These rhubarb banana muffins are an absolute keeper, with their crunchy tops and pockets of pink juicy rhubarb.
If you, like me, are fascinated by rhubarb, you must have been looking for a recipe to combine tart sweet and fragrant to celebrate the wonder of this vegetable. Yes, you heard this right, rhubarb is a vegetable.
What you’ll love about this recipe
As soon as I can get my hands on forced rhubarb, as early as February-March, I start thinking about ways to incorporate it in my cooking, mainly in my fruity desserts. I’m such a muffin person, move over ice-cream ! LOL 😂!
- Perfectly Balanced Sweetness: I love how the tangy rhubarb cuts through the banana’s sweetness and you get such balance of flavors with every mouthful.
- Moist and Tender Crumb: Sour cream or yogurt adds amazing texture, keeping these muffins irresistibly soft.
- No butter: I don’t know about you, but I find that butter adds complication to desserts, so if I can skip it, yay!
- Easy to Make: No fancy equipment needed! Just a few bowls and some mixing, and so quick, you are literally half an hour away from indulgence!
- No sinking to the bottom: I found that this batter is slightly stiffer than a muffin batter and this helps the fruit stay in place.
- Use up those overripe blackened bananas, they have so much flavor!
Watch how to make rhubarb banana muffins
Ingredients you’ll need
- Rhubarb – fresh works best because it doesn’t add unnecessary moisture and softens during baking. I guess you can use frozen, thaw well , drain and pat with some kitchen paper. Let me know if you try it this way 😊.
- Banana – please, please 🙏🙏🙏, use a ripe flavorful banana that you mash lightly.
- Sugar – preferably caster sugar. And you DON’T need to leave the fruit and sugar mix to draw the juices.
- Flour – use plain flour or all purpose flour. If using self-raising, just skip the baking powder.
- Sour cream – in fact, I made them with creme fraiche, yogurt or buttermilk and all work well too, they keep the texture wonderfully moist.
- Egg – I use a large egg, making sure to beat it up lightly.
- Oil – an odorless oil such as sunflower or vegetable is great here.
- Vanilla – extract or if you are fancy, use a vanilla pod.
- Baking powder and baking soda – to make your muffins fluffy and aerated.
- White chocolate chips – optional, fold a handful in the batter and stud the muffin tops with them. More texture and sweetness that work so well with that tartness!
How to make rhubarb banana muffins (step-by-step)
Time needed: 30 minutes
Bursting with fruity goodness, these rhubarb banana muffins are the perfect treat and not too sweet!
- Prepare the fruit (and veg 😜)
In a large bowl, lightly mash a ripe banana. Remove the ends of the rhubarb stems and cut them into a manageable size then slice them on the length to make thinner sticks. Then dice them into approximately half an inch pieces. Add the diced rhubarb to the bowl and the sugar and give them a quick mix with a spoon or spatula.
- Mixing wet ingredients
In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg up, add the vanilla extract, oil and sour cream. Mix everything with a spoon then add this mixture over the banana and rhubarb.
- Make the batter
You can just add the rest of the dry ingredients to the large bowl and fold everything gently or mix the dry ingredients separately then add and combine with the wet ingredients. Both methods work.
- Fill the cases and bake
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each muffin case approximately two-thirds full.
Bake for 20 minutes at 190°C or 374°F, depending on your oven type. Check with a toothpick into the center of a muffin. It should come out clean.
- Cool and enjoy!
Let the muffins to cool in the tin for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool at least a little. It’ll be a torture to wait 🤣! Enjoy!
Pro Tips
- Some muffin recipes call for the sugar and fruit to sit a little while, but you don’t need to. In fact I think the muffins come out chewy rather than fluffy that way.
- Cut the rhubarb stems along the length if they are thick then in smaller cubes to avoid them sinking to the bottom.
- Work fast! Especially once you start blending flour, baking powder and baking soda, you will achieve muffin perfection by quickly filling the cases and popping the tin in the oven!
- Mix just until combined with a spatula or spoon, but don’t overmix. This is the secret to fluffy airy muffins!
Nutritional benefits
A sweet treat is just that, I’m not going to pretend these are healthy, but certainly a better sweet treat choice to boost plant intake in your diet.
Rhubarb and bananas are a match made in muffin heaven. Rhubarb boasts a good amount of fiber, while bananas are a natural source of potassium and vitamin B6. Feed those friendly gut bacteria happy!
Servings
This recipe yields 12 medium size muffins.
