Rhubarb Crumb Muffins

Filling:
3 1/2 cups diced rhubarb
1/2 T cornstarch
2 T instant tapioca
3/4 c sugar
1/2 T lemon juice
Mix ingredients together in a bowl.  Allow to sit at least one hour.

Dough:
2 c flour
2 T sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
10 T butter cut into small cubes
2/3 c buttermilk
Put into the bowl of a food processor flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Using the pulse, cut in the butter until mixture looks like fine crumbs.  Do not over mix. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in 2/3 c buttermilk tossing gently with a fork. Continue to mix bringing all ingredients together to form a soft dough. Dough should not be sticky.  Add more milk 1 T at a time, as needed to form a soft dough, it should not be sticky.  Gently form the dough into a ball or log and cut into 12 even pieces.

Crumb Topping:
1 c flour
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
7 T butter cut into small cubes
Measure the dry ingredients into the bowl of the food processor.  Pulse in the butter.  Blend until the mixture forms a crumble.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Assembly:
Butter a 12-cup muffin pan.  Line the bottom of each cup with a circle of parchment paper.
Using 1 piece of dough for each muffin cup.   Handle the dough as gently and as little as possible. Place each piece of dough into the muffin cups and press to cover the bottom and sides bring the dough up a little higher than the top of the cup. Fill the cups with a heaping Tablespoon of Rhubarb filling along with a little of the juice.  Top with a heaping Tablespoon of crumb topping. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 10 minutes until crumb topping is golden brown.  Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.  Serve warm jam or whipped cream.

Farm kitchen tip – These muffins are a quick bread and they are best served the day they are prepared.
Yield: 12 muffins
Recipe and photo by Jenn Borrealo, Alstede Farms Culinary & Educational Specialist 

To learn more about eating seasonally with Rhubarb, visit our blog.