Rhubarb Bread with Streusel Topping (2024)

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ByLauraPublished onJuly 19, 2018June 21, 2024Updated onJune 21, 2024

Rhubarb bread offers a delightful combination of tart and sweet flavors, perfect for a unique twist on traditional quick bread. These moist, tender loaves are a great way to enjoy seasonal rhubarb in a delicious baked treat. This recipe makes 8 mini-loaves, 2 8x4 loaves, 9x13 coffee cake.

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I don’t know about you but my rhubarb is in full-on full forceproduction. Whew, it’s hard to keep up, but I’m harvesting, freezing, and baking as fast as I can. This Rhubarb Bread with Streusel Topping is a great way to use up all that rhubarb!

My recipe for Rhubarb Oatmeal Bars and Strawberry Oatmeal Rhubarb Bars was well received so I decided to try my hand at a quick bread. I needed a recipe that was quick and easy to make yet delicious.

Quick Bread with rhubarb and topped with Streusel Topping

This recipe makes 8 mini-loaves. You can also make it into a nice big fat coffee cake. The batter will fill more than a 9×13 so be sure to add only enough batter to fill it 2/3 of the way full. The remaining batter can be baked off in a small cake pan or a loaf pan.

Any way you make it, this Rhubarb Bread with Streusel Topping is a surefire hit, so be sure to freeze enough rhubarb to make it all winter long.

There were some questions about how MUCH rhubarb to use in the recipe, you need about 4 cups. I’ve updated the recipe card so you can more easily make this recipe. You can always use a little less than the recipe calls for but I wouldn’t add a lot more, the bread will get soggy if you do.

It’s always ripe

Regardless of what you might have heard, rhubarbdoesn’t have a “ripe stage”. When it first pops out of the ground in the spring it’s ready to use. I do let it grow a bit so the plant has a chance to replenish itself from winter. I think I let the stalks get at least 10 inches long before pulling them out. It’s always sour so don’t wait for that to go away, just harvest away.

How to Harvest Rhubarb

That’s important too. Pull the stems to harvest them. If you just cut them the plant doesn’t know itneeds to produce more rhubarb. Once you pull a stalk the plant gets busy producing more rhubarb. It’s everbearing so be ready to eat and enjoy your rhubarball spring and summer long.

If you’re interested in MORE rhubarb information please check out my How to Freeze Rhubarb and Other Rhubarb Secrets post. In it, I try to answer all the questions I get about rhubarb!

Rhubarb Bread with Streusel Topping

4.56 from 43 votes

Course: Dessert Recipes

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 256kcal

Ingredients

Streusel

2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt adjust if using salted butter
3/4 cup butter

Rhubarb Bread

4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup butter softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking pwoder
2 cups buttermilk

Instructions

Streusel Topping

mix dry ingredients
cut in butter until the mix is crumbly like coarse sand, set aside

Rhubarb Bread

pre-heat oven to 350˚
generously grease 8 mini loaf pans or a 9X13, set aside
toss chopped rhubarb with a Tablespoon of sugar
beat the rest of the sugar with the softened butter, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed
add vanilla
mix in the eggs
stir the dry ingredients together
add 1/3 buttermilk and 1/2 dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture, and mix gently
repeat
add the last of the buttermilk and stir well, do not beat
add a scoop of batter to the bottom of each loaf pan, tilt to cover the bottom
divide the rhubarb between the pans, and sprinkle a little in each pan until it's used up
divide the rest of the batter evenly between the pans
divide the streusel over the tops of the bread, press lightly to adhere the streusel
bake in a 350˚ for 40-45 minutes
test for doneness at 40 minutes using a toothpick, it should come out moist but clean
if it isn't done, bake another 5 minutes, and repeat with the toothpick