Rhubarb & Nutmeg Muffins.

Childhood memories and an unexpected second crop of rhubarb sent me scurrying to my kitchen. The resulting muffins were well worth the effort! Easily adjusted for vegans. Just sub maple syrup for honey. Honestly, it will probably taste even nicer, but I tend to hoard my maple syrup for my gorgeous vegan very chocolatey cake, which you can find here:

Dark Chocolate Cake

But if you’re really in the mood for rhubarb muffins, here is the recipe for those!

Makes 6 nice big muffins

Preheat the oven to 240°C (464°F).

Filling Ingredients

(Make the filling first as it can sit longer than the batter can.)

1 cup of chopped fresh rhubarb

Quarter of a cup of honey

Just enough water to cover the rhubarb

Batter Ingredients

1 cup of oil

1 cup of honey

1 cup of a dairy free milk (I used almond milk and it tasted great, but my second choice would have been soy).

2 Tablespoons of vanilla essence

1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon

1 heaped teaspoon of nutmeg

3 cups of self-raising flour

1 cup of walnuts

Topping

Half a cup of chopped walnuts

Two tablespoons of muffin batter

Two tablespoons of rhubarb mixture

6 walnut halves (for decoration)

Making the filling

Combine the rhubarb, water and honey. Cook down until a thick slurry is formed. This should take about ten minutes. I’d advise cooking on a low heat and not getting distracted because it’s easy to boil it dry and singe the stuff. Yuck!

Once made, set aside and make the muffin batter.

Making the batter

Combine the wet ingredients and spices. Mix well. Then gently fold in the flour and the walnuts. Mix as little as possible once the dry is added to the wet.

Making the Muffin.

Line the muffin tray with parchment paper.

Fill the muffin tray half way. Put the tray into the oven for about five minutes until a slight crust has formed on the batter.

Remove from the oven. Take a spoon and gently form a hole in the middle of each of your muffins. The mixture will be just firm enough to push to the sides and not ooze back.

Into the centers of the muffins, pour about a tablespoon of the rhubarb mixture. Reserve two tablespoons of rhubarb mixture.

Fill the muffin tray to the top with the remaining muffin batter, reserving two tablespoons of batter.

Return the muffins to the oven for another five minutes at the high temperature to force the muffins up.

Making the topping

Mix the reserved rhubarb, muffin batter and chopped walnuts together. Spoon evenly over the muffins. Finish of with a walnut half in the middle of each muffin.