When I was a kid growing up in Michigan, we had a patch of rhubarb that grew behind the shed every year. Each spring/summer we would have an endless supply of fresh rhubarb. I love rhubarb. I remember eating it raw with a sprinkle of sugar. We made rhubarb sauce -- boiling it down like applesauce with sugar. We made rhubarb pie. My favorite was mom's recipe for rhubarb cake. It had a lot of steps that included sour milk (milk with lemon juice added to it.) and sifting a lot of dry ingredients together, but it was delicious. Always moist and gooey and tart. A perfect assault on the taste buds! Oh how I miss those days! Rhubarb is expensive in South Florida, but a few days ago, there was a nice package at the local grocery, and I bought some. Now, what to do with it?
I will admit, I am not much of a baker. I am a cook. I like to add a little bit of whatever strikes my fancy to whatever I am stirring up in a pan or pot. Baking is more scientific. If you add more liquid or less eggs or baking soda instead of baking powder, you can end up with a horrific mess. Also, If I want a sweet treat, it still has to be sugar-free and low carb! No way am I sacrificing my loss of 145 pounds -- even for mom's rhubarb cake! So, I had to figure out a way to make a yummy rhubarb treat, keep some portion control, and make it low carb.
I decided to use coconut flour. Since rhubarb releases a lot of liquid, and coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid, I thought it might be a good combination.
The end result? Rhubarb muffins were yummy fresh out of the oven and slathered in butter. Bryan went back for seconds immediately (Okay, and I had him get me another one, too!), so I know they were at least okay. But were they mom's-rhubarb-cake-good? Definitely not! I will keep trying though.
My first attempt at Rhubarb Muffins:
Rhubarb Muffins -- Made with Coconut Flour
Made 13 muffins/mini loaves
Ingredients:
Rhubarb mixture:
2 cups finely diced rhubarb
Juice from 1 lemon
2 tblsp Sweetner (I use Swerve)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (next time I will use 1 teaspoon for more cinnamon flavor!)
Dry ingredients:
1 Cup
Coconut flour
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup powdered sweetner (I use
Swerve Confectioners)
Wet ingredients:
9 Eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup half n half
1/3 cup honey substitute ( I use
Nature's Hollow Xylitol honey - you can use any sweetner to taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Butter your muffin tins -- these things stick! They will stick to muffin papers, too
3. In one bowl, combine rhubarb, lemon juice, 2 tblsp Swerve, ground ginger and cinnamon.
4. Set the rhubarb aside. I did this when I set out the eggs to get to room temperature. It allows the rhubarb to soften a bit and soak up the lemon and sweetner.
5. In another bowl, either sift or wisk together the dry ingredients.
6. In a third, large bowl, beat the eggs and then mix in the other wet ingredients.
7. Combine the dry and wet ingredients in the larger bowl. When almost completely combined, stir in the rhubarb mixture.
8. Let it sit for a minute to absorb.
9. Using a 1/3 cup measure (or ice cream scoop!), measure out the batter into the muffin tin.
10. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 18-25 minutes. When a toothpick comes out clean, they are done.
Slather them with butter and serve!
While he was cramming his second muffin slathered in butter in his mouth, Bryan made the comment that this was more like cake with rhubarb pieces than a rhubarb cake. I think next time I try this, I will puree and cook down the rhubarb (and cool it before adding it) to get it to incorporate better into the batter. Maybe I can get it to caramelize a little bit....hmmmmmm....
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