Make the most of rhubarb season with this strawberry rhubarb crisp! As a bonus, it’s easier to make than a pie!

THE INGREDIENTS: 

The Crumble: 

Flour: Flour is a part of any classic crumble topping, from apple crisps to coffee cake! It helps to make a cohesive, cakey layer under and on top of the fruit in this recipe. 

Oats: Oats should be quite forward in a crisp, in our opinion. Oats also absorb more moisture than flour does, so they help make sure our crumble topping is not too wet. To make sure they are not hidden among the flour, we like to use 1 ½ cups. Decreasing them beyond that point makes them less of a star (and makes the topping more soggy). Increasing the oats risks not having enough butter or sugar to go around. 

Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is more than our way of adding sweetness! Although, we dare say that adding sweetness is quite the important job already. Brown sugar has molasses and is more moist than white sugar. When it comes into contact with warm liquid, it makes a sticky, caramel like paste that coats our flour and oats. To replace this with white sugar would not lead to that result. Please stick to brown sugar! 

Salt: A little bit of salt makes you appreciate the sweetness even more. Although we recommend ½ tsp, feel free to increase or decrease based on your own preferences. 

The Fruit: 

Strawberries: As much as we love the crumble topping, a crisp is really about the fruit. Adding 16 ounces of strawberries is plenty for this crisp. You won’t feel like you’re missing out! 

Rhubarb: However, we also aren’t making a strawberry crisp here! 6 stalks of rhubarb translates to a heaping 2 ½ cup of sliced rhubarb, so between 2 ½ to 2 ¾ cup. With that much, you’re guaranteed to have plenty of that seasonal rhubarb flavor you were looking for. You can increase or decrease by a stalk or two and still have a successful crisp, but we would try to stay around 6. 

The Sauce: 

White Sugar: Yup-more sweetness! With the tartness of rhubarb and the fact we’re making a 9×13 dessert, not a 9×9, means we need more sugar. We want enough sweetness in each bite, after all. By adding this sugar in the way of a sauce, we also add gooeyness that makes biting into the crisp so much better. 

Water: When heated in water, white sugar dissolves. This means we get a smooth, sweet sauce instead of something grainy. The more water, the more sauce. However, 1 cup of water leads to plenty! You won’t feel like you’re running out when it comes time to cover the fruit. Do so at your own caution, but you can increase or decrease the water to make a gooier or less gooey crisp. (Isn’t gooey a weird word? Just us?)

Cornstarch: Now, why is this here? Well, it’s because we’re thickening the sauce! Cornstarch+heat=thickness, after all. If your sauce isn’t as thick as you want, just wait. The longer it is on the heat, the more it will thicken. 

Vanilla: We wanted to let the flavors of strawberry and rhubarb shine the most in this recipe. With that being said, a little vanilla goes a long way for adding extra flavor to this recipe. No worries, though! With 1 teaspoon of vanilla, this is not a vanilla-forward dessert. If you wish, you can omit the vanilla in this recipe. 

KEY INFORMATION: 

Can You Use Frozen Fruit in A Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp? Yes, you can! All you have to do ahead of time is thaw your fruit and discard any excess liquid. You don’t want a soggy crisp, after all. 

How Can You Make a Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp? By simply replacing the flour with gluten-free flour in a strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe, you should be good to go! 

How Can You Make An Oat-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp? A bit more flour, some nuts, and/or some seeds are your answer! You can also use some dry bread, chopped fine, in place of oats when it comes to making a crisp. The bread would absorb some of the moisture, and you could even use sweet breads (such as your leftover cinnamon raisin) to add extra flavor to your crisp. Make sure the pieces are not too large, as you want more of a crumb topping instead of a bread pudding. 

To make an oat-free strawberry rhubarb crisp, combine all of the topping ingredients in a bowl, except the oats. Add your desired amount of seeds and nuts first, which shouldn’t absorb excess moisture. From there, start adding your leftover bread (processed or cut into large crumbs) or more flour. Keep adding until your crisp comes together, and is neither dry or soggy. Feel free to use other kinds of flour, such as wheat flour, too! 

What Goes With Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp? To keep things classic, some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream is the way to go. To double down on fruit, consider even adding some strawberry ice cream. Otherwise, think of soft desserts. Yogurt, pudding, or even whipped cream cheese. Whatever flavor sounds good to you is the way to go!