Rhubarb Crisp with a crunchy topping made with oats, brown sugar and butter. A healthy, refreshing fruit dessert! O.K. it's basically a bowl of sugar and butter with rhubarb throw in for colour. And to be perfectly honest I'm not even sure that it's a fruit. But still ...
You've gotta love an edible plant that comes up year after year no matter how much attention you do or don't give it.
Rhubarb. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
And giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving and giving. And if you look at it with even half a smile ... it jumps right up in your lap and gives some more. It's the Golden Retriever of the vegetable world.
I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing you could do to discourage Rhubarb. It's the first to pop up in the garden, the last to go away and pretty much puts up with every kind of neglect you can throw at it.
The best way to deal with a mass of anything you don't need is to give it away. That way it appears you're the generous one by giving it away, when in truth ... the real gift is getting rid of this massive, relentless, pathologically prolific plant.
If you don't have this problem with your rhubarb growing like crazy, you might need to split it. Rhubarb plants should be split (like I show you in this post) every few years to keep them invigorated.
My favourite thing to do with Rhubarb is make a Rhubarb Crisp. Otherwise known as a Rhubarb Crumble. Otherwise known as the easiest dessert on earth, unless you consider sucking on an ice cube to be dessert. 'Cause that's pretty easy too.
For the body of the crisp you mix up some sugar, cinnamon, rhubarb and water. For the top it's some melted butter, quick rolled oats and brown sugar.
What follows is my Rhubarb Crisp recipe. I make it several times in the spring, then I get sick of it. Once I get "crisp sick", ... I'll start gifting it. 'Cause I'm kind and generous and I have a shitload of rhubarb. Only I probably wouldn't use that actual phrase on the gift card.
Rhubarb Crisp Recipe
Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
Rhubarb Crisp Filling
- 4 Cups Rhubarb cut into 1 inch lengths
- 1 cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Flour all purpose
- ½ tsp. Cinnamon
- ½ cup Water
Rhubarb Crisp Topping
- 1 cup Flour all purpose
- ½ cup Quick-cooking Rolled Oats
- 1 cup Brown Sugar packed
- ½ cup Butter melted
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°F.
- Butter a square 8x8x2 baking dish.
- Combine rhubarb, sugar, ¼ cup flour, and cinnamon in prepared baking dish.
- Pour water over all of it.
For Topping
- Combine 1 cup flour, rolled oats, brown sugar and butter. Mix with fork.
- Sprinkle topping over rhubarb mixturte. Bake 35 minutes.
- Serve warm with cream.
Nutrition
If you plan on giving the gift of Rhubarb Crisp just pack the dry ingredients into mason jars and attach a tag or two with the instructions.
One jar for the filling and one for the crumble topping.
If you decide to make this for yourself as opposed to giving it away, because you're very, very selfish … you might want to consider topping it with some cream. Either regular old coffee cream, like I've used in the photo, or a dollop of whipped cream. Isn't dollop the best word ever?
I find this to be a touch on the sweet side, but as you know I'm more of a potato chip expert. For now.
So … take that as you will. You can add a little less sugar if you like. Or … you can forget the recipe entirely, and just eat a bowl of potato chips.
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Jacquie Gariano
I love your blogs. They make me think and laugh. Not a bad thing these days. I had rhybarb when I lived in Spokane, WA but haven;t planted it here in CA. But all the coments made me crave it and lonely for it. We do get it in some produce stores and sometimes in the farmer's market. So, since I dug out my pie recipe and will look for a rhubarb cake recipe too, I'm now on my way to the garden place and buying a plant or two. So, at least next year I',, have my own to use in all the great ways it can be used. Thanks so much for the laughs and good advice from you and all the readers.
Karen
You'reeee welcome Jacquie! Hope you found your rhubarb! ~ karen
Stephanie Brenner
Hi Karen, I have a version of this recipe clipped from the Toronto Star newspaper about 30 years ago! (Mary McGrath's column) Delish!
The only difference I see is 3/4 cup of white sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar not One cup.
Not too sweet. I've used this same recipe using thawed fruit from my freezer in the winter. Peaches, plums, blueberries, etc (4 cups, same as rhubarb) Warm from the oven any time of year. Yum!
