Rhubarb Cookies are a delight – they’re soft, cake-like, and bursting with tart rhubarb. With a texture like fluffy muffin tops, these soft rhubarb cookies are easy to bake and even easier to love.
Table of Contents
hide
Why You’re Going to Love This Rhubarb Cookie Recipe
Here’s what makes these Soft Rhubarb Cookies utterly irresistible:
- Soft, Tender Texture: These aren’t your run-of-the-mill cookies. With a unique cake-like texture, they’re more akin to the beloved tops of muffins – soft, tender and oh-so-delicious. They have a wonderfully tender crumb thanks to the addition of oil.
- Sweet Meets Tart: The sweetness of the cookie dough beautifully balances the tartness of the rhubarb, creating a delightful flavor dance on your taste buds.
- Seasonal Star: Take advantage of rhubarb season! These cookies are a brilliant way to use this bright, tart spring produce.
Gather the Ingredients You Need to Make Rhubarb Cookies
It’s time to prepare our delectable rhubarb cookies. Let’s understand the role each ingredient plays:
- Whole Milk: This gives your cookies a rich, moist texture.
- Sour Cream: Contributes to a creamy, moist dough and slightly tangy flavor.
- Unsalted Butter: Provides richness and a smooth texture to your cookies.
- Egg: The binding agent that holds your cookie together.
- Neutral Oil: Adds extra moisture, ensuring your cookies are soft and chewy.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Gives your cookies a sweet, aromatic flavor.
- All-purpose Flour: The main building block of your cookies, providing structure.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps your cookies brown nicely.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These leavening agents make your cookies rise and become fluffy.
- Kosher Salt: Enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Rhubarb: Provides bursts of tart contrast to the sweetness of the cookie.
- Chocolate Chips: Adds sweet, melty pockets of chocolate to your cookies.
- Coarse Sugar: Gives your cookies a lovely crunch and a shiny, appealing finish.
Grab these Tools
To make these cookies, you’ll need the following tools:
- Mixing Bowls: One for wet ingredients and one for dry ensures the even distribution of components.
- Whisk: Essential for mixing the wet ingredients smoothly and for combining the dry ingredients.
- Rubber Spatula: Helpful for folding the wet and dry ingredients together without over-mixing.
- Cookie Scoop: Optional but nice to have.
- Baking Sheets: A cookie sheet is necessary for baking the cookies.
- Parchment Paper: This prevents the cookies from sticking to the baking sheets.
- Wire Rack: for cooling
How to Make Rhubarb Cookies: Easy Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s your road map to delicious rhubarb cookies:
- Preheat Your Oven: Ensures a steady, high heat for baking your cookies.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: This helps integrate flavors and achieve a smooth mixture.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Evenly distributes the leavening agents through the flour.
- Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Brings the dough together, mixing just until incorporated.
- Add Rhubarb and Chocolate Chips: Introduces texture and flavor bursts throughout your cookies.
- Prepare Baking Sheets: Setting up your baking sheets ensures your cookies don’t stick and allows for easy clean-up.
- Bake: Transforms your dough into golden, delicious cookies.
- Cool: Letting your cookies cool solidifies their texture and enhances their flavor.
Expert Tips and Tricks
Follow these savvy pointers to bake up your best batch of Rhubarb Cookies ever.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Ingredients like milk, sour cream, butter, and egg should all ideally be at room temperature before starting. This guarantees a smooth, even mixture, leading to better-textured cookies. See this article on How to Quickly Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature.
- Chop Rhubarb Finely: Smaller rhubarb pieces mean more even distribution throughout each cookie and no hard chunks.With every bite, you’ll get that delightful tart rhubarb tang.
- Use a Rubber Spatula: When it’s time to combine the wet and dry ingredients, bring out your trusty rubber spatula and fold gently. Overmixing is the enemy of fluffiness!
- Parchment Paper is Your Friend: Using parchment paper on your baking sheets will save you time on clean-up, protect the cookies from direct heat, and ensure they lift off the sheet effortlessly. These cookies STICK without parchment paper. Use a thin metal spatula to lift them off easily.
- Full Bake is the Way: Unlike some cookies, these Rhubarb delights need to be fully baked to achieve their optimal texture and flavor. Look for bouncy tops and no more shine as your cue that they’re done.
