Soft and chewy rhubarb cookies are a great way to use up the seasonal vegetable; rhubarb! These sweet and tangy cookies are so easy to make and can be made in just half an hour. Make the cookies to snack on in the afternoon, for a potluck, or a party. Everyone is going to love these!
If you’re growing rhubarb this year, then you definitely need to try these cookies! They feature small chunks of fresh rhubarb and a soft and chewy cookie. The cookies are made with brown sugar that keeps them moist and adds great flavor as well.
Rhubarb cookies are flavored with not just rhubarb, brown sugar, and butter, but I also added ground cinnamon too. Cinnamon is a warm spice, and you don’t have to worry about it being spicy because when it’s paired with brown sugar, cinnamon becomes sweet rather than sharp.
The best part about the cookies is that they’re super easy to make! So grab your ingredients, and let’s get to work!
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Key Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these delicious cookies:
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Rhubarb: I use fresh rhubarb that I clean, and dice into small pieces.
- Brown Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar works here, but I usually use light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar will result in darker cookies with higher molasses content.
- Cinnamon: If you’re not a fan you can skip cinnamon, but it goes so well with rhubarb and brown sugar. To spice up the cookies even more, add a dash of ground nutmeg.
How to Make Rhubarb Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a stand or a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and egg until smooth and creamy.
- Add flour, ground cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and slowly beat again until just combined.
- Fold in the diced rhubarb, then using a small 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and place them onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, or until set and lightly brown at the bottom with the edges golden brown.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips
- Depending on the water content of the rhubarb, you might need to add more flour to the dough. If your dough is too sticky, add 2 tablespoons of flour and check if that’s enough. Be careful not to add too much flour, as that can result in dry tough cookies.
- Chill the cookie dough. Because these cookies are soft and buttery, chilling the cookie dough for 15-30 minutes is always a good idea to prevent the cookie from spreading too much.
- Add white chocolate chips! These would be so delicious with the rhubarb, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Add nuts! Nuts are also a great addition to these cookies, throw in some chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or hazelnut. Nuts will add some crunch and make the texture and flavor of the cookie even more exciting.
- Add fruit. You can either add fresh or dried fruit, but if you use fresh fruit you might need to add more flour to your cookie dough. Think strawberries (freeze dried would be perfect here!), blueberries, or apples.
- Extracts: You can add a fourth or half a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, almond extract, or lemon extract for extra flavor.
More Cookie Recipes
- Strawberry Cheese Cookies, everyone loves these stuffed cookies! It’s the most popular recipe on our site for a reason!
- Soft Italian Cookies – a tasty classic that everyone will love.
- Soft Orange Cookies – have some oranges to use up? Make these delicious cookies!
- Banana Bread Cookies – my personal favorite cookies!
FAQs
My 2 favorite ways to use up homegrown rhubarb, is to make pie and cookies! It can also be used to make a compote, syrup, and it’s great in cocktails too.
No, you don’t need to cook the rhubarb before you add it to the cookies. The rhubarb is finely diced into small pieces, so it will soften as the cookies are being baked.
It all depends on the recipe and what type of cookie you are baking. For rhubarb cookies, we found that 375°F is a sweet spot! It creates crispy edges while keep the center of the cookie soft and moist.
When you chill cookie dough, you chill and solidify the butter in the dough which will help the cookie expand slowly as it bakes. To prevent your cookies from baking into flat rounds, cover and chill the dough for 15-30 minutes.
Everyone is going to love these buttery, soft, and chewy rhubarb cookies with real pieces of rhubarb and spiced with warm cinnamon! Be sure to Pin the recipe for later.
Rhubarb Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1¾ cups (200g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup finely diced fresh rhubarb
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a stand or a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and egg until smooth and creamy.
- Add flour, ground cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and slowly beat again until just combined.
- Fold in the diced rhubarb, then using a small 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and place them onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, or until set and lightly brown at the bottom.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Depending on the water content of the rhubarb, you might need to add more flour to the dough. If your dough is too sticky, add 2 tablespoons of flour and check if that’s enough. Be careful not to add too much flour, as that can result in dry tough cookies.
- Chill the cookie dough. Because these cookies are soft and buttery, chilling the cookie dough for 15-30 minutes is always a good idea to prevent the cookie from spreading too much.
- Add white chocolate chips! These would be so delicious with the rhubarb, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Add nuts! Nuts are also a great addition to these cookies, throw in some chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or hazelnut. Nuts will add some crunch and make the texture and flavor of the cookie even more exciting.
- Add fruit. You can either add fresh or dried fruit, but if you use fresh fruit you might need to add more flour to your cookie dough. Think strawberries (freeze dried would be perfect here!), blueberries, or apples.
- Extracts: You can add a fourth or half a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, almond extract, or lemon extract for extra flavor.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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Comments & Reviews
Donna Van Blaricom says
I used 1 1/2 cups frozen rhubarb. I cut them in small cubes before freezing. Drain well in a strainer. I used one bowl and combined with a large wooden mixing spoon. I did add extra flour so the dough won’t stick to fingers. I also used 1/2 tsp Lemon extract. Yummy!
Rhonda says
Very nice cookie, I would definitely make again!!
Mary says
I’m needing to know can frozen rhubarb be used in this.
Kathy says
Can you use frozen rhubarb?