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    Home » Recipes » Breakfast

    Orange Rhubarb Muffins with Buttermilk

    Published: May 30, 2022 · Modified: Apr 27, 2025 by Jenna · This post may contain affiliate links · 18 Comments

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    Springtime is the best season because Rhubarb is fresh and in season. Rhubarb muffins are a great way to use up some extra rhubarb that you have lying around in your garden this time of year. - When life gives you rhubarb just make rhubarb muffins!

    Springtime is the best season because Rhubarb is fresh and in season. Rhubarb muffins are a great way to use up some extra rhubarb that you have lying around in your garden this time of year

    Do you like baking with rhubarb? Try out Try Rhubarb fruit leather, Rhubarb Dump Cake, or Frosted Rhubarb Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting for another easy recipes!

    At my old house, there was a rhubarb bush in the garden. It grew, and grew, and grew, and produced so much rhubarb, I had it coming out of my ears. I honestly didn’t know what to do with it all and I’d be searching for so many rhubarb recipes online. I think the only rhubarb recipe I ever liked was having them in muffins and strawberry rhubarb crisp. I kind of miss that rhubarb plant since I’ve moved but I don’t miss all the rhubarb that I used to have.

    Rhubarb is very tart and the only way to make it edible is by adding a lot of sugar to it in my opinion. I think  I see rhubarb more in sweet dishes rather than savory.

    Jump to:
    • Tips for Rhubarb Muffins
    • Ingredients Needed
    • How to make Orange Rhubarb Muffins
    • Variations to Try
    • Recipe FAQs
    • Other Recipes To Try 
    • Healthy Orange Rhubarb Muffins

    Tips for Rhubarb Muffins

    If you don’t have any buttermilk simply mix together 1 cup of milk (any kind) plus 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and let that sit for a while. That mixture will become buttermilk.

    Save some extra chopped rhubarb to put on top of the muffins. Place them on top of the batter before you bake them. These rhubarb muffins are 5 smart points each. If you desire to sub out the oil for unsweetened applesauce they are only 4 smart points.

    If you don't like your muffin batter very wet only use ½ cup milk.

    Ingredients Needed

    • Brown Sugar  - regular granulated sugar, I do not use sugar substitutes in any of my recipes but if you know the conversions feel free to do so
    • Buttermilk - Don’t have buttermilk? Make your own by combining regular milk with lemon juice and let it sit for a while. 
    • Vegetable Oil- can swap out greek yogurt, sour cream, or applesauce
    • Eggs - large eggs at room temperature - using room temperature eggs will help mix stuff together better 
    • Vanilla Extract - as Ina Garten always says use a good pure vanilla extract. No imitation vanilla please! Vanilla extract is made by combing vodka and fresh vanilla beans to a glass jar. This has to sit for a couple of days for the vodka to smart smelling like vanilla beans.
    • Orange Zest - use grater
    • All Purpose Flour - Most baking recipes will require some type of flour. In order to get the right amount level off the flour with a spoon.
    • Baking Soda and baking powder  to help the muffins rise and spread out more 
    • Chopped Rhubarb - 3 cups or however much you like! If you don't have rhubarb you can find it now in the produce section of your grocery store! The one I usually shop at had them in bags.
    • See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements. 

    How to make Orange Rhubarb Muffins

    Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper cups. If you have no muffin tin liners just grease it with cooking spray.

    Greased muffin cup liner.

    Step 2: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

    Step 3: In a separate bowl, beat the brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients until blended. Fold in the rhubarb and orange zest.

    Wet Ingredients mixed with dry ingredients.

    Step 4: Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling almost to the top.

    Muffin batter in cupcake pan.

    Step 5: Cook muffins 20-25 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

    1. 5 smart points for 1 muffin

    Variations to Try

    Instead of 3 cups of chopped rhubarb use 1 ½ cups of chopped strawberry for Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

    Make a crumble streusel topping to add on the top of the muffins or sprinkle the top with sugar.

