I am in rhubarb heaven here in Colorado! Growing up I had rhubarb every summer when I would go visit family in Montana. My grandparents and aunts grew rhubarb in their backyards and I loved to go cut big pieces of stalks and watch them make it into all sorts of baked goods. It was always one of my favorite things about going out there since it wasn’t something we had in Florida.
Being my first full Spring in Colorado I wasn’t sure how much rhubarb there would be out here. I was thrilled when I walked into the store a couple of weeks ago and saw huge amounts of it waiting for me to turn it into rhubarb margaritas and whatever else I desired!
Of course I knew one thing I absolutely had to make was rhubarb crisp. It’s what all my aunts and mom would make during the summer and I love how simple and delicious it is to make.
There are many reason why rhubarb crisp is so good. 1.) It get’s all crispy and buttery on top; 2.) you can taste the rhubarb really well; and 3.) you eat it with ice cream. You really only need one of those reasons to make it but all three mean you’re going to have to stop yourself from eating it all in one sitting…
I know lots of rhubarb recipes out there add strawberries to make the rhubarb a little sweeter, but I really like that this recipe is just rhubarb. Save the strawberries for strawberry rhubarb pie, this recipe doesn’t need them!
Ingredients
- 5-6 cups rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 6 large stalks)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- vanilla ice cream, for serving
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F and grease an 8 by 11 inch baking dish with a little butter. (I did a mix of ramekins and a baking dish, do whatever size dish you want!)
- In a medium sized bowl, toss rhubarb with granulated sugar, orange zest, and vanilla extract.
- In a small bowl, combine the orange juice and corn starch. Stir until corn starch has dissolved.
- Pour orange juice mixture over the rhubarb and toss to combine. Spread evenly into the baking dish.
- Add flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the cold butter until it looks like small peas. Mixture should clump together when you squeeze some in your hands. Mix in chopped nuts.
- Crumble the topping over rhubarb. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.
- Serve warm with ice cream.
