10 Best Rhubarb Recipes To Try Before Summer
Tart and tangy rhubarb is easy to incorporate into wholesome baked goods. We’re sharing our best rhubarb recipes so you can enjoy the fresh taste of spring while you wait for summer fruit to arrive.
A chilly spring in New Brunswick means that rhubarb season is just getting underway…
Here are a few tips for baking with rhubarb. Be sure to add your tips to the comments below.
- Rhubarb Muffins work best with fresh rhubarb and the firm stalks of fresh rhubarb hold their shape well for Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake , Rhubarb Cornbread Cake and Roasted Rhubarb Gingerbread.
- Frozen rhubarb is very forgiving when you make compote and is a good companion for other fruit, including strawberries and apples. Frozen rhubarb works well in Rhubarb Crisp too since you don’t need to worry about the stalks holding their shape.
Be sure to add your tips to the comments below!
Pick your favourite(s) from our list of 10 best rhubarb recipes below, including a unique Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce.
Our 10 Best Rhubarb Recipes
Roasted Rhubarb Cornbread Cake
Easy Roasted Rhubarb Cornbread Cake is the ultimate summer treat. Naturally sweetened with molasses and honey or maple syrup.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup cornmeal (fine or medium)
- 2 ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- 1/3 tsp. salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar, divided
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 Tbsp. Crosby’s Fancy Molasses
- 2 Tbsp. honey or maple syrup
- ¾ cup cold milk
- 1 egg white
- 4–6 stalks of rhubarb
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Line an 8″x 8″ pan with parchment paper or grease it well.*
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the washed rhubarb on top. Sprinkle over 2 Tbsp. of sugar and bake for 5-10 minutes, until the rhubarb is tender.
- Remove and let cool.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375 F.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl beat the butter and gradually add the sugar. Beat in the egg yolk then the molasses and honey or maple syrup.
- Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk (beginning and ending with the flour mixture.)
- Beat the egg white to stiff peaks and fold into the batter.
- Scrape into prepared pan and lay the soft rhubarb on top of the batter. Sprinkle over remaining Tbsp. of sugar.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and the top springs back when lightly touched. Serve warm or room temperature.
Nutrition
- Calories: 194.5
- Sugar: 17.4 g
- Sodium: 214.9 mg
- Fat: 11.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.9 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 50.7 mg
Keywords: rhubarb, cornbread cake, rhubarb cornbread
Rhubarb Compote with Molasses Kiss Yogurt
Strawberry Rhubarb Pudding Cake
Margrit Weber
Made the Rhubarb juice today. So a great recipe. Taste great and goes fast. Did the double recipe
Ida steele
Are there recipes for rhubarb leaves??? Can they be cooked like greens? This is my first with this plant. I had planted in my yard for the beauty of the red plant stem. A touch of color during early spring.
Marie-Pierre Lessard
Hi Ida,
I found you a great article here that explains how to bake with rhubarb
I’m sure your rhubarb is beautiful in your garden :)
Ann
I thought rhubarb leaves were poisonous.
Marie-Pierre Lessard
Hello Ann,
Rhubarb poisoning is rare and a person need to eat a lot of it’s leaves to be sick (about 5.7–11.7 pounds) of rhubarb leaves. You can find more information here
Meg
Rhubarb leaves are poisonous. They can cause liver failure. Please do not eat them.
Marie-Pierre Lessard
Yes, rhubarb leaves can be toxic if consumed in sufficient amounts, but it is harmless if used in normal quantities. In our recipes, the leaves are not used, only the stalks.
Irene Otteson
Ida rhubarb leaves are poisonous. Do not eat them or compost them.
Diane Cairns
no you can not eat the leaves.
Susan Quinn
Rhubarb leaves are toxic! Throw them out.
Margie
You might check, but I believe the tops are toxic to us.
Kirk R
Do not use the leaves for anything. They have toxic levels of oxalic acid. You will make yourself very sick.
Julia Opie
Rhubarb leaves are poisonous! Throw in the garbage, and do not compost.
Noni
I realize this post is an old one but for those who are wondering the same thing, do not eat rhubarb leaves, they are poisonous.
Other than adding them to your compost bin, the leaves are useful so check out this article:
https://www.oddbox.co.uk/blog/what-to-do-with-rhubarb-leaves
Joyce Robertson
Love rhubard on toast!!
Sani
How to freeze fresh rhubarb?….
Marie-Pierre Lessard
Hi Sani,
This article might be useful.
Cheers!
Beth
Rhubarb jelly is fabulous. The tang of the fruit offsets the sweetness nicely. Use your food process to grind the rhubarb and extract the juice.
Marie-Pierre Lessard
Thank you for your comments Beth!
Carol Dohan
have found by adding 1 teaspoon of Vanilla, you can cut back on the amount of Sugar called for in the recipe.
Crosby Molasses
Hi Carol, That’s a great suggestion and would work for all sorts of recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Ruth McAllister
Or almond extract works, too.
Carol
Love your recipes
Lynda
Yum! I enjoy rhubarb.
Pies, crisps, stewed (compote), cakes. YUM!
Ann Wilks
Oh, rhubarb, how I miss you. Oh, to taste you once again! So sad that we cannot grow you, or find you at the grocery store. Many things I had in Kansas can’t be found here on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Please give me some suggestions!
Crosby Molasses
Hi Ann, I can think of no replacement for rhubarb. All I can suggest is that you travel north during rhubarb season, bring back an armload and preserve it in jars to use as you please.
Judit Maria Pavlovszky
It’s also easy to freeze.