These strawberry rhubarb muffins are packed with juicy red strawberries and tart chunks of rhubarb. They have a strawberry rhubarb jam filling and a crunchy streusel topping.
We adapted the recipe for our blueberry muffins and changed up the fruit, then filled the muffins with jam. They are a great way to use fresh seasonal fruit. Serve them for breakfast or brunch with a cup of lavender tea.
If you have a surplus of rhubarb and strawberries, try our strawberry rhubarb crisp or our strawberry rhubarb pie. And if you have a large crowd to feed, our slab pie is perfect for big gatherings.
Why This Recipe Works
- Do you know those jelly-filled donuts everyone loves? Well, these are jelly-filled muffins. How can that be wrong?
- The sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb blend in perfect harmony inside this delicious handheld pasty.
- Sour cream makes the muffins moist, tender, and light, while the butter gives them a rich buttery flavor.
- A crunchy streusel topping adds extra texture to these tender muffins.
Ingredients needed for Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins
Here is a list of the ingredients you will need for this jam filled muffin recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for all the details.
- Flour. This recipe works well with all-purpose flour but you can use cake flour or pastry flour.
- Baking powder and baking soda. Check the expiration date and make sure they are still good.
- Salt. A bit of salt enhances all the flavors.
- Butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter. The small amount of salt in salted butter will not hurt the recipe.
- Sugar. Just regular granulated, white sugar.
- Eggs. Make sure the eggs come to room temperature.
- Sour cream. Full fat sour cream will work the best, however you can substitute with reduced fat or Greek yogurt.
- Vanilla extract and lemon zest. These add a lovely flavor to the muffins.
- Strawberries and Rhubarb. Dice the fruit into small pieces.
- Strawberry rhubarb jam. You can make our homemade jam or use storebought jam. If you can’t find this flavor, you can use strawberry jam.
How to Make It
Here is a brief overview to give you an idea of what to expect when making our strawberry rhubarb muffins. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for all the details.
Plan ahead if you want to make a fresh batch of strawberry rhubarb jam. Our jam recipe is lower in sugar than traditional jam because we love the tart flavor of rhubarb. If you don’t want to make your own jam, you can grab a jar of strawberry preserves at the store.
Mix the muffin batter then fold in diced strawberries and rhubarb. Use a gentle folding motion so you don’t over-mix the batter.
Fill the muffin cups half way full then place a tablespoon of jam in the center. Try to keep the jam away from the edges.
Add a scoop of batter on top of the jam. The muffin cups should be filled all the way to the top.
Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the top of the muffins and pop them in the oven.
Tip: If you use tall tulip cupcake liners (affiliate link), they will keep the streusel topping from scattering all over the cupcake pan like it did in the photo above. The taller liners will also help the muffins rise higher.
More Easy Quick Bread Recipes
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- Buttery Cornbread
- Sour Cream and Onion Biscuits
- Morning Glory Muffins
More Tips for Success
- The best way to measure your flour is to weigh it on a scale. If you don’t have a scale, fluff the flour, then lightly spoon it into the measuring cups. If you over-measure the flour, the muffins will turn out dense.
- Don’t over-mix the batter. Use a wide spatula to gently fold the batter just until it is combined. Too much stirring will make the muffins tough.
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing the batter. A quick way to bring eggs to room temperature is to place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
- The batter is supposed to be thick. If you use yogurt instead of sour cream, the batter will be a bit thinner, and the jam will sink to the bottom as the muffins bake.
- Buy full-fat sour cream for the best results.
- This recipe begins with a hot oven, but don’t forget to reduce the temperature after the first five minutes. The initial blast of heat helps the muffins rise higher.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not necessarily. The batter in this recipe is pretty thick, and we haven’t had problems with the fruit sinking to the bottom. You may encounter sinking if your fruit is extremely wet or if you cut the fruit into larger pieces.
Frozen fruit tends to add extra moisture and makes the muffins denser. If you do use frozen fruit, thaw it first and pat the fruit pieces dry with a paper towel. However, you will have better results with fresh fruit.
Yes. You can freeze the muffins for up to 6 months. Keep them stored in an airtight, freezer-proof bag or container.
These jam filled strawberry rhubarb muffins are better than bakery muffins, and there is a certain satisfaction about baking from scratch. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do. They are perfect for breakfast, brunch, or even dessert.
More Recipes You Will Love
Our strawberry fig jam or dried fig jams are two more great additions to our jam filled muffins if you want to change things up a bit.
Try our blueberry rhubarb pie or fresh peach pie for an end-of-summer dessert. Top them off with some homemade whipped cream or strawberry basil ice cream for a change.
These strawberry yogurt popsicles have a ton of fruity flavor. We roasted the strawberries and concentrated the flavors but kept the calories under control.
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Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins
Ingredients
Crumble Topping
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 90 grams
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 grams
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
For the Muffins
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest from 1 lemon
- 1 cup diced strawberries
- 1 cup diced rhubarb
- 1 cup strawberry rhubarb jam homemade or store bought
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (you will reduce the temperature after the muffins cook for 5 minutes)
- Grease 12 standard-sized muffin tins or line them with paper baking cups.
Make the Crumb Topping
- Blend the flour, sugar, and cinnamon together then stir in the melted butter until you have pea-sized clumps. Set the mixture aside while you make the muffins.
Make the Muffins
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, combine the butter and sugar then add the eggs and beat until well blended. Whisk in the sour cream, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture but leave some flour streaks so you don’t over-mix the batter when you add the fruit.
- Add the diced strawberries and rhubarb to the batter and gently fold the batter just until it is combined.
- Fill the muffin cups half-way full with the batter. Add about 1 tablespoon of strawberry rhubarb jam to the muffin cups then top them off with the rest of the batter. The muffin cups should be filled to the top.
- Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the crumbled streusel mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 425°F for 5 minutes then turn the oven down to 350°F and bake for 12 to15 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool completely before removing from the muffin tins. The tender muffins can fall apart if you remove them while they are still warm.
Notes
- If you use the tall petal shaped baking cups, the muffins will rise higher and the crumble topping will not fall off the muffins.
- Start with room temperature ingredients for the best results. A quick way to take the chill off eggs is to place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
- For the most tender muffins, don’t over-mix the batter and don’t over-measure the flour. If you don’t have a scale to weigh the flour, lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cups and level it off.
- Full fat sour cream will give the muffins a more tender texture than reduced fat.
- This muffin batter is pretty thick so you don't need to toss the fruit in flour before mixing it into the batter.
- Make sure you fill the muffin cups at least half way full before adding a dollop of jam. The jam tends to sink a bit as the muffins bake.
- The high baking temperature for the first five minutes gives the muffins a burst of heat that helps the baking powder and baking soda react quickly. It helps the muffins rise a little taller but don’t forget to turn the heat down after 5 minutes.
angiesrecipes
Tuesday 26th of July 2022
wow This is a fantastic mini coffee cake! I love that you took an extra step and add the jam as the filling. Imaging bite into buttery topping into the sweet fruity filling...life is just good!