(I'm freezing my rhubarb 4 cups at a time in Food Saver bags...stock piling for winter.)
Kat
Save some of your rhubarb for those hot summer days or nights! Here’s an amazing recipe for Rhubarb Buttermilk Sherbet. Tangy, creamy, tart and sweet all at the same time. What’s not to love about that?!? Enjoy. 😋
https://foodal.com/recipes/desserts/rhubarb-buttermilk-sherbet/
Karen
OH! I just bookmarked it. Thx! ~ karen
Lorra Dickinson
Karen, found your site a couple of months ago and love it. Have used some of your tips already - foaming hand soap, zucchini pruning, planning to try the tomato string next year (my plants are already in their cages for this year). Wish I had some chickens to sex. Orchids are my husbands thing so when you are tired of yours you can send them to him.
I am in Southern California and I can’t grow good rhubarb. The plants always die when summer comes and it’s not cold enough in the winter. I just start with one (there are only two of us) new plant early each year.
Mary W
I have a friend that lives in Michigan during the summer and down here in Florida in winter. She gives me bags of frozen rhubarb that I LOVE to make into rhubarb/strawberry jelly. I've tried it for cooking but after being frozen - it's just mush. I would give anything to be able to grow it in Florida but I've never heard of anyone being able to down here. Even the grocery stores that 'carry everything' don't have it. The manager tells me they get what they can, it is sold immediately and he never knows when to expect it so he couldn't call me. He also said it was rare to get any. SO - I'm jelly jealous of you. As a kid in Wisconsin we used to dare each other to eat some fresh without making a face. Every year we tried but no one ever won that contest. I miss rhubarb from my childhood.
Patricia Shebaylo
I too have a slightly different recipe for rhubarb crisp but I'm going to give yours a whirl. I have a rhubarb plant that \I got from my sister about 35 years ago. I planted it in my garden in Winnipeg and then, we moved to the Okanagan a few years ago and I took part of it with me and planted it here. I'm happy to say that it is doing very well. You were correct that rhubarb is not a fruit but a vegetable because it does not ripen after you pick it like a fruit, it rots like a vegetable.
Sue
Thanks Karen! Love love love rhubarb! Crisp, pie, jam, syrup and chutney...bring it on! Funny thing, I can’t get my 9yo son to eat it in anything prepared, but he loves tender raw stalks (just pulled from the garden) dipped in a bowl of sugar!
Carla
I have a rhubarb “Cheat sheet” on my fridge with the basic instructions for about half a dozen rhubarb re pies that I make in rotation. It might be my favourite time of year. The best thing I make is rhubarb syrup for cocktails or mixing with sofa. Boil well chopped rhubarb with sugar. Strain into a jar. Add a tsp to sofa or make a rhubarb whiskey sour (oooohhh can I have one now... it’s almost 10 am but surely it’s cocktail time somewhere...) Save the sweet leftover mash to eat on toast. Loving your blog btw. Xx
Carla
Don’t add rhubarb syrup to you SOFA! (Autocorrect is a tyrant!) Soda. Add it to soda. :)
Karen
Thanks Carla! I can't make any more rhubarb crisps by the way. I ate an entire pan last week in one sitting. Sooooo, I'm on a self imposed moratorium for now. ~ karen!
Eileen
All you need to keep rhubarb production down, or kill the plant, is a climate with hot and humid summers....rhubarb is sold here at a super premium price because of that.
Margaret Voorhaar
Ah - now I am remided that Shedden ON’s ”Rosie Rhubarb” days are likely cancelled due to Covid restrictions. I may have to make the Rhubarb Pie myself.
Lavada Shaft
LOVE your posts. Do not even remotely care for rhubarb so I will forget the recipe entirely and just eat a bowl (read BAG here) of potato chips.
However, my grandfather taught me this:
Vegetables = leaves and/or stalks eaten
Fruits = seeds and/or (matured) flowers eaten
So rhubarb is "botanically" a vegetable; like tomato is "botanically" a fruit
But he also said, "If you like it and it's not poisonous, what does it matter? Fix the d@m* thing the way you like it and eat it."
Cheers!