What to serve with rhubarb and banana muffins
- Serve these muffins warm with a dollop of Greek yogurt. Or just simply dust with a little icing sugar! (they will look so fancy)
- I love one next to my morning cup of coffee or in the afternoon with a refreshing cup of Earl Grey tea. They make such an elegant tea time treat!
- My hubby went on a little road trip with his charity group and “pledged” a sweet and easy to carry snack. So I made a few batches for them to enjoy. Oh, the praises these banana and rhubarb muffins received 😉! Somehow the wrappers made their way back home!
- But if you don’t have friends and family to devour these fast, pack them loosely in airtight containers and freeze them. They are those “freezer treasures” I’m talking about, making a surprise reappearance at breakfast ☕or tea-time 🍵!
- STORAGE: I have noticed that if you keep the muffins stored in an airtight container or even in a plastic bag, they tend to become sticky on top and lose their crunch. So best to cover them with a tea towel or store them in a paper bag for up to 2 days. But I promise you though they won’t last that long 😄!
variations and substitutions
- VEGETARIAN: This recipe is vegetarian. I haven’t tried it, but if you do want to make this VEGAN, you can use an egg alternative and the sour cream with vegan yogurt (such as coconut yogurt) or make your own vegan sour cream. Let me know how you get on 😊!
- You can add a crumble or streusel topping if you want, I have a handy recipe for a crunchy and quick to make topping in my strawberry and rhubarb crumble muffins recipe or my apple crumble tarts. Absolute foolproof!
- No Sour Cream/Yogurt? Use buttermilk instead! You may need to hold a little back and add the rest if too thick.
- Add a little lemon zest for a different twist! I almost always add it to my desserts anyway.
- Fold white chocolate chips in the batter, I feel like they match best with that tangy rhubarb.
Rhubarb banana muffins are such a wonderful way to celebrate spring flavors 🌱, my lovelies! They’re so quick and easy to make, moist and bursting with flavor. I hope you make them today, I think they are the perfect healthy-ish sweet treat!
- If you make my recipe, take a snapshot for your Instagram
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recipe FAQ
Fresh rhubarb works best because it doesn’t add unnecessary moisture and softens during baking. I guess you can use frozen, thaw well , drain and pat with some kitchen paper. Let me know if you try it this way 😊.
Absolutely not! In 20 minutes of baking that stringy woody stalk turns into softest juiciest goodness, it’s quite magical!
It’s possible you overmixed the batter. Next time, just fold the ingredients gently and pop the muffins in the oven as soon as you filled them.
I tend to do this with some desserts so I’d say you can certainly try and reduce it by a quarter. Although the tartness of the rhubarb suits a sweeter muffin. Let me know if you do and how you got on 😊.
Rhubarb banana muffins
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- 1 medium bowl
- 1 scale
- 1 spatula or spoon
- 1 whisk for beating the egg lightly, or just use a fork
- 1 muffin tin
- muffin cases
Ingredients
- 200 g rhubarb diced
- 100 g mashed ripe banana about 1 medium-sized banana
- 175 g sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 g of salt or a good pinch
- 130 g sour cream or yogurt
- 230 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 50 g white chocolate chips optional, to fold in and sprinkle
Instructions
Prepare the fruit (and veg 😜)
- In a large bowl, lightly mash a ripe banana.
- Remove the ends of the rhubarb stems and cut them into a manageable size then slice them on the length to make thinner sticks. Then dice them into approximately half an inch pieces. Add the diced rhubarb to the bowl and the sugar and give them a quick mix with a spoon or spatula.
Mixing wet ingredients
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg up, add the oil, vanilla extract, oil and sour cream.
- Mix everything with a spoon then add this mixture over the banana and rhubarb.
Make the batter
- First method: add the rest of the ingredients to the large bowl and fold everything gently.
- Second method: mix the dry ingredients separately then add and combine with the wet ingredients. Both methods work.
Fill the cases and bake
- Use a tablespoon to divide the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each muffin case approximately two-thirds full.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 190°C or 374°F, depending on your oven type. Check with a toothpick into the center of a muffin. It should come out clean.
Cool and enjoy!
- Let the muffins cool down in the tin for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
-
- Some recipes call for the sugar and fruit to sit a little while, but you don’t need to. In fact I think the muffins come out chewy rather than fluffy that way.
-
- Cut the muffin stems along the length if they are thick then in smaller cubes to avoid them sinking to the bottom.
-
- Work fast! Especially once you start blending flour, baking powder and baking soda, you will achieve muffin perfection!
-
- Mix just until combined with a spatula or spoon, but don’t overmix. This is the secret to fluffy airy muffins!
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