Muffin’s Kitchen

Pine Knot General Store & Café · Sneaky Hollow, Eastern Townships

Muffin’s Mystical Rhubarb & Forest Mushroom Muffins

⚠ A Friendly Warning from the Hollow

For those who might misread Mystical for Magic — if that should happen, you could end up in Sneaky Hollow without ever getting in your car.

Daisy makes these every spring when the rhubarb comes up and the morels appear along the old fence line. Nobody asks what’s in them. They just appear on the counter and disappear by nine o’clock. Muffin the cat watches from the windowsill and says nothing.

Makes: 12 muffins    |    Prep: 35 minutes    |    Bake: 22–25 minutes

Ingredients

The Mushroom Soak

1 tbsp butter
¾ cup fresh wild mushrooms (morel, cremini, or shiitake), finely chopped
½ tsp fresh thyme leaves
3 tbsp dark Quebec maple syrup

The Batter

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
¾ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1½ cups fresh rhubarb

The Topping

2 tbsp coarse sugar

Method

1. Sauté the mushrooms — this is where it starts.
Melt butter, add mushrooms and thyme, cook until golden.

2. The maple soak — do not skip.
Pour maple syrup over warm mushrooms and let sit 20 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare muffin pan.

4. Mix dry ingredients.

5. Mix wet ingredients.

6. Combine gently, fold in rhubarb and mushrooms.

7. Fill cups and sprinkle topping.

8. Bake 22–25 minutes.

9. Cool and serve warm.

Daisy’s Notes

• Morels if you can find them. Otherwise cremini works just fine.
• Dark maple only.
• Fresh rhubarb only.
• The thyme is non-negotiable.
• If Muffin is watching, you're doing it right.