Best Easy Rhubarb Crisp or Crumble Recipe

This easy rhubarb crisp recipe is a sure sign of spring! Rhubarb is one of the earliest perennials to pop up and is one of the first things we can start harvesting fresh each spring.

Whatever you call it (a crisp or a crumble), one of the yummiest ways to enjoy fresh fruit is to make this easy rhubarb crisp recipe. It’s a true spring or summertime treat!

What’s The Difference Between A Crisp, Crumble, or Cobbler?

These spring and summertime deserts combine fruit filling with a sweet, crumbly topping that taste terrific by themselves but are even better served warm with ice cream on top.

When it’s called a crisp or crumble it typically refers to a baked fruit dessert that is topped with a mixture that generally includes a grain like oats or oatmeal mixed with brown sugar and butter. A cobbler generally refers to a baked fruit dessert topped with a batter or biscuit crust.

Easy Rhubarb Crisp Recipe

This is a very simple but delicious way to use that first spring rhubarb, and the recipe is the best because it can be varied endlessly with other fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, cherries, etc. Simply substitute 1/2 of the rhubarb fruit quantity with whatever other fruit you’d like to use.

We also like to double this recipe and find that it fits perfectly into a 13″ x 9″ standard baking dish when doubled. The crisp shown in the photo below is a double recipe in a 13″ x 9″ pan using 1/2 rhubarb and 1/2 raspberries – yum!.

Double Recipe Rhubarb – Raspberry Crisp

Grow Your Own Rhubarb (It’s So Easy)

Rhubarb is easy to grow and it’s a perennial so everyone should have a plant or two. It can be tucked into flower beds and borders and will produce edible stalks that can be harvested for about six weeks each spring. You can learn all about getting some started and growing it here: Growing Rhubarb.

Rhubarb stalks are harvested in the springtime, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make this easy rhubarb crisp recipe year round. Simply harvest the rhubarb in spring, cut the stalks into 1/2″ pieces, and freeze (follow the directions for freezing here: Vacuum Sealing Summer Berries).

Don’t Use Rhubarb Leaves, Use The Stalks!

One important thing to realize when cooking with rhubarb is that the leaves are poisonous. So, use only the stalks – NEVER eat the leaves or feed the leaves to any livestock! You can read all about rhubarb HERE.

Rhubarb in the Flower Border

Fresh Rhubarb Crisp

Margie

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Ingredients

  

For the rhubarb filling

• 4 cups rhubarb (or 2 c. rhubarb + 2 c. other fruit, cut into 1/2" pieces)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup water

For the topping

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (melted)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Mix topping ingredients. Stir with a fork to make a crumbly mixture.
• Mix rhubarb filling ingredients. Stir to mix well.
• Put rhubarb mixture into a lightly greased 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish.
• Sprinkle topping evenly over filling.
• Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes.
• Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.