Brown Sugar Rhubarb Sour Cream Muffins [Recipe]

Rhubarb is one of my absolute favourite things about summer. It’s bright, tart, beautiful and delicious; and these orange glazed rhubarb sour cream muffins are one of the best ways to make it shine! As my mama used to say, “You can tell a good baking recipe when it has sour cream in it;” and well, my friends, I have to say that I think she was right. This easy recipe is soft, fruity, and packed with the best flavor.

All about rhubarb

What is rhubarb?

I’ve often thought of rhubarb as “the fruit version of celery;” it’s long, thick, curved stalks with stringy texture grow on a large leafy plant, ready to be harvested in the spring and early summer. While rhubarb is technically a vegetable, it is usually used in baking as you would use fruit, requiring sugar to tame its extremely tart rhubarb flavour.

When to harvest rhubarb

Rhubarb season tends to happen between March-June, being one of the first crops of spring. Rhubarb stalks are typically ready to eat when they are at least 10″ long and about 1/2-1″ wide. It is harvested simply by pulling the stalks out of the ground, removing the leaves (they are poisonous!), and washing and cutting the stalks. Depending on your particular plant, rhubarb may be red, pink, or green when it is ready.

How to prepare rhubarb for baking

To prepare fresh rhubarb for baking, simple remove the leaves and wash the stalks. Using a sharp knife, chop the rhubarb into 1/2″ chunks, or as directed by your recipe.

Can you freeze rhubarb?

Yes! Rhubarb is one of the easiest things to freeze. All you have to do is prepare it as directed above, and throw it all into a large freezer safe bag or container.

Usually when you freeze fruit, you need to flash freeze it before it goes into a bag so that it won’t stick together. However, since rhubarb isn’t so juicy, it doesn’t tend to stick together in the freezer, making it easy to measure (from frozen) for all of your cooking and baking. I love it!

Can you bake with frozen rhubarb, or does it need to thaw first?

You can absolutely throw it frozen into your rhubarb recipes, and no, it doesn’t have to thaw first! For example, in this recipe for rhubarb muffins, you can throw in frozen chunks of rhubarb to your muffin batter (as if you they were fresh), and it will turn out great.

The only thing to note is that baking with frozen rhubarb will lengthen the recommended baking time; so just make sure your baking is cooked through before removing it from the oven!

Ingredients

In order to make this sour cream rhubarb muffins recipe come out just right, using the best ingredients is essential. Here’s what you’re going to need, and a few little notes on why.

All-purpose flour

You can use regular or unbleached all purpose flour for this recipe, but to get the best homemade muffins, don’t try out anything in the way of flour that you’re not familiar with! 

Brown sugar

Using brown sugar in these muffins complements the tartness of the rhubarb and adds a delicious caramel undertone, which is so delicious!

Baking powder

This ingredient is essential for getting nice, rounded tops on your muffins!

Baking soda

Baking soda is another essential ingredient for making your muffins rise. 

Salt

The addition of salt in baking is a way to offset the sweetness of sugar. You can omit the salt if you prefer (especially if you are using salted butter). 

Eggs

Use large eggs in any baking recipe that doesn’t specify! 

Sour cream

This is the key ingredient that makes these muffins shine. Using sour cream (or one of my recommended substitutes) makes a huge difference in the finished product! 

Melted butter

Use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe; since the amount is not so high, the muffins will turn out great either way.

Grated orange zest

This ingredient gives a delicious, subtle orange undertone to the muffin batter!

Fresh or frozen rhubarb

You can use fresh or frozen rhubarb chunks in this recipe with the same results.

Freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with 3 Tbsp. white sugar

This optional glaze is spooned on top of the muffins for extra moisture and flavor. 

Recipe substitutions

• Brown sugar
  White sugar can be substituted for brown if you don’t have it.
• Sour cream
  You can use yogurt or buttermilk or greek yogurt in place of sour cream in this recipe and still get a delicious, moist muffin. I would not generally recommend low-fat sour cream, but you can certainly use it if need be.
• Rhubarb
  Yes – you read that right – the rhubarb itself! If you don’t have rhubarb but you love these muffins, go ahead and sub it out for another kind of fruit such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, gooseberries, or apples. 
• Orange
  You can omit the orange glaze in this recipe entirely, or go ahead and sub it out for lemon in you prefer!

How to make the best rhubarb sour cream muffins

1. Follow the recipe
   Like most things, following the recipe is the best way to get the results it promises. If you really want to try making substitutions, stick with my guide above for best results!
2. Plan ahead
   Baking is a project that you want to make sure you have time (and ingredients!) to make happen. Muffins are great for several days after you make them, but in my opinion, they’re at their best when they are fresh from the oven.
3. Don’t over mix
   Over mixing quick breads or muffin batters will activate the gluten too much and create tough, dense muffins. If you want a more tender muffin, mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients in a large bowl by hand until just combined, and then scoop them into your prepared tins.
4. Use muffin liners– or omit the glaze!
   In this recipe, I used a silicone muffin tin for my muffins. However, in hindsight, I am going to recommend that you use muffin liners (muffin cups) for this recipe if you are making them with the orange glaze. (So that the muffins are a little easier to remove from the tins.) 

How long will rhubarb muffins keep?

Rhubarb muffins will keep well at room temperature for a couple of days, in the fridge for about 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

In hot temperatures, always store your muffins in the fridge or freezer to lengthen their life span. Store rhubarb muffins in an airtight container.

You will need:

• Ingredients (see recipe card)
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Spatula
• Large ice cream scoop (optional)
• Muffin liners or tulip liners
• Muffin tins or silicone muffin tins
• Toothpicks
• Cooling rack

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

• Rhubarb Apple Pie
• Easy Homemade Rhubarb Sauce
• Dairy-Free Cranberry Bran Muffins
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I hope this rhubarb muffin recipe serves you well! There are few things that beat a fresh muffin first thing in the morning – or any time of day, for that matter.

Happy baking!

–Naomi

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