These strawberry and rhubarb muffins are so easy to make and are bursting with fresh fruity flavour! They come together quickly and produce delicious, café quality results every time. Plus these muffins also freeze really well, making them a great way to use up fresh strawberries and rhubarb when in season.
Rhubarb is not something that I have had much experience with over the years, but recently I decided to give it a try and discovered that I absolutely love it!
These muffins combine the classic flavours of sweet strawberries with the tart rhubarb to produce a delicious treat you can enjoy for morning tea or a grab and go snack when you need a little sweet pick-me-up.
This recipe was based on my all time favourite dairy free blueberry muffins. This is the recipe that made me actually enjoy muffins, so I knew I had to start here when creating this strawberry rhubarb version.
The result was shockingly good, and while I will always love blueberry muffins, these are right up there with them!
Key Ingredients
Once you have some fresh rhubarb and strawberries, the rest of the ingredients for these dairy free muffins are likely already in your pantry and fridge!
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Plain flour – also known as all purpose flour.
- Baking powder – helps the muffins rise when baked, giving them that lovely light and soft texture.
- Strawberries – this recipe was created with fresh strawberries in mind, so that’s what I recommend.
- Rhubarb – this wonderfully seasonal vegetable is most often treated like a fruit in desserts. It has a tart, slightly citrusy taste that pairs beautifully with strawberries.
- Lemon zest – optional, but it adds a lovely fresh brightness that complements the strawberry and rhubarb really well.
- Light brown sugar and white sugar/granulated sugar – I like to use a combination of both in my muffin recipes as it works well for flavour and sweetness, adds moisture, and helps achieve that perfect café style texture.
- Canola oil – keeps the muffins soft and moist. You can use any light tasting vegetable oil.
- Vanilla extract – always for flavour!
- Egg – binds the batter together and gives the muffins structure.
- Dairy free milk – I’ve used oat milk, soy milk and almond milk and they all work well, so use whatever you like and have on hand. You can also use regular dairy milk if you don’t need these to be dairy free.
When is Rhubarb in season?
In Australia, rhubarb is at its best in late summer and autumn. In the northern hemisphere it appears in early spring. So interestingly, both regions often have it in season around the same time despite the opposite seasonal schedule!
You’ll Also Love: Gluten Free Raspberry Muffins
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla, lemon zest, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
Step 2: Sift in the plain flour and baking powder, then gently fold the mixture while slowly adding the dairy free milk until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, it’s ok if the batter is slightly lumpy.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, toss the chopped strawberries and rhubarb with the tablespoon of flour. This helps prevent them from sinking into the batter.
Step 4: Gently fold the fruit into the batter until just evenly dispersed.
Step 5: Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cases, filling them quite full, then sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar.
Step 6: Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven to 180°C (350°F) and bake for a further 15–20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
👉 Why toss the fruit in flour? The light coating of flour gives the batter something to grip onto, helping the strawberry and rhubarb pieces stay suspended throughout the muffin rather than sinking to the bottom during baking.
Storage Instructions
These muffins are amazing fresh from the oven! But if you do not want to eat 12 at once you can let them cool completely on a wire rack and then store them in an airtight container for 2-3 days in a cool, dry spot. Otherwise I recommend freezing them.
To freeze, wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
When ready to eat, let them come to room temperature on the kitchen bench or in a lunchbox. For that fresh from the oven feel, microwave for about 10 seconds and they will be just like freshly baked.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! To make gluten free strawberry rhubarb muffins just replace the flour with a good quality 1-1 gluten free flour that already contains xanthan gum such as Bobs Red Mill (the blue packet).
Absolutely. You can use any milk you prefer in this recipe.
I don’t recommend it as the combination of brown and white sugar contributes to not only the flavour but also the moisture in these muffins. Reducing it too much may affect the texture and how well they keep.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More dairy free muffin recipes:
Vegan Chocolate Muffins
Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
Earl Grey Blueberry Muffins
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Strawberry and Rhubarb Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 125 ml (½ cup) canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
- 60 grams (¼ cup) brown sugar
- 113 grams (½ cup) white sugar
- 300 grams (2 cups) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 185 ml (¾ cup) dairy free milk such as oat milk, soy milk or almond milk
- 1 tablespoon plain flour for tossing fruit
- 120 grams (¾ cup) fresh strawberries chopped
- 100 grams (¾ cup) rhubarb finely chopped
- demerara sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla, lemon zest, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
- Sift in the plain flour and baking powder. Gently fold the mixture, slowly adding the almond milk, until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, the batter should be slightly lumpy.
- In a separate bowl, toss the chopped strawberries and rhubarb with the tablespoon of flour. This helps prevent them from sinking into the batter.
- Gently fold the fruit into the batter until just evenly dispersed.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cases, filling them quite full. Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar.
- Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven to 180°C (350°F) and bake for a further 15–20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Made this recipe? Leave a review!