Rhubarb Crisp

By Mark Bittman

Rhubarb Crisp
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
5(5,228)
Comments
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When you think of rhubarb you probably think of strawberry-rhubarb pie, a quintessential spring dessert, especially if it’s made by someone who makes good pies. I usually manage around one pie crust annually, so I need alternatives. Thus, when the spring’s first rhubarb shows up, I adjust the execution and produce a crisp. If rhubarb is young and fresh, you can trim it in seconds. If it has fibrous outer strings, peel them off as you would those of celery. Toss the rhubarb with orange or lemon juice and zest, and only a little sugar. (You can also substitute strawberries for some of the rhubarb if you want the classic combination.) Blend the ingredients for the crisp topping in a food processor, crumble the topping over the rhubarb mixture, and bake — it is nearly effortless and as good or better than a pie.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 6tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing pan
  • 2½ to 3pounds rhubarb, trimmed, tough strings removed, and cut into 1½-inch pieces (about 5 to 6 cups)
  • ¼cup white sugar
  • 1tablespoon orange or lemon juice
  • 1teaspoon orange or lemon zest
  • ¾cup brown sugar
  • ½cup all-purpose flour
  • ½teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
  • Pinch salt
  • ½cup rolled oats
  • ½cup pecans
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

276 calories; 14 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 37 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 22 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 30 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking or gratin dish with a little butter. Toss rhubarb with white sugar, orange or lemon juice and zest, and spread in baking dish.

  2. Step 2

    Put the 6 tablespoons butter in a food processor along with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt, and pulse for about 20 or 30 seconds, until it looks like small peas and just begins to clump together. Add oats and pecans and pulse just a few times to combine.

  3. Step 3

    Crumble the topping over rhubarb and bake until golden and beginning to brown, 45 to 50 minutes.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
5,228 user ratings
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Comments

Marilyn Kruse

I'm an old Iowa farm girl (rhubarb desserts are classics there) and have been eating/cooking with rhubarb for years. This is basically a good recipe, certainly easier than making a pie crust. Suggestions: 1. Double the white sugar. It is too tart. 2. Double the cinnamon, and add a little nutmeg. 3. Melt the butter so you don't have to mess around with a food processor. 4. Dut the baking time by about 8 to 10 minutes. 5. And yes, serve with vanilla ice cream.

John Golden

If you use melted butter instead of cutting it in to flour mixture, it's incredibly crisp/crunchy

Mary Sojourner

Thank you for honoring rhubarb on its own merits. Rhubarb is not helped by strawberry - it is a tedious combination.

Mich

Made this with my SIL yesterday. We used up the rest of the rhubarb, the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. It was delicious.

AJ

Maybe I’m too stuck in the traditional ways of a crumble, but so much didn’t work for me. Not cooking the rhubarb first means it doesn’t stew evenly and some bits if they’re sticking out will be hard and uncooked. Topping doesn’t have enough rolled oats and nuts to have texture and just becomes an oily mess and the ratios seem off. Temperature and time combo resulted in an early burn fortunately caught in time. Back to my old recipe.

Allison

I found that the recipe produced far too little topping. I measured my rhubarb by weight. I had to make extra topping just to get enough to cover the fruit. I would suggest multiplying all topping ingredients by 1.5.

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