May 2023 · Jess in the Kitchen

Last Updated on July 22, 2023 by Jess

Well, spring has finally arrived in Northern Wisconsin. The trees are blossoming, the bees are buzzing, and the rhubarb and asparagus are pushing up through the ground. I’ll tell you, that makes for one happy food blogger over here. And with the rhubarb coming up, it’s time to bake all the goodies. This year, we started with these delicious and simple Rhubarb Streusel Muffins.

I know the natural combination is sweet strawberry to counter the tartness of the rhubarb. However, the Mr loves rhubarb in all forms, and particularly likes to keep it without the strawberries. What that means is that I worked hard to counter the tartness with just the right amount of sugar without going too heavy as to cover the tartness all together.

These rhubarb streusel muffins fit the bill. They are light and fluffy and the streusel topping gives you the bit of sweetness on the tongue that is just about perfect. You’ll bake up a dozen breakfast treats in no time and everyone will be asking for more!

Let’s get baking!

Your Ingredients

¾ cup whole milk
¼ cup oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar (or ⅜ cup)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1 cup fresh or frozen rhubarb

Streusel Topping

3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons firm butter

Your Steps to Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 medium muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. In a smaller bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Stir into the wet ingredients until flour is moistened and just combined. Fold in the rhubarb. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

In a small bowl, combine flour and brown sugar for the streusel topping. Cut the butter into small pieces. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour and sugar until crumbly. In a pinch, forks or knives can be used. Top each muffin with streusel topping.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with a cup of coffee or tea.

Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

These rhubarb streusel muffins are delicious baked treat that combine the tartness of rhubarb and the sweetness of that streusel topping! Give them a try!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings muffins

Equipment

Muffin tin

Ingredients

¾ cup whole milk
¼ cup oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar or ⅜ cup
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1 cup fresh or frozen rhubarb

Streusel Topping

3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons firm butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 medium muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. In a smaller bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cardamom.
Stir into the wet ingredients until flour is moistened and just combined. Fold in the rhubarb.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
In a small bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into small pieces.
Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour and sugar until crumbly.
In a pinch, forks or knives can be used. Top each muffin with streusel topping.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with a cup of coffee or tea.

Keyword Breakfast, breakfast breads, breakfast muffins, Rhubarb, rhubarb muffins, rhubarb recipes

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Looking for some other sweet treats?

Please check out my Baking page for some delicious treats! Or maybe one of the muffins or breads below will tickle your fancy!

Last Updated on May 14, 2023 by Jess

How does one become interested in dandelion season and the foraging that comes with it? Let me share a short story!

A number of years ago, my family and I were doing an “end of summer” camping trip for a couple nights at Lake Wissota State Park in Wisconsin. As we sat in the beach picnic area, we spied hundreds of acorns on the ground. Of course, it led to an acorn fight between the four of us, which resulted in tons of giggles. It also led to me saying to my husband, “There are just so many of them [acorns], you must be able to do something with them.” To which he responded, “of course you can, but they have a lot of tannins so you have to do something to make them edible.” And this simple question led to my fascination with foraging and all that goes along with it.

I immediately started Googling to learn more about acorns and how to cook with them. I also gathered as many as I could and put them in a bag to bring home. You see, we joke that I am a “75 percenter.” I love trying new things and go in with about 75% of the information needed and figure I can learn the rest along the way. Personally, I think it is a great way to live this life. I sure have experienced some cool things this way!

But back to the foraging

Slowly, I began researching other things you can forage. I have learned so much from some of my favorite foragers:

Colleen at Grow Forage Cook Ferment

Ashley from Practical Self Reliance

Alexis AKA Black Forager

Which led to the statement, “Did you know you can eat that?” to come out of my mouth often when I was with family and friends. One of the foraged items I became especially fascinated with was dandelions.

Yes, the simple dandelion. They are full of nutrients, including A, C, and K. You can use everything from the roots (to make tea) to the leaves (for salads) to the flowers (for jelly and wine). Learn more about their health benefits here!

I have tried a number of dandelion recipes over the years, but time and time again, I go back to two simple ones when it is dandelion season: jelly and shortbread cookies.

Dandelion Jelly

A few years ago, my Algebra II kids asked if I could bring them fresh bread. Of course, I obliged and brought some jelly to go with it, including dandelion jelly. A few of them fell in love with it and we have been meaning to do a class to teach them how to ever since.

What’s so great about it? First of all, the novelty of it, right? But second, the flavor is this perfect, light honey like taste you’d never anticipate. It is a bit tedious to make as you have to separate the petals from the greens, but there’s something calming about it. I love finding a friend and sitting and chatting.

The ingredients are simple too:

Dandelion petals (4 cups)
Boiling water
Sugar
Lemon juice

If this sounds like something you want to try, check out my blog post on it!

Jelly not your thing? Enjoy dandelion season by making these lovely dandelion shortbread cookies!

Dandelion Shortbread Cookies

If you want to give foraging a try, but aren’t quite ready to jump in feet first, these cookies are a great way to start. You only need ½ cup of petals and who doesn’t love a cookie? This is another simple recipe with minimal ingredients (dare I say pantry ingredients?) and unlike the jelly, you can have them put together in under 40 minutes, cleaning the flowers and all!

You’ll need:

Petals
Softened butter
Powdered sugar
Honey
Flour
Salt

Then you can grab the recipe and start baking!

But let me tell you, once you dip your toe in the foray of foraging during dandelion season, I don’t know if there is much looking back. You will find yourself constantly looking into the woods and fields, wondering, “How can I cook or bake with that?!”