The Cottage at Glass Beach ~ Rhubarb Muffins

I am enjoying a summery book named The Cottage at Glass Beach by a local Seattle author, Heather Barbieri. I discovered the book on a fun little book and food website called Books and Bites. I’ve been choosing a lot of my recent book selections from the recommendations on that site. Not only do I get many good book suggestions from other authors I enjoy, but I also get a recipe that fits the theme of every book. So fun!

I tried the rhubarb muffins that the website pairs with The Cottage at Glass Beach. The author shared her own recipe for her delicious muffins. I put my own spin on them by using whole-wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour and sprinkling simple cinnamon sugar on the top without the butter. They are so good for breakfast, or for a little mid day snack (while taking an afternoon break to read, of course! ;-))

Rhubarb Muffins

1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup light olive oil

1 egg

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine the brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk in a mixer bowl, and beat until well incorporated. Stir in the rhubarb by hand. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the rhubarb mixture until just blended.

Spoon the batter into a muffin tin filled with paper linings, about 2/3 full.

For the topping, combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over the muffins.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin.