Made with in-season strawberries and rhubarb, these muffins are a great morning treat or to go along with a salad or main meal. Rhubarb is a cool plant. It grows enormous inedible leaves (they’re actually poisonous) with varying shades of reddish green stalks that we eat. There is no real difference between the taste of dark red rhubarb and those that tend to be more green, however, the darker red varieties contain higher levels of Vitamin A (see nutritional info below for the benefits of rhubarb). When I went to pick the rhubarb the other day, I found a friend.
The kind we ended up growing doesn’t get very red, much to our chagrin, but has a nice tangy taste. I usually combine it with another fruit to bring the taste together and mellow out the sourness of the rhubarb. Most recipes that use rhubarb dump on the sugar. We feel there is no need for that if you’re using in-season strawberries or other fruits to accompany it. This recipe uses honey as its sweetener, but feel free to swap out your sweetener of choice, such as maple syrup, agave, date syrup, or coconut nectar. As long as it’s a liquid, it should work.
The berries we use in this recipe were fresh, however we are still using the ones we froze last year! That’s the best thing about picking in season. You save money, capture the taste, support locally grown food, and can eat strawberries anytime of year! Get your family picking whatever is in season and freeze. You’ll be ready for smoothies, cobblers, muffins, and pancakes any time of the year.
*This was made gluten free. If you don’t need to have gluten free muffins, you can substitute whole wheat flour for the sorghum and oats. Nutritional info will be different. This recipe was inspired by the Fork over Knives Cookbook. We adapted their whole wheat berry muffins to create this recipe that is lower in sugar, salt, and gluten free.
Made 12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 2/3 cup of plant-based milk (we used homemade almond milk)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of sorghum flour (could use all oat flour if you don’t have sorghum)
- 1 cup of oat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp honey
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of strawberries, chopped; plus 2 for slices on top
- 1 cup of rhubarb chopped
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350, spray or line muffin tins
- Mix together the milk, flaxseed, and vinegar, quickly, until it gets foamy
- Sift dry ingredients together, mix in honey, applesauce, and add milk mixture.
- Fold in berries and rhubarb
- Using a 1/4 measuring cup, fill muffin tins until batter is gone.
- Place thin slices of strawberries on top of batter
- Bake until toothpick comes out clean, around 15-20 minutes.
- Let cool and remove from tin. Best eaten right away. Store leftovers in the fridge, as berries can mold quickly. Can be frozen.
Nutritional Benefits:
- Gluten free and plant-based: reduces inflammation, non-allergen, no cholesterol; heart healthy
- No saturated fat
- Reduced sugar, no refined sugar: better choice for diabetics
- Whole grain
- Lower in calories; 118
- High in fiber; great for regulating blood sugar levels, lowers blood pressure, improves digestive health and prevents many forms of cancer
- Strawberries:112% of Vitamin C needs in 1 cup of strawberries, great for immune health and ridding the body of toxins, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, decreases risk of Type 2 diabetes and improves heart health
- Rhubarb: Rhubarb is one of the least calorie vegetables. 100 g provide just 21 calories, contains some vital phyto-nutrients such as dietary fiber, poly-phenolic anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins, contain no saturated fats or cholesterol. The stalks are rich in several B-complex vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid. Further, the stalks also contain small amounts of poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds like β-carotene and lutein. These compounds convert to vitamin A inside the body and deliver same protective effects of vitamin A on the body. Vitamin A is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for healthy eye-sight. Research studies suggest that natural foods rich in vitamin A help the body protects against lung and oral cavity cancers. As in other greens like kale, spinach, etc., rhubarb stalks also provide good amounts of vitamin-K. 100 g of fresh stalks provide about 24% of daily recommended intake of this vitamin. Vitamin K has a potential role in bone health by promoting osteotrophic (bone formation and strengthening) activity. Adequate vitamin-K levels in the diet help limiting neuronal damage in the brain; thus, has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.Its stalks also contain healthy levels of minerals like iron, copper, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. However, most of these minerals do not absorb into the body as they are subject to chelating into insoluble complexes by oxalic acid, and excreted out from the body. Source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/rhubarb.html
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- ⅔ cup of plant-based milk (we used homemade almond milk)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of sorghum flour (could use all oat flour if you don't have sorghum)
- 1 cup of oat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 5 tbsp honey
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup of strawberries, chopped; plus 2 for slices on top
- 1 cup of rhubarb chopped
- Preheat oven to 350, spray or line muffin tins
- Mix together the milk, flaxseed, and vinegar, quickly, until it gets foamy
- Sift dry ingredients together, mix in honey, applesauce, and add milk mixture.
- Fold in berries and rhubarb
- Using a ¼ measuring cup, fill muffin tins until batter is gone.
- Place thin slices of strawberries on top of batter
- Bake until toothpick comes out clean, around 15-20 minutes.
- Let cool and remove from tin. Best eaten right away. Store leftovers in the fridge, as berries can mold quickly. Can be frozen.
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