    Replace half of the amount of rhubarb with some chopped Zucchini or apples

    Want to try using different types of flours? Try wheat flour, oats, or even different types of flour such as coconut or almond flour for special diet needs.

    3 Rhubarb muffins sitting on an white plate.

    Recipe FAQs

    What do I do with rhubarb?

    You can cook it down in a saucepan with some sugar and turn it into freezer jam, rhubarb sauce, or make fruit leather with it.

    What does rhubarb pair well with?

    Rhubarb is a tart vegetable and usually many recipes online will add extra sugar to it or some strawberries for more sweetness.

    Other Recipes To Try 

    • Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes Blackstone
    • Air Fryer Frozen Burgers
    • Air Fryer Canned Biscuits
    • Blackstone French Toast

    If you tried this Rhubarb Muffins or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! Follow along on Tiktok @jennarecipediaries

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    Healthy Orange Rhubarb Muffins

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
    • Author: Jenna
    • Prep Time: 10min
    • Cook Time: 25
    • Total Time: 25
    • Yield: 12
    • Category: Breakfast
    • Method: Bake
    • Cuisine: American
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    Healthy Orange Rhubarb Muffins with Buttermilk


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • ⅔ cup brown sugar
    • ½ cup low-fat buttermilk (see tips above for making homemade buttermilk)
    • ¼ cup vegetable oil, 
    • 1 Egg
    • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
    • 1 ½ tsp orange zest 
    • 1 ½ cups flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
    • ½ tsp salt
    • 3 cups rhubarb, chopped


    Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper cups.
    2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. 
    3. In a separate bowl, beat the brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients until blended. Fold in the rhubarb and orange zest. 
    4. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling almost to the top. 
    5. Cook muffins 20-25 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.
    6. 5 smart points for 1 muffin. 

    Notes

    myWW points: Blue 4; Green 4; Purple  4

    If you don't like your muffin batter very wet only use ½ cup milk. 


    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 muffin
    • Calories: 166
    • Sugar: 13.4g
    • Sodium: 130.4
    • Fat: 5.4g
    • Saturated Fat: 1
    • Carbohydrates: 26.8g
    • Fiber: 1.1g
    • Protein: 3.1g

    Did you make this recipe?

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    rhubarb muffins 011

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Andrie says

      January 06, 2025 at 12:00 pm

      I bake these often and they are very good. I bake them at 350F as 175C is not 400F but 350F.

    2. Jennifer says

      May 31, 2022 at 8:00 pm

      My muffins did not come out wet like the others said below. They were great!

    3. Jenna says

      August 25, 2021 at 1:26 pm

      I didn't say that I had changed the milk at all in any of these comments below. Just a reader had suggested that. Maybe try using less milk next time if that is your preference? Just because a batter is too wet for you doesn't mean it will not work. Just have to bake the muffins a bit longer.

    4. Annette says

      August 25, 2021 at 12:47 pm

      Too wet! I wish I had read the comments before I wasted all the ingredients. You said you changed to amount of milk, you did not. What a waste!

    5. Linda says

      May 10, 2020 at 3:15 pm

      Way too wet. I looked up a 'basic' muffin recipe. Besides the rhubarb and buttermilk instead of 'sweet milk, the ingredients and amounts were pretty much the same amounts. The exception was the milk/buttermilk which wss 1/2 cup instead of a full 1 cup. Flavor was great, so I will try again with half as much buttermilk.

    6. Laurie McCallum says

      June 08, 2018 at 5:32 pm

      Very good, didn't need 20-25 minutes though. Mine were brown at 15.

    7. Jenna says

      June 02, 2018 at 7:41 pm

      Sorry, I fixed the recipe.

    8. Ethel says

      June 02, 2018 at 4:24 pm

      Your ingredient list calls for 2 tsp. vinegar. It's not mentioned again in the instructions. What's the scoop?

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    Hey, I'm Jenna! I'm a graphic designer, photographer, and home cook from From Fargo ND. I love my Ninja Creami, Air Fryer, and Blackstone. I created this blog to share recipe tips and tricks with everyone, enjoy!

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