A Clean Bake

Rhubarb Coffee Cake Muffins (Gluten Free and Paleo)

Dairy Free
Gluten Free
Low Carb & Keto
Paleo
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Rhubarb Coffee Cake Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and paleo!)

I’m known by many names, but most recently, The Cookie Fairy, The Doughnut Fairy, and – this week – the Muffin Fairy are topping the list. I have a strange and, some might say, slightly deranged, habit of leaving phantom plates of baked goods on the tables outside of my neighbors’ doors, to be followed up with a sheepish text alerting them of the caloric fortune that awaits them in the hall. Hey, it’s my thing.

Nearly as soon as these photos were taken, my neighbors were getting texts. I had to get these out of my house, or risk eating them all in the span of 10 minutes and promptly exploding. And that would just be messy. And gross. Ew, that’s a disturbing mental image. QUICK – DISTRACT ME. 

Oh yeah, muffins. Distraction accomplished. I wish I had a great story about what inspired these muffins, but the truth is that it was the least interesting inspiration ever. You ready for this? I was cleaning out the freezer. (Told ya.) It’s the first of many preparatory steps leading up to the currently-theoretical-but-hopefully-very-soon-to-be-imminent kitchen renovation.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and paleo!)

Wait, have I mentioned the kitchen debacle renovation plan? When we bought our condo 5 years ago, we knew it was a fixer-upper, but had no idea how long it would take to get all of the work done. We are finally ready to renovate the kitchen but ran into budget hurdles (i.e. we were given a quote than was twice our budget) but we’re getting the plans back on track now, I think, and I am trying to stay optimistic by continuing to plan and prepare as though this is going to happen, and happen soon. Which brings me back to cleaning out the freezer, which brings me back to a container of frozen rhubarb I found in the back of it. It wasn’t enough for a pie, but was too much for, say, scones or whatever, where the rhubarb is just a punctuation mark at the end of the bite, rather than the bite itself. These muffins are packed with rhubarb, so you get several tender bursts of fruit in each bite.

Rhubarb is a sour-bitter fruit (vegetable, I think, technically?) but when you cook it down, it looses its edge and responds really well to added sweetness and really, really well to a sweet, cinnamony streusel topping. So, this may seem basic – an unassuming muffin flavored with cinnamon and vanilla, studded with borderline-castoff (or, depending how you look at it, super special, kept for a special occasion) fruit and dressed up with a simple streusel crumble – but it also might be everything you need for your breakfast this weekend.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and paleo!)

Rhubarb Coffee Cake Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and paleo!)

Rhubarb Coffee Cake Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients for the muffin

  • 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 2 Tablespoons tapioca flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 6 Tablespoons granulated monk fruit sweetener, or granulated stevia
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
  • 2 cups chopped rhubarb
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil,, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for the streusel

  • 1 cup blanched almond flour
  • Generous pinch of salt
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated stevia or monk fruit sweetener
  • 2 Tablespoons coconut oil,, melted and still warm
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12-compartment muffin tin with cupcake papers and set aside.
  2. Prepare the muffins: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, salt, baking soda, granulated sweetener, cinnamon, and cardamom. Then add rhubarb and toss to distribute throughout the dry mixture.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the cooled butter/oil and vanilla extract. Whisk vigorously to combine.
  4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir to thoroughly combine.
  5. Divide the batter between the 12 prepared cupcake liners and set aside while you make the streusel.
  6. Make the streusel: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, salt, cinnamon, and granulated sweetener. In a small bowl, pour the warm coconut oil over the maple syrup and whisk to combine.
  7. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until clumps form. Keep stirring until all of the dry mixture is incorporated. Use your fingertips to pinch the dough together to form large clusters.
  8. Divide the streusel between the 12 muffins, pressing gently into the batter to make sure the streusel sticks.
  9. Bake for 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
  10. Remove muffins from pan and cool on a baking rack before serving or storing.

Notes

  • You can sub butter or ghee for the coconut oil, if you'd like. 
  • You can replace the monk fruit sweetener in this recipe with twice the amount of coconut sugar (3/4 cup for the muffins, 1/4 cup for the streusel).
  • The room temperature eggs may seem like a trivial detail, but if they are straight from the fridge, their chill will solidify the fat, making it impossible to mix the wet and dry ingredients thoroughly. If you forget to take your eggs out of the fridge in advance, just submerge them in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes before you use them.
  • Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 265Saturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 167mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 5gSugar: 3gProtein: 7g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave me a comment and rating, or tag me on Instagram using @nora_acleanbake or #acleanbake!

© Nora (A Clean Bake)
Category: Breakfast

Rhubarb Coffee Cake Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and paleo!)

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Comments

  2. Julia says

    Thaaaaa muffin faiiiryyyyy, I loves it! I’m a big ol’ fan of muffins of all kinds and it’s been a long time since I’ve made the rhubarb varietal. That healthy streussel topping? Stop.it.

    Huge congrats on renovating the kitchen! Will you show us pictures, pretty please?! I LOVE poking around other people’s kitchens!

    Reply

    • Nora (A Clean Bake) says

      Nothing isn’t improved by a healthy streusel!! I like your priorities 😉

      Yes, I will definitely do a post or two (or 17) on the kitchen, as soon as it gets rolling! I am hoping to have revised plans and, ahem, budget soon, so we can get this party started!!

      Reply

  3. Erika says

    Oh Nora nora nora…times like this make me long to be your neighbor even more than usual. To be the recipient of cookie packages on my doorstep! Or these! Swoon. I am allll about the rhubarb-almond combo and all about your delicious creations! Actually, probably a good thing I’m not your neighbor or you’d probably have to stop ME from exploding on your muffins!

    Reply

  4. Selena @ The Nutritious Kitchen says

    Okay I saw this post on facebook and immediatly clicked on the link because well, muffins + coffee cake and you got my hooked. Seriously can I be one of your neighbors and get to sample all your baked goods?!
    I feel like all the healthy ingredients make it SO acceptable to eat these muffins like my life depends on them. PINNING. And if there is ever a recipe I will make of yours it will be this one!!
    P.S. never tried rhubarb before…

    Reply

    • Nora (A Clean Bake) says

      Yeah that was my thought too! Anything + coffee cake is a winner in my book. You can definitely be one of my neighbors, any time!!

      I hope you get to try rhubarb!! Whatever you do, though, don’t try it raw. It’s unpleasant. Bake it into something!!

      Reply

  7. Lynn says

    These look delicious Nora!! I do have a couple of questions tho. Ingredients for the muffin there’s a line “1/4C + 2T” of what? In the streusel ingredients there’s no mention of a granulated sweetener that you mention in the Notes section. Can you clarify please? I’m anxious to make these!! ????

    Reply

    • Nora (A Clean Bake) says

      Hi Lynn! Sorry about that. I recently switched to a new software to format the recipes and some of the information got damaged in the transfer! That’s supposed to be 6T (aka 1/4 C + 2 T) granulated stevia or monk fruit sweetener. The recipe is updated now so you could be able to reprint/refresh it and see the right information!

      Reply

  8. Jamie says

    Hi! I’m making these right now, but the sweetener is not updated on the recipe. It does not show how much goes in muffin and how much goes in topping. Can you please advise. Thanks!

    Reply

  11. Linda says

    My muffin batter is way too thick, I’ve added extra oil, about 1/3 a cup and it still was thick. Hope it bakes oK.

    Reply

  12. Joan says

    I made these yesterday and would like to clarify the amount of cinnamon in the streusel. I only used two tablespoons instead of three and it was very dark. Should it be teaspoons?

    Reply

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