The tart flavour of rhubarb and cranberries with fresh lemon are a perfect match for the sweet crumbly streusel topping on these muffins. They’re not too sweet and even include a few healthier ingredients.
Most of us know someone nearby with rhubarb in their garden. I’m lucky to have a few friends in that category. I always get a good chuckle when I see rhubarb stalks for sale because, in my experience, people are happy to share their harvest. A batch of Rhubarb Cranberry Streusel Muffins are a great way to thank your generous neighbours.
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Dried cranberries are sold in resealable packaging and are called “Craisins.” You know, it’s a Portmanteau of cranberry and raisin. You’re welcome for the English lesson. Adding them to the rhubarb along with some sugar, lemon juice and zest gives the craisins a chance to absorb some of the liquid that gets pulled from the rhubarb after the sugar is added.
Sometimes rhubarb stalks get really thick which is ok for Rhubarb Custard Pie or Rhubarb Loaf but you want smaller pieces for muffins. Cut any thick ones lengthwise in half then chop them into pieces. The difference in colour from green to red doesn’t have anything to do with flavour or sweetness, it’s all the same. But for presentation, it’s nice to include at least some of the red or pink parts. An average stalk of rhubarb yields about half a cup, give or take.
To get the most juice from a lemon make sure it’s room temperature and roll it around on the counter with some pressure before juicing. Zest the skin before squeezing out the juice, just the yellow outer skin. If you get into the white part it can be bitter. Then squeeze as much juice out as you can. Mosts half lemons will give you about 1/4 cup of juice. If you’re a bit short you can always top up with some orange juice.
So what gives these Rhubarb Cranberry Streusel Muffins a healthy edge?
Substituting whole wheat flour
Whole wheat flour increases the fibre. But don’t try to sub all whole wheat for all purpose because you’ll have a dry brick instead of a moist muffin. Even half and half is too much. According to Food Network Canada, a ratio of 2/3 regular flour to 1/3 whole wheat flour is the max. And, with whole wheat flour you need more liquid in a recipe because it’s like a sponge. Of course you can make the muffins without any whole wheat flour if you like, just reduce the amount of flour by about 2 tablespoons.
Reducing fat in baking
There are a few ingredients that are decent substitutes for butter in baking. In Rhubarb Cranberry Streusel Muffins, yogurt is used to replace some of the butter which works great with whole wheat flour because yogurt has more moisture than butter. It also works with the baking soda because it has the right acidity level. But butter is important for flavour and moisture so it’s best to still have some in recipes. You can substitute sour cream for the yogurt. I don’t recommend baking with reduced fat dairy products. Using regular full fat yogurt or sour cream is best. Kind of negates the healthier muffin idea though, doesn’t it? Oh well.
Reducing sugar in baking
You would think that reducing sugar would be a no brainer, just use less right? Wrong. Baking is chemistry and sugar affects not just the sweetness but also the texture, the flavour and even the browning. So, this recipe has a little less sugar than some muffins without sacrificing the quality and flavour.
When making any muffins, it’s important to have all your ingredients ready to go and the oven preheated. Batter doesn’t like to sit around waiting to be baked and it also doesn’t like to be over mixed so don’t over do it. Make sure the fruit mixture has had about 30 minutes to sit, so you’ve got time to prepare the other parts of the recipe during that time.
Your butter needs to be at room temperature to cream with the sugar. In most cases I like to use a stand mixer but for Rhubarb Cranberry Streusel Muffins, use a hand mixer. There isn’t enough butter for the stand mixer to reach it in the bottom of the bowl. Once the yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla are added, put the mixer away and add the dry ingredients and fruit mixture half and half, stirring between, just until everything is incorporated.
If you’re missing that extra sweet kick, the streusel topping will make up for it. Streusel is basically a mixture of flour, butter and sugar. Some streusel mixtures contain oatmeal but I prefer not to use it. I’ve added a hint of cinnamon which goes nicely with the fruit mixture. You can leave the topping out all together if you want, especially if you’re watching your sugar intake but there really isn’t a lot added to each muffin and it not only adds a sweet component but also a crumbly texture.
The batter is really stiff so an ice cream scoop works well to fill the muffin cups. I’m sorry that this recipes makes about 14 muffins if you use regular paper muffin cups. If you can find the taller “tulip” muffin liners, you’ll be able to get all the batter into 12 muffin cups. Use your hands to crumble and sprinkle the streusel topping evenly on top of the muffins. You can gently press it in if it’s rolling down the sides.
As tempting as it is to eat muffins as soon as they come out of the oven, it’s best to let them cool at least half an hour, otherwise they’ll fall apart. Leaving them on a ledge outdoors will help but you risk a neighbour sneaking over and taking some.
If you make Rhubarb Cranberry Streusel Muffins, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Rhubarb Cranberry Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour or 1 cup all purpose flour minus 2 Tbsp
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 ¼ cups chopped fresh rhubarb about 4 - 5 stalks
- ½ cup dried cranberries "craisins"
- ½ lemon juiced and zested about ¼ cup
- 2 Tbsp white sugar
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
Streusel Topping
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Remove butter and lemon from fridge to ensure they are room temperature.
- Rinse and chop rhubarb into small pieces. If stalks are thick, slice lengthwise first. Add dried cranberries and 2 T sugar.
- Roll lemon on counter to maximize amount of juice. Cut in half and save one half for another use. Zest skin, being careful not to zest too deeply into the white part. Squeeze as much juice as possible, aiming for ¼ cup. Add lemon juice and zest to rhubarb mixture, stir and allow to stand for 30 minutes.
- Make streusel topping by melting butter, then stirring in the rest of the ingredients. Preheat oven to 350° and ensure rack is set at centre of the oven.
- Sift together both types of flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Using hand mixer, cream butter. Add brown and white sugar and blend well. Mixture will be lumpy. Add yogurt, egg and vanilla and mix on low speed. Add half of flour mixture and stir with spoon. Add half of rhubarb and mix gently. Add other half of each mixture, stirring gently just until combined. Batter will be very stiff.
- Scoop batter into paper lined or greased muffin tins. Use larger tulip shaped paper muffin cups for 12 muffins. Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over muffins.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If desired, set oven to convection bake for last 5 minutes to help brown the streusel topping.If making smaller muffins, bake for 20-22 minutes.
- Cool at least 30 minutes.
Looks yummy
Really great flavor but mine turned out a bit dry.
Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that. Rhubarb season will be here shortly, I’ll do a few test batches and see if I get similar results. Thanks for letting me know!
Hello again! I’ve just made another batch and I tweaked the recipe, thanks to your comments along with Katherine’s. There’s a bit more fruit in them so they should be nice and moist. If you skip the whole wheat flour and use all purpose you’ll really notice the difference.
Wow great muffins. I was looking for tart and they didn’t disappoint. I added another 3/4 c rhubarb and 1/2 cup fresh cranberries instead of craisins along with finely chopped pecans. So tasty!
Thanks so much for the great rating! A previous comment indicated hers were a touch dry. I will make some with a little more rhubarb thanks to your comment and see what we think. I may tweak the recipe! I know whole wheat flour can mess with moisture levels too.