Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

A classic strawberry rhubarb crisp with a buttery brown sugar, oat, and almond crumble topping, made even sweeter with raspberries and vanilla.

A simple strawberry rhubarb crisp

Spring has sprung in northern Virginia, and oh, am I ready. Our neighborhood is brimming with dogwoods and cherry blossoms, and I’m diving right into my warm-weather berry crazy ways, making good use of some ruby red rhubarb I snagged at the market this week.

I literally cleaned out their limited supply, then asked them to please order more for me, because I’m a real treat for grocery store produce managers… 😂

However, my lack of shame when it comes to specialty seasonal ingredients paid off, with this sweet and vibrant strawberry rhubarb crisp. It combines fresh berries and tart rhubarb tossed with brown sugar and good vanilla, and tucked beneath a buttery almond-oat crumble.

Until moving to the south for the first time several years ago, I gave very little thought to rhubarb. Beyond my grandpa occasionally mentioning his mother making homegrown rhubarb pies for him growing up, it didn’t appear often (if at all) in our family recipe box.

Though it seemed incredibly strange and old-fashioned to me as a pie ingredient back then, once it actually became a local option, I started experimenting with it more regularly in my own baking – often paired with berries.

I also learned that rhubarb is actually a vegetable (with poisonous leaves to boot!), and have come to appreciate its sourness and fantastic color as a tart harbinger of Spring.

How to choose the best rhubarb for baking:

Look for slender, deeply red rhubarb stalks. They tend to be sweetest and produce tastier desserts than their thicker, greener breatheren.

Depending on the tartness of your rhubarb – and penchant for lip-puckeringly sour things – you can adjust the ratio of berries and/or sugar to sweeten the filling as needed.

What’s the difference between a crisp and crumble?

Both crisps and crumbles are super easy fruit desserts made up of two layers – sweet roasted fruit beneath a pastry crumb topping, generally made up of flour, butter, and sugar. Traditionally, crisps also include oats and sometimes nuts, which “crisp” up in the oven. However, the terms can mostly be used interchangeably.

And to be honest, I instinctively call them all crumbles. Either way, they’re nearly foolproof, easily adaptable, and all together delicious.

Especially warm from the oven, nestled under a scoop of vanilla ice cream… just sayin.’

Other easy and delicious crisp and crumble recipes you’ll love:

• Caramel apple crumble bars
• Apple streusel muffins
• Blueberry Plum Crumbles with Cardamom
• Strawberry jam crumble bars
• Easy apple cranberry crumble

If you make this strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #forkknifeswoon and leave a comment and rating below letting me know how you liked it! ★★★★★ Star ratings are especially helpful because they help others find my recipes too. xo, Laura

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