I got rhubarb at the farmer’s market earlier, and the first dish I made was strawberry rhubarb, as that is the classic flavor I associate with rhubarb, but I wanted to try something different this time, so introducing: Blue-barb!! Aka blueberries + rhubarb! This flavor combo is equally delicious and so great as a summery baked good! I made this as bread, but you could likely also make these into muffins too. This tastes great with pecan butter (which I also got at the farmer’s market) or a quick blue-barb chia jam, which I also made up a recipe for!
Some quick notes on the recipe: This is a vegan, plant-based recipe but if you prefer you can use a regular egg or milk instead of the flaxseed and plant milk. I used unsweetened applesauce, but if you want this to be sweeter, you could use sweetened applesauce or just add more maple syrup. On that note, rhubarb is a bit less sweet of a flavor, so you can adjust the sweetness of the batter to your liking - I pointed out the best timing to do so in the recipe! I used fresh blueberries for this, but you can use frozen blueberries as well for either the bread or jam. For the bread, try to dry them first so they don’t mess up the liquid/dry ingredient ratio - you can toss them with flour to absorb some of the extra liquid - coconut flour is especially good for this. And finally, if you make these as muffins, they would likely have a shorter baking time, so just keep an eye on them if you try this. Now let’s get to the recipe!
Blue-barb Bread
Ingredients
Wet:
½ tbsp ground flaxseed
½ cup applesauce
⅓ cup milk of choice
¼ cup maple syrup or honey
1 tsp olive oil
1-2 tsp vanilla extract (I don’t usually measure this exactly)
Splash of almond extract (optional, omit for nut-free)
Dry:
¼ cup almond flour (if nut-free, just use more regular flour)
¾ cup all-purpose or wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
½ tsp cardamom
2 tsp baking powder
Add-in:
¾ cup diced rhubarb stalks
¾ cup blueberries
Streusel topping (amounts do not need to be exact):
About ¼ cup rolled oats
About 2 tbsp almond flour
2-3 tbsp chopped almonds
1-2 tbsp nut butter (I used pecan butter!)
1-2 tsp maple syrup or honey
1-2 tsp cinnamon
Steps
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Mix ground flax and applesauce together and let set for 5-10 minute until thickened.
2. Mix in the rest of the wet ingredients.
3. Add in all the dry ingredients except the baking powder. Taste to assess sweetness and add more maple syrup/honey if desired. Add the baking powder and mix thoroughly. The batter should be thick but spreadable.
4. Mix in the diced rhubarb and blueberries until evenly distributed. Spoon the batter into a bread pan lined with parchment paper and/or lightly oiled.
5. Mix together the streusel topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the bread batter.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the center is solid and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool fully before slicing.
7. Spread with pecan butter (cashew butter would also taste good I think) and enjoy! You can also make the blueberry rhubarb quick chia jam below for a delicious complementary topping!
Blue-barb Chia Jam
Ingredients
⅓ cup blueberries - fresh or frozen!
¼ cup diced rhubarb - smaller pieces are better!
1 tbsp chia seeds
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp maple syrup (can adjust to taste)
Steps
Add all ingredients to a small pot on medium heat on the stove.
Cover the pot and let cook, stirring frequently. Once it has been bubbling for a while and the blueberries burst, you can remove the lid and turn the heat down to let it thicken. When taste testing for sweetness, be sure you let your sample cool first!
Remove from the heat after it begins to thicken (about 5-10 minutes), and let cool - it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Spread on the blue-barb bread, regular bread, or anything you like!