Springtime Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Springtime Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

It’s finally feeling like SPRING!  The grass is green, the leaves have emerged, and the scent of lilacs is filling the air! It also means the beginning of this year’s glut of rhubarb that people need to offload. I am not fortunate enough to have a rhubarb plant, and I don’t yet know anyone in my new town from whom I can snake some of the delicious stalks, so mine came from the local farmer’s market. This was the inspiration for my Springtime Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp!

Rhubarb comes into season right before strawberries do, so that’s one of the reasons that strawberries and rhubarb are so often paired. If you have never had rhubarb, it’s not good on its own – do NOT go running to your garden to gnaw on a stalk (also the leaves are toxic, so don’t eat those either). The stalks are not sweet. They are actually vegetables akin to celery except they are extremely tart and somewhat herbaceous. I know, that doesn’t sound appetizing at all. Just trust me that we use rhubarb like a fruit and it’s great! When it’s cooked (with SUGAR… don’t ever forget the sugar!!) it becomes a sweet, syrupy, tangy, delight! Mixing rhubarb with strawberries cuts down on the sugar need a bit because the rhubarb can make good use of the sweet red strawberries.

To use up my rhubarb haul from the market, I decided to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. Strawberry Rhubarb pies are another classic, but I have another pie that is coming up soon on the blog so I opted for a crisp. Crisps are simple and relatively quick alternatives to pie. I LOVE pie, I might love crisps more – if that’s possible. Crisps make use of rolled oats for a crispy, crunchy crust filled with a sweet fruit filling. Delish! For this recipe, I used frozen strawberries that I needed to use up, but you can use fresh or frozen berries. Just remember that if you are using frozen berries in pies or crisps, you need to up the starch content a bit to account for the additional moisture and you need to bake the product longer. I’ll make a note of that in the recipe below.

This is actually a very simple recipe – here’s a visual step-by-step:

Chop up your strawberries and rhubarb and toss with sugar and cornstarch. Set that aside.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - raw

Then for the crust, you mix your dry ingredients

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - dry ingredients

Then cut in the butter.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - Raw Crust

Then press half into the bottom of your casserole dish.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - Crust

Pour the fruit mixture over the crust.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - Raw Fruit

Sprinkle the rest of the crust over the fruit and press down slightly.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - Top Crust

Bake until golden and bubbling throughout.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp - Baked

Serve! I really like my crisp with a bit of milk or cream poured over the top, many others prefer ice cream. You do you!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Milk

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Plated

Springtime Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups chopped rhubarb
  • 2 cups sliced or quartered strawberries fresh or frozen - see note
  • 3-4 tbsp cornstarch 3 if using fresh berries, 4 if using frozen
  • 3/4 cup sugar more if you want it sweeter
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350'F
  • Mix the cornstarch and sugar together in a large bowl. Toss in the prepared fruit. Set aside
  • In a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour.
  • Cut in the vegan butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of a 2qt casserole dish.
  • Pour the fruit over the crust.
  • Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the fruit and press down slightly.
  • Bake for 40-50 mins if using fresh fruit. Bake for 50-65 minutes if using frozen. You want the juices to be bubbling throughout, not just at the edges, in order for the starch to thicken the liquid.

Notes

As indicated above, increase the starch you use if you're using frozen strawberries. I used 4 tbsp.
If using frozen berries, it will take longer to bake this. Be sure the crisp is bubbling throughout before removing from the oven (not just the edges) in order to "activate" the starch so the crisp isn't runny.

If you make this recipe, please rate/comment below!  Thanks! 🙂

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Close Up

mmm. Just look at that crispy crust!



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