Carly Mae
I bought rhubarb today because I've been craving this crisp and holy crap it's expensive in California! Something like $4 or $5 per pound. Our climate is probably too hot to grow it myself, but I'll be damned if I don't try!
Karen
That's like strawberries (which we get from California here in the winter)! Hope you enjoyed every penny of the rhubarb. ~ karen!
Luanne
Finally gave this a try this week - holy moley, it was a *HIT*!!
Karen
Great! ~ karen
Mary W
I do love rhubarb crisp/crumble. Your recipe is short and easy and normally everything is on hand - except the fruit. When I go to the store and find rhubarb, I get home and can't find the recipe. SO-now I have a quick source for easy crisp that I know will be good cause Karen said so. I think I'll go this evening and look. Watermelons are ripe and we had our festival today complete with a parade, tractors, politicians, and little king and queen contest. So fun and yummy. Free watermelon for anyone attending. Sticky kids covered in juice with bags of candy thrown from the parade floats - abnormally large bags of candy since it's an election year and of course, lots of politicians enjoying the attention. Thanks for a sweet treat and I'm off to the market.
Gayle
I haven't read all the comments, but you can trim that 2 jars down to one by putting the topping ingredients in a baggie inside the first jar right on top so the gifted sees it right away. Most of the ladies in our Thursday morning church bulletins (folding) crew are single/widowed or just has a hubby to feed. But, this gives me an idea of how to "share" the wealth from the 3 (ugh, yeah, three!) Valentine rhubarb plants in my garden. Thank you sooooo much, Karen. (Oh, and every time I say, "Karen posted (enter any one of your FB/blog posts here), my husband always says, "Karen who?" Because the one Karen that comes to his
mind first--my big sis--is nothing, nothing like you! LOL
Karen
LOL! ~ karen!
Gigi
So how does one start rhubarb? I’ve never seen it sold locally (central Missouri) as a plant, bulb or seed. Does someone have to gift you a section of theirs? Sort of like the Amish Friendship Bread starter from years ago!
Karen
Ha. Well yeah, that is how a lot of it gets around. But (around here anyway) nurseries do carry rhubarb. You'd find it in the same section with strawberries and other perennial foods. Or .. find a neighbour or friend with some and ask them to split it. It should be done every several years to keep the rhubarb strong anyway! ~ karen
Anne Baulne
For those lucky enough to have Edna Staebler's "More Food That Really Schmecks" cookbook, the recipe in it for rhubarb custard pie is a killer. Every year when I make it for the first time, I think it's my very favourite pie. That's until the tayberries are ripe. Then it's a tie with tayberry pie.
Cynthia
OMG ~ just had a small (?) bowl of this wonder. It’s delish. I cut way, way, way back on the sugar and substituted almond flour for the regular flour. And added pecans to the topping. And Freshly grated lemon zest to the rhubarb. Thank you, Karen, for the post, the generous sharing and your inspiration! Will be making this again and again...
Cynthia
Also ~ I cut the butter into the topping with a pastry tool. Well, because, that’s how I used to make homemade biscuits...and I basically didn’t want to bother with the melting. Worked fine.
Karen
Sounds like you changed it completely - for the better, lol. I *do* sometimes add nuts to the top of mine. But I like nuts in pretty much everything! ~ karen
S in Charleston
I grew up in Ohio where rhubarb grew everywhere, so when I found a bunch growing next to the wood pile in the back yard of an old farm house I'd just moved into I was delighted. I cut some up and cooked it, and cooked it, and cooked it....and it never changed! Turns out I had some of that "false rhubarb" which, of course, at the time I'd never known existed. Cruel trick of nature to play on someone when their mouth is watering in anticipation of a rhubarb pie!
I wonder how it would taste with crumbled potato chips sprinkled on top of rhubarb crisp???
Karen
I'm not sure I knew such a thing existed! I know there's wild rhubarb. I wonder if it's the same thing? ~ karen!
Jody
Impeccable timing. I got rhubarb in my Plan B farm share this week.
Have you made rhubarb ice cream to go with rhubarb crisp>?
Karen
I have not! I'm trying to avoid making ice cream. What with my eating ice cream until it's gone issue. ~ karen!