Rhubarb Muffins With Strawberry Streusel Recipe

Some foods can conjure a certain feeling or memory as soon as you take that first bite. If you want something that reminds you of summer — or makes you appreciate a particularly nice summer day — look no further than the sweet combination of strawberries and rhubarb. Recipe developer Katie Rosenhouse's recipe for rhubarb muffins with sweet streusel dusted in a playful strawberry sugar transforms these two sunny fruits into a tasty treat perfect for both dessert and breakfast. 

"These strawberry rhubarb muffins are a great twist on homestyle rhubarb muffins. When rhubarb is cooked, it becomes jammy and thick, but fresh strawberries tend to add a lot of moisture to muffins," she explains. "Combining fresh sliced rhubarb and freeze-dried strawberries makes for a muffin that's tender and fluffy, without that gumminess that fresh fruit can sometimes provide." She also likes that the freeze-dried strawberries are playing double-duty here, as they also give the muffins that beautiful pink dusting: "It's also fun to take those same strawberries and grind them up for a beautifully pink powder for topping the muffins — it's unique and makes them just a bit more special!"

The main ingredients here are rhubarb and strawberries, of course, but the strawberries should be freeze-dried rather than fresh since freeze-dried fruit is easier to grind for the strawberry sugar and as Rosenhouse explained, generally have a better texture once baked. However, that's not a hard-and-fast rule: "You can absolutely swap for fresh strawberries, if desired," she notes. 

You'll also need eggs, room-temperature unsalted butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, kosher salt, flour, light brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, sour cream, whole milk, vanilla extract, and confectioner's sugar. "If needed you can swap the sour cream for plain yogurt, or Greek yogurt thinned with a splash of milk," Rosenhouse says. You can also toss in some ground ginger, if you want a little kick.

Start off by preheating your oven to 375 F and making the sweet, crunchy streusel topping. It's easy: Just combine some of the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt, and room-temperature butter, then use your hands to mix it until everything's evenly incorporated.

Now, onto the batter. Melt the butter, then mix together the dry ingredients (baking soda, baking powder, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and ginger if you're using it). In another bowl, stir up the wet ingredients — vanilla, eggs, milk, and sour cream — and combine that with the dry ingredients and stir it a bit, but not too thoroughly. Finally, toss in the melted butter, sliced rhubarb, and freeze-dried strawberries.

You're so close to fruity muffins — line your muffin pans with parchment paper and put an even amount of batter in each cup, then an even amount of streusel on top of that. Pop them in the oven and bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until golden on top, then transfer the finished muffins to a wire rack so they can cool down.

While your rhubarb strawberry streusel muffins bake, it's time to craft the final touch: The pink-hued strawberry sugar to go atop your muffins. All you have to do is put powdered sugar and crushed freeze-dried strawberries in a coffee grinder or food processor and whiz it up until it's a lovely pink powder. Dust each freshly baked muffin with it and enjoy your sweet summer muffins. 

If you have a busy week coming up and want to plan ahead with this recipe, you're in luck. "This muffin batter can be made up to two days in advance, wrapped, and refrigerated. Store the streusel topping refrigerated in a separate container. Scoop muffins, top with streusel, and bake fresh for serving," Rosenhouse says. "Store baked muffins at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze for longer storage (up to two months)."