found some. I walked straight in, found the giant, ugly, red, dirty stalks, and shoved them in a bag that they didn’t even come close to fitting it. Apparently a girl walking around with nothing but dirty rhubarb is cause for conversation. I was stopped by 3 different people.
The first lady came up to me as I was gathering up my rhubarb. “Um, excuse me, what are you going to DO with that?” So I told her about these Rhubarb Meringue Layers and these Strawberry Rhubarb Italian Cream Sodas I just made. Then the cutest little old man in the history of ever got in line behind me and said, “What are you going to do with all that rhubarb? Make a pie? Make sure you add LOTS of sugar!” I told him yes, something like that, and he just kept saying, “Add LOTS of sugar!!” Then our checkout lady saw all my rhubarb and said she needed to make her husband a pie. What can I say, rhubarb just makes people happy.
My aunt and uncle were over when we ate those Rhubarb Meringue Layers, and my aunt Cheryl told me that every year she plants rhubarb, and every year my uncle tears it out because it’s so darn ugly. I think this is tragic…also hilarious.
I made these muffins with my leftover rhubarb. The cream cheese filling makes them super moist and delicious. Plus they are really easy. Win win!
Rhubarb Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1 & 1/2 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, diced
Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
Filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 egg, about 2 tablsepoons beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with baking cups or grease thoroughly.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, use the same whisk to combine milk, oil, and egg. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and combine with a wooden spoon only until moistened. The mixture should be lumpy.
- In a small mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter using 2 forks or pastry cutter. Keep going until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set streusel topping aside.
- To prepare filling, use an electric or stand mixer to beat together cream cheese, sugar, half an egg, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Set filling aside.
- Spoon one tablespoon of muffin mixture into each cup. Top with half of the rhubarb, and then a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Spoon remaining muffin mixture into each cup, top with remaining rhubarb. Use a teaspoon to distribute the streusel topping on each muffin. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and serve warm.
The cream cheese filling disappeared into the muffin.
By the time the tops were done, the bottom was almost burnt.
Too much muffin stuck to the liners.
I will not be making these again.
Do you think you could bake this into a bread instead of muffins?
Hi Kris! I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not! Quick bread and muffins are basically the same. It will probably take 45-60 mins to bake. Enjoy!
Looking forward to trying these. What if I add the whole egg?
Hi Penny! I haven’t tried it that way!
Hello, I’m a little confused on the 1/2 egg can you explain that to me?
Thank you ConnieÂ
Hi Connie! Crack an egg into a bowl, whisk it up, and dump out half so that there is about 2 tablespoons left. OR you could probably just use the yolk, although I haven’t tried that. Enjoy!
I made these with fresh rhubarb from my garden, and they received lots of compliments. I found the dough really thick, so I added a little more milk, plus a mixed the rhubarb in with the batter instead of layering it. I doubled the batch and had some cream cheese left over, It made 24 large muffins. Scrumptious!
Awesome Lisa! I wish I had rhubarb in my garden! I hear it’s really easy to grow, I should try it out. Thanks for all the tips!
I have 4 rhubarb patches in my yard and I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for new ways to use it up! Last 2 cuttings went to restocking my freezer jam stash and I’m thinking today’s pickings will be muffins and fruit crisp for tomorrow :-) Definitely looking forward to trying these!
ooooh i’m so jealous of your freezer jam stash! I wish we were neighbors :) Let me know how the muffins turned out! Thanks for commenting, I love this recipe!
How many does this recipe make and can I freeze them?
Hey Connie! I actually can’t remember how many this makes. I’m guessing 12. I haven’t made them in a while! And you can definitely freeze them, muffins freeze beautifully!
Just took these out of the oven, the anticipation for the 5 minute wait is killing us. haha
Delicious!!!
hooray! I haven’t made these in forever! Rhubarb is just the best right?
I made these a couple months ago and am just waiting for an occasion to make them again! So delicious!
Ooh I think it’s time I made these again too! If only rhubarb were a year-round fruit…
I have a rather large freezer stash!
I’m jealous. My rhubarb cravings know no end.
I made strawberry rhubarb jam this weekend. It looks so, so ugly. But it is so, so delicious. Poor rhubarb, the ugly duckling of the fruit world.
These rhubarb recipes look awesome Karen! I’m gonna have to give them a try. It is too bad that it’s so expensive and hard to find around here. You should look at this post on David Lebovitz’ blog. I think you would appreciate his thoughts and feelings on rhubarb. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/05/strawberry-rhubarb-compote-recipe/
It seems like everyone I know loves rhubarb! Isn’t it weird that something so popular can be so hard to find? A friend just offered me some to grow in my garden and I’m totally stoked. The muffins look delicious! :)
I know right? And it’s usually expensive to boot. Which is lame because I’ve heard it grows like a weed. Let me know how it grows!! Hope you love these muffins :)