We have a prolific rhubarb patch, and I have made many rhubarb recipes over the years. All of them have been excellent, but these rhubarb cookies? Oh my goodness, they turned out fantastic.
Rhubarb is an all-or-nothing crop. It is one of the first things to push up from the ground in the spring. For a while, it grows like mad, and it seems there will be no end in sight! During this stage, it is important to remove any seed heads promptly so the plant will direct its energy to produce new stalks and leaves.
Rhubarb recipes pop up all over every spring, and the tall stalks are used for everything from martinis to ice cream to crisps, cobblers, and puddings. Rhubarb can range in color from green to pink to red.
While many people prefer red rhubarb, the color does not indicate ripeness or sweetness like it does with other fruits. The stalks are the only edible part of the plant; in fact, the leaves are extremely poisonous due to high levels of oxalic acid. Never eat them.
A cookie that starts with butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla is bound to be good; that is how these cookies begin. This recipe starts with creaming a full cup of real creamery butter! Nothing else will do.
Please notice my awesome avocado-green vintage mixer. It’s been with me for years; they don’t make them like they used to! Beat that butter until it’s nice and creamy.
Now add two tightly packed cups of brown sugar. You can use light or dark brown sugar, depending on your preference. I preferred light brown sugar this time because that’s what I had. 😉
Beat those together until they are light and fluffy, then add two large eggs, the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Even though it was not in the original recipe, I could not resist adding vanilla because, in my mind, it’s a must. Beat that thoroughly until everything is well blended.
Now add the flour and the finely diced rhubarb. The rhubarb must be chopped finely to distribute evenly in the dough. Here’s a visual for just how fine to chop it: Think of chocolate chip-sized pieces of rhubarb. This is a good place to use those tender young skinny stalks, but you can use any size stalk.
Once you add the rhubarb and flour, the dough becomes heavy. I have found my Danish Whisk indispensable for jobs like this, so don’t freak out about how thick the dough is.
As the rhubarb cookies bake, the rhubarb releases moisture, and the cookie turns out perfect! The dough is very similar in consistency to our very popular Rustic Rhubarb Bread recipe. You need to try it, too!
Now that the cookie dough is made, use a medium cookie scoop to form uniformly sized cookies. A medium cookie scoop holds about two tablespoons of dough.
I recommend using Reynolds Parchment Paper on your cookie sheets. The gridlines help you place the cookies so they don’t kiss each other as they bake. Some of mine did, anyway. Precision has never been my gift. The baked cookie will be about two and one-half inches across.
Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for about twelve minutes. Please watch carefully towards the end of the baking time. You want the cookies to be baked all the way through but not overbaked. Every oven is different! When you remove them from the oven, the rhubarb cookies will continue to bake a little.
Let them cool on the baking sheet for five minutes before moving them to a rack to finish cooling. You can use the parchment paper repeatedly until you have baked all the cookies!
I’ve included a recipe for optional cream cheese frosting. Believe me, the rhubarb cookies are amazing just as they come out of the oven, but who can resist cream cheese icing? I mean, really?
Cream the butter and cream cheese, then add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk a little bit at a time until you get the desired consistency.
I couldn’t resist playing with the icing, and I had fun adding sprinkles and drizzling it. These amazing rhubarb cookies would be perfect for a spring event of any kind!
I gave half the batch to a sweet young family because Papa and I cannot eat everything I bake. I think the dad had about half of the cookies eaten by the time he got home! How I envy his metabolism and perpetually lean physique! These cookies were a fun bake, and I will definitely make them again!
Rhubarb is an extremely hardy perennial plant that can live for 50 years or more. When plants get too old, and the roots get crowded, they must be divided and replanted to maintain good production. One of my rhubarb plants is from a clump that grew over one hundred years ago on a farm in South Central Nebraska; I will divide the clumps and enlarge my rhubarb patch next spring!
Rhubarb is a cool-season perennial plant that thrives in regions with a cold climate and well-drained soil. In the United States, the best areas for growing rhubarb are in the cooler parts of the northern states, such as the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast, and the Midwest.
Whenever we post rhubarb recipes, we hear sad comments from people who live in places too warm for rhubarb to grow. The good news is you can buy frozen rhubarb at many grocery stores, including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Safeway, and Kroger.
You can also check with specialty food stores in your area or online retailers such as Amazon, Instacart, and FreshDirect to find frozen rhubarb. When purchasing frozen rhubarb, check the ingredients list to ensure it does not contain additives or preservatives.
When you use frozen rhubarb, you just need to defrost it and drain any excess liquid. You will have great results.
This recipe is for wonderful, sweet and chewy cookies with bits of tangy rhubarb. Eat them plain or with the optional cream cheese frosting!
The cream cheese frosting recipe makes enough to frost ALL the cookies.
If you're lucky enough to have rhubarb, or know where you can get some, here are more amazing rhubarb recipes I think you will enjoy!! Rhubarb Custard Pie, Quick and Easy Rhubarb Dump Cake, and my mom's recipe, Soffia's Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. There are even more! Just type rhubarb in the search bar!
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Love GB (Betty Streff)
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