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Bakery Style Rhubarb Muffins with Crumb Topping

These rhubarb muffins are bakery style with their domed muffin tops and crumbly crumb topping! They are moist and tart with all the fresh rhubarb and lightly spiced with ginger and cinnamon. Comfort in every bite!

 

A baking sheet with baked rhubarb muffins, pink peonies in the background.

 

These are some of my absolute favorite muffins, alongside lemon blueberry muffins, and for the same reason. The tartness from the fruits goes incredibly well with the comforting muffin and the crumb topping. It's all about the balance and I could eat them every single day.

 

What Makes These Muffins 'Bakery Style'?

 

Bakery Style muffins are muffins that have a high domed muffin top and often a crumb topping, but it's especially the domed top. It's something special about that glorious, big muffin that you could eat with a fork and sip a latte next to it. Café life at home, so to speak.

 

The secret to making bakery style muffins is basically three things. First, you need just the right amount of leavening agents, baking soda and baking powder. And second, you need to fill the muffin tins all the way to the top to force the muffins up from the tin.

 

Thirdly, you need to shock the batter with an initially high temperature for about five minutes and then reduce the temperature to avoid burning them before they are completely done inside. The high temperature will help the air bubbles expand even more. 

 

One muffin with crumb topping on a vintage, white plate.

 

Other Recipes with Rhubarb

 

Isn't rhubarb season just the best?! Well, there are so many great seasons, from blueberry, to pumpkin and apples and citrus season, they are all fabulous. But rhubarb is definitely up there.

 

My favorite ways to eat rhubarb is for one; take a rhubarb stalk and dip it in granulated sugar - just like we did when we were kids. Takes me back.

 

But grown-up me also love a good cocktail, like a Rhubarb Moscow Mule! Other drinks I'd love to try this rhubarb season are strawberry rhubarb lemonade and raspberry rhubarb margaritas!

 

But I also enjoy to bake with rhubarb, like these muffins, but also a comforting rhubarb crisp. That is incredibly easy, and eating warm and fruity crisp with cold ice cream is so delicious. For a healthier take on this, I can recommend these strawberry rhubarb oatmeal bars.

 

My newest addiction is these beautiful rhubarb custard tartlets with a lattice pattern for an old-fashioned and elegant look.

 

Other recipes I would love to try are rhubarb ice cream and homemade old fashioned rhubarb bread. There's really something for everyone and every occasion! 

 

One rhubarb muffin cut in half.

 

Crumb Topping 

 

I'm that person that actually prefers crumb topping over a sky high frosting on a cupcake (although I love a little), but that crunch in the crumb topping really is to die for. Unfortunately, crumb toppings make it a little harder to store the cupcakes!

 

But it's so worth it. And there are mainly two ways in which you can make a crumb topping. I love them both, but the first version creates a more uniform crumb topping, and is what we'll be doing here: 

 

  1. Melt the butter and mix with all the other ingredients. Let cool and dry on a large baking sheet or plate. This is what I've done here and in the blueberry muffins recipe and blackcurrant cake.
  2. Use super cold butter and a pastry cutter (or two forks) and cut the butter into the other ingredients until they resemble peas in size. That's what I've done for this lemon cream cheese coffee cake and chocolate pear cake

 

Either way works fine and I don't think any of them is superior to the other, so it's just a matter of preference!

 

Crumb topping muffins and pink peonies seen from above.

 

How to Make Them

 

Pre-heat the oven to 430F (220C) and prepare a muffin tin with muffin liners. As we are making the melted butter crumb topping, do that first. Melt butter and mix all the ingredients together, spread on to a baking sheet to let cool and dry. 

 

In a small bowl, add chopped rhubarb and 1 tablespoon sugar and let sit for 5-10 minutes (longer is also fine). This will release its juices, known as macerating. The rhubarb will soften and kind of marinating in its own juices (1)

 

In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and in a large bowl whisk together the wet ingredients (2). Carefully, using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients (3)

 

Steps to make the muffin batter.

 

Now fold the macerated rhubarb into the muffin batter (4-5). Add the batter to the prepared muffin tin all the way to the top and then top with the crumble topping (6-7)

 

Bake for 5 minutes on the higher temperature to get the picture perfect dome, and then reduce the temperature to 350F (175C) to complete the baking, about 15 minutes. This way the muffins will not burn before finished baking (8)

 

Steps to fill the muffin tins.

 

Let them cool on a wire rack and then enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea! You can use any kind of glaze on these as well, like this cream cheese glazing or maple brown butter glazing, but I don't think they need anything. 

 

Three muffins on vintage, white plates, pink peonies in the bottom left corner. Flatlay.

 

Did You Like These Rhubarb Muffins? Here are More Muffins or Cupcakes I Think You Will Like:

 

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below or tag me @thegingerwithspice on Instagram. And don’t forget to Pin it for later! To make sure you’re never missing another recipe, please feel free to subscribe to my newsletter. As a thanks you will receive a free e-cookbook Travels Through the Seasons, with many delicious recipes from around the world that suit different seasons of the year. 

 

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📖 Recipe

One muffin with crumb topping on a vintage, white plate.

Bakery Style Rhubarb Muffins with Crumb Topping

Yield: 16 muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Bakery style rhubarb muffins with domed muffin tops and crumb topping, moist and tart with fresh rhubarb and lightly spiced with ginger and cinnamon.

Ingredients

Rhubarb Muffins

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g*)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 stick melted butter, 113g
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, 200g
  • ½ cup sour cream, 130g
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Rhubarb

  • 2 cups chopped rhubarb, 200g
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Crumb Topping

  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour, 100g
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar, 50g
  • ¼ cup melted butter, 4 tbsp
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 430℉ (220℃) and prepare muffin tin with muffin liners.
  2. Mix crumb topping ingredients together and let dry (and cool) in one layer on a large baking sheet or a plate.
  3. In a large bowl, mix chopped rhubarb with 1 tablespoon sugar and let sit 5-10 minutes to release their juices.
  4. In a small bowl mix the dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger.
  5. In a large bowl, mix sugar and eggs until bubbly. Then add in the rest of the wet ingredients; cooled melted butter, sour cream and vanilla extract.
  6. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, carefully with a spatula.
  7. With the spatula, mix in the rhubarb (and its juices). Add this mixture into the prepared muffin liners, fill all the way to the top. Sprinkle with dried crumb topping.
  8. Bake for 5 minutes on 430F, then reduce the temperature to 350℉ (175℃) and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out reasonably clean. Cool on a cooling rack.

Notes

* I always recommend using a kitchen scale when baking.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 249Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 284mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information isn't always accurate, estimate for informational purposes only.

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