- Frozen Rhubarb Works Too: If fresh rhubarb isn’t in season or available, don’t despair. You can absolutely use frozen rhubarb in this recipe. Just make sure to thaw it thoroughly and drain any excess water before chopping and adding it to your batter. This will ensure your cookies don’t turn out too wet (I used frozen rhubarb this time, and the cookies turn out thicker with a higher rise when using fresh rhubarb – but both options are delicious).
Make Ahead and Storage
Here’s how to ensure your cookies stay fresh:
- Storage: Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
- Freezing: You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. Just bake a little longer directly from the freezer.
Variations and Substitutions
Want to change things up a bit?
- Different Fruit: Swap out the rhubarb for other tart fruits, such as raspberries or chopped strawberries.
- Different Chocolate: Use dark or white chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate.
- Add some spice: Skip the chocolate, swap in light brown sugar, and add a teaspoon of cinnamon plus some chopped pecans or walnuts for an extra crunch.
Other Rhubarb Recipes You’ll Love
Treat yourself to these delectable rhubarb creations and savor the flavors of the season:
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie: A heavenly combination of tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries nestled in a golden, flaky pie crust. A classic dessert that never disappoints.
- Healthy Rhubarb Muffins: Soft and fluffy muffins bursting with the goodness of rhubarb. A delightful treat to kickstart your day.
- Rhubarb Crisp: A beloved summer recipe featuring a buttery, crumbly topping over a sweet and tangy rhubarb filling. Easy to make and oh-so-satisfying.
- Rhubarb Hand Pies: Portable pockets of joy filled with tart and sweet rhubarb, encased in a buttery, flaky pastry, and topped with a drizzle of vanilla icing.
Rhubarb Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup whole milk room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tbsp neutral oil like avocado
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- â…” cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup finely chopped rhubarb
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips optional
- 1 ½ tbsp coarse sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat Your Oven to 375ºF.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: Whisk together the milk, sour cream, melted butter, egg, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients: Use a large rubber spatula to scrape the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and use a gentle folding motion to mix the two until 80% incorporated (there will still be floury streaks).
- Add Rhubarb and chocolate: Add the chopped rhubarb and chocolate and continue folding to just combine.
- Prepare Baking Sheets: Drop batter by 1 1/2 tablespoonfuls 2" apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse sugar.
- Bake: Bake for about 11 minutes, until tops are bouncy when pressed and the tops are lightly golden. You don't want an underbaked middle for these cookies.
- Cool: Transfer immediately to wire racks to cool.
Video
Notes
For perfect cookies: Take the cookies out at 9 minutes before the dough is fully set and use an overturned glass to gently re-shape them into perfect circles. Top with a few extra chocolate chips then continue baking about 3 minutes more.
Room Temperature Ingredients: Ensure milk, sour cream, butter, and eggs are at room temperature for a smooth mixture and better-textured cookies.
Finely Chop Rhubarb: Create even distribution and prevent big, raw chunks by finely chopping the rhubarb.
Use a Rubber Spatula: Gently fold wet and dry ingredients with a rubber spatula to avoid overmixing and preserve fluffiness.
Parchment Paper is Your Friend: Use parchment paper for easy clean-up, protection from direct heat, and effortless cookie removal.
Full Bake is the Way: Fully bake for optimal texture and flavor—look for bouncy tops and no more shine.
Frozen Rhubarb Works Too: Thaw and drain frozen rhubarb thoroughly before chopping and adding to the batter. It’s a great alternative if fresh rhubarb is unavailable.
Nutrition
Calories: 133kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 94mgPotassium: 56mgFiber: 1gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 105IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 46mgIron: 0.4mg
Last Updated on June 19, 2023 by Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD
I really love the sound of these cookies. I’ve never heard of cookies with rhubarb in them before. It sounds like they would taste really yummy!!!
Rhubarb cookies are a fantastic treat that never fails to put a smile on my face. The combination of the soft, cake-like texture and the tangy burst of rhubarb is absolutely heavenly. And the best part? They’re so simple to make! I love baking these cookies whenever I want to indulge in something sweet and satisfying.
Oh my this looks absolutely delicious and tasty! I’m surely gonna give this recipe a try!
These cookies are so goood! Im sure I will impress my friends with the recipe.
These rhubarb cookies sound so sweet, tangy, and almost certainly a cookie like you’ve never had before.
Hi there! Your recipe for Rhubarb Cookies is simply amazing! The step-by-step instructions and mouthwatering images made it easy for me to follow along and try it myself. The cookies turned out delicious! Thanks for sharing such a delightful treat with us. Can’t wait to explore more of your recipes!