As I was putting together the pictures for this post, I was amazed to see just how many times rhubarb has made an appearance on this site. You might even think that is the only fruit/vegetable I cook with.

There was this galette. And let’s not forget this one from years ago. (Apparently I loved Photoshop back in 2005.)

Then there’s cobbler, and pie, and of course, cake. And most recently, this cake. That’s a lot of rhubarb for one little site!

So what more can I say about this vegetable cum fruit?

Let’s see…

It’s good. In season, I cook with it often. And to get a little bossy– I think you should too. So here is yet another recipe that uses the humble produce.

On Sunday mornings I usually cook or bake something substantial and/or brunchy. Then my husband and I languish over the paper, poke around Interweb, or watch the Sunday morning news programs. I know– very exciting! Don’t you want to come over on Sunday mornings now? Well these muffins were on menu last week.

Earlier in the week I had made some apple-rhubarb sauce to have with yogurt, or simply on its own. I cut up stalks of rhubarb, and simmered them with one, peeled and cored Fuji apple that had I cut into chunks. I sweetened the fruit with a bit of honey to taste, and let the batch cook until the fruit and vegetable had fallen apart, and melded together.

I had a bit of sauce left over on Sunday morning, so I spooned it in the center of these muffins before baking. The muffins are a great go-to recipe. They are easily adaptable. Fill the muffins with jam, or plain applesauce. They make great blueberry muffins. Or you could even enjoy them plain.

But if you’re like me, and are making an entire food blog about rhubarb alone, make the apple-rhubarb sauce, and enjoy the sweet-tart combination.

Apple-Rhubarb Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

For the batter:

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) whole wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cup whole milk
approximately 6-8 tablespoons apple-rhubarb sauce

For the crumb topping:

3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 cup, standard muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.

Make the topping:

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Pour the melted butter over the dry ingredients and stir well. The mixture will clump. Continue to mix, breaking up any larger clumps, then set aside.

Make the batter:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together to combine. In a medium-size mixing bowl whisk the egg, milk, butter, and vanilla together until well-integrated. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and all at once, add the wet ingredients. Stir just until combined.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, about 1/3 of the way up. Spoon in the apple-rhubarb sauce, about 1/2 tablespoon per cup, onto the batter. Next, spoon some more batter on top, covering the sauce. The muffin cups should be filled about 3/4 of the way up.

Sprinkle the crumb topping on to each muffin cup, then bake for 20-25 minutes. Muffins should be golden brown, and spring back when touched. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.