We’ve just had a couple of days of bank jolidays here in France and it rained. It’s pretty much expected and part of the course of bank holidays in the UK, with the amazing exception of this last weekend obviously, but not so normal here!. So rain meant a spot of indoor baking with the littlies which we haven’t managed for quite a while now with all the flitting around I’ve been doing lately. And with a couple of prosperous rhubarb plants in the garden and the Swallow Recipes for Life challenge to mind we made some tasty and fairly wholesome Rhubarb Crumble Muffins together.
Tucking into their muffins, in a short break from the bank holiday rain!
I’m actually staying at my friend Debbie’s house this week with the littlies, on the premise of doggie and horsey sitting. To be honest it’s been a welcome wee joliday for us all, wonderful to spend some quality and relaxed time with the kids after my recent three trips to the UK without them. And they’ve been the most chilled I’ve known them in recent times. Not that anyone would exactly call either of my kids ‘chilled’, but they have indeed been a good deal calmer than normal!. And for me, I’ve enjoyed getting my blogging and cooking mojo back, hence a spree of planned blogs I have for you in store.
The Lovely Dexter
These surprisingly healthy muffins are very low in sugar (and dark soft brown sugar at that) and fat (sunflower oil, apart from a little butter in the crumble topping). To increase the health stakes you could always omit the crumble topping and switch the plain flour for wholemeal (which I was intending to do but had run out!). Or you could un-health and sweeten with a little additional sugar if you wish!.
Just incase you missed my earlier posts the Somerset based charity SWALLOW, through the lovely Vanesther of Bangers and Mash Chat, are running a six month Recipes for Life challenge. Each month three ingredients are picked and bloggers are challenged to come up with easy, tasty and wholesome dishes using them. And for May the ingredients happen to be Rhubarb, Lemon and Spice. How lovely!
Seeing as Rhubarb’s well and truly in season I’m entering my blog to this month’s Simple and in Season, hosted by Ren Behan herself. Just in case you hadn’t seen, this month there’s a chance of winning the gorgeous and new Yeo Valley Great British Farmhouse Cookbook! So go enter….
And finally as they happen to make a pretty tasty, and healthy, breakfast munch (we’ve eaten them for breakie a couple of times now!) to Fuss Free Flavour’s Breakfast Club event. Hosted this month by Katie of Feeding Boys and a Firefighter and the theme so happening to be Bakes.
Rhubarb Crumble Muffins
Great for Baking with Kids, Rhubarb Lovers and/or Growers, Toddlers, Kids, Growns Ups, Picnics, Breakfasts, Elevensies, Packed Lunches, Afternoon Tea, After-school Munchies
Makes 12
For the Crumble Topping:
60g of Plain Flour
60g of Butter
50g of Dark Soft Brown Sugar
40g of Oats
a heaped teaspoon of Cinnamon
For the Muffin Mix:
250g of Plain Flour
a heaped teaspoon of Baking Powder
a heaped teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda
½ a teaspoon of Cinnamon
½ a teaspoon of Ground Ginger
a large free range Egg
150ml of natural Yogurt
3 tablespoons of Sunflower Oil
zest of a Lemon
250g of Rhubarb, washed
175g of Dark Soft Brown Sugar
Special Equipment: A 12 hole muffin tin, muffin cases
Pre-heat your oven to 200°C. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases.
Start with making the crumble topping. Place all the crumble ingredients together and rub the butter into the flour, cinnamon, oats and sugar. Set aside.
Sift all the dry muffin ingredients together into a large bowl, namely the flour, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg then stir in the yogurt, oil and lemon zest.
Slice each strip of rhubarb lengthways into 2 or 3 strips depending on width. Then dice across. Place the diced rhubarb in a bowl with the sugar and stir. Set aside.
Combine the egg and yogurt mix with the sugared rhubarb and pour into the flour mix and combine well.
Spoon about a tablespoon of the muffin mix into each muffin case. Then spoon a layer of the crumble mix on the top and lightly press down.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen, golden and a cake skewer comes out clean.
You might also like:
Super-Fruity Banana Mini-Muffins
Leftover Cheese & Onion Bread
Chez Foti 
May 10th, 2013 at 2:36 pm
These look yummy Louisa, and just the sort of straightforward, healthy yet tempting recipe I like to bake with Ruby. She’s loving rhubarb too at the moment – although I have to admit, the fact that it’s been appearing in fools, ice-cream and bright pink cordial may have something to do with it!
May 10th, 2013 at 2:41 pm
Thanks Andrea. Despite being pink (even Jacques’ a big pink fan!) my kids have been none to keen on anything with rhubarb……until these muffins which they literally devoured!
May 10th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
They look delicious – I bet your kids loved them! And perfect timing too – I was looking for another rhubarby recipe to try this weekend.
May 10th, 2013 at 3:35 pm
They did actually love them, probably because they weren’t too sweet. Bar chocolate they haven’t got particularly sweet toothes – unlike myself unfortunately. Shall be baking another batch shortly myself as they went down so well!
May 10th, 2013 at 3:21 pm
These sound delicious – I bet they taste amazing too!
May 10th, 2013 at 3:38 pm
Thanks Louise, they were pretty good actually despite being relatively low in sugar and fat!
May 10th, 2013 at 5:41 pm
Looks like you had fun! I love the idea of the crumble topping. I’ll bet they were just lovely 🙂 Can you bring me one on Wednesday? !!
May 11th, 2013 at 8:25 am
Of course I’ll bring over some cakes or muffins on Wed! Might just bake another batch of these, seeing as they were the first thing I’ve baked in ages that the kids actually enjoyed!
May 10th, 2013 at 9:39 pm
Great minds think alike hey?! Still sore you beat me to it, and even more sore because yours looks so much better than mine would have 😉 A deliciously wholesome entry for this month’s Recipes for Life – thank you so much for another fab entry.
May 11th, 2013 at 8:26 am
Oh sorry, seriously think you should bake some anyway….a rhubarb muffin bake-off?
May 11th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
I’m only teasing, honest! I’ve got something else up my sleeve this weekend. Better blog it quick though before someone else beats me to it! 😉
May 10th, 2013 at 9:40 pm
What gorgeous muffins and pictures. I love the cheeky monkey faces at the end. I can’t wait until I have a garden one day, so I can have gluts of Rhubarb!
May 11th, 2013 at 8:27 am
Thanking you kindly! They are indeed cheeky monkeys. Very cheeky.
May 10th, 2013 at 9:46 pm
[…] Rhubarb Crumble Muffins from Chez Foti […]
May 11th, 2013 at 2:50 am
I am sort of obsessed with rhubarb lately therefore these yummy muffins are on the short list. Dexter is one handome horse btw!!
May 11th, 2013 at 2:51 am
sorry Dexter, handsome could not catch the spelling error in time.
May 11th, 2013 at 8:30 am
Oh Dexter is one very handsome horse isn’t he?! Going to seriously miss him tomorrow :((
May 11th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
These sound yummy. Think I’ll give them a go with the rhubarb from the garden. I was wondering what to do with it. Isn’t it wonderful to live with horses? 🙂
May 11th, 2013 at 4:25 pm
Too wonderful! I want one, really. Going to miss Dexter terribly, such a gentle handsome beast. But not as much as my daughter who’s spent countless hours with him this week chattering away to him in his field, feeding him individual blades of grass which he takes so graciously from her, and endlessly stroking and smelling him (horses smell divine don’t them?)
May 11th, 2013 at 5:08 pm
There is nothing quite like the smell of a horse 🙂
May 27th, 2013 at 4:35 pm
A dessert and a cake all rolled into one fabulous package – YUM! Love the photos too – especially the very handsome Dexter. Thanks for linking up to Breakfast Club this month. xx
May 30th, 2013 at 10:37 am
Thanks Katie, he’s a handsome fella isn’t he. Loved my stint of horse sitting!
May 28th, 2013 at 6:11 pm
those muffins look amazing! another great rhubarb recipe that I need to try…oh & we just had another rain free bank holiday weekend…peeing it down now though!
May 30th, 2013 at 10:43 am
Say’s you the Rhubarb Queen!!! I really must bob over to your blog and properly check out all your fabulous rhubarb recipes that I keep seeing pop up!. Been raining here solidly since our last bank holiday ten days ago :(( A whopping 8 degrees today too. Miserable beyond belief. Not to mention soggy.
June 3rd, 2013 at 3:17 pm
[…] Chez Foti’s rhubarb crumble muffins are the perfect example of a pudding in cake form – something I am more than a bit partial to. These were made during an indoor baking sesh to get away from the rain, a brilliant distraction no doubt. Get the recipe here […]
June 3rd, 2013 at 6:11 pm
I’d have these for breakfast any day – we love our muffins here at weekends!
Thanks so much for sending to Breakfast Club, next month’s challenge is open http://tangolikeraindrop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/breakfast-club-june-high-fibre.html and the theme is high fibre.
June 4th, 2013 at 12:09 am
[…] considered attempting some Rhubarb Crumble Muffins myself but when I saw these beauties from Chez Foti I knew mine would never be able to compete. […]
June 20th, 2013 at 8:00 pm
[…] Followed by a spot of baking with the children at Chez Foti and some tasty Rhubarb Crumble Muffins